ENGL 3231 The American Romanticism and the impact in the New England culture

Year taken: 2013-2014

Professor: Nereida Prado

Class: INGL3231

University: University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus

Grace H. Rodriguez Cruz

INGL-3251-American Literature I

Prof. N. Prado

December 2^nd, 2013

The American Romanticism and the impact in the New England culture

          The American culture has dedicated itself to be define in their own ways based on other ideas. As an example to this, we find how the American Romanticism has its unique authors and signatures to separate from the famous British one. As part of this, we find the “negative Romantics” such as Nathaniel Hawthorne with his famous work “Young Goodman Brown”. In here we see passages such as: “By the sympathy of your human hearts for sin ye shall scent out all the places—whether in church, bedchamber, street, field, or forest—where crime has been committed, and shall exult to behold the whole earth one stain of guilt, one mighty blood spot.” This represents the moment where the devil breaks the illusion of good society Brown had of Salem and the evil essence of humans is shown to his and the reader’s eyes. However, Henry David Thoreau expresses optimistic views in his work “Walden”: “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb nail” and “Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself.” These are examples of the optimistic nature that can be portrayed and expressed of a positive and harmonious human life. But even with these differences, the authors of a complex group maintained certain characteristics that kept the essence of Romantics from the 1830s to the 1860s. It is by this that we can find the interest in nature, the social criticism and the intuition over logic as main themes for the works and inspiration for the unique authors.

          The interest in nature is an outstanding theme to many, but it became the signature to beloved author Ralph Waldo Emerson. In his work “Hamatreya” we see the peculiar Earth Song that sweeps us to reality on how would nature feel if we try to control it: “They called me theirs, Who so controlled me; Yet every one Wished to stay, and is gone, How am I theirs, If they cannot hold me, But I hold them?” The never-ending thought Emerson portrays in his poem make us reflect more about how we treat what we have and to have empathy with our roots with nature. This characteristic is always portrayed in the Romanticism; not necessarily pasted as a strong emotion to nature, but mostly towards a certain person or our own self. Emerson was the father of nature-loving poems on this period of time, but he also left behind other poems like “Give all to Love” where the encouragement to give in the impulses of strong feelings is portrayed and the encouraging of love and positivity is the daily quote “Give all to love; Obey thy heart/Friends kindred days/Estate good fame/Plans credit and the Muse/Nothing refuse.” Even though, it also talks about heartbreak, it gives the option of moving forward and expect a greater love and happiness.

          The social criticism was forever engraved in the Romantics’ heart when Harriet Beecher Stowe took on her shoulders the writing of slavery. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” displeased many and set the bar of empathy and civil rights movement for colored people. “Of course, in a novel, people’s hearts break, and they die, and that is the end of it; and in a story this is very convenient. But in real life we do not die when all that makes life bright dies to us. There is a most busy and important round of eating, drinking, dressing, walking, visiting, buying, selling, talking, reading, and all that makes up what is commonly called living, yet to be gone through…” This explains that, even if Tom’s life was only in a book and his suffering ended by the end of it, the other slaves who do dream and live every day in a terrible condition for a human being, are out there waiting to have equality and a real life to live. The only life they’ll get. Many anti-Tom’s Cabin literature appeared as counterpart for her work but the allies of the abolition, mostly northern men, encouraged the tales of real life slaves to be published and to accentuate the negative and most inhuman aspects of the practice. This gave way to the “Life and Times of Frederick Douglas” which was a book about said person and the treatment of slaves. “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.” This encouraging quote by Douglas was one of the many reflective moments shown to express the need of a change and to express the empathy for others.

          The intuition over logic and reasoning is one of the most outstanding characteristics for the Romantics to maintain, however, it will be Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry who will be forever engraved in what the character believes to see and not in what you’re expecting. “I cannot, for my soul, remember how, when or even precisely where, I fist became acquainted with the Lady Ligeia.” With the first sentence of “Ligeia” it is expressed the doubt of the character towards his memories but he chooses to go along with his instincts. However, the opium addict is conscious enough to know he might hallucinate every now and then to certain things, but his love for Ligeia was ever so strong that he brought her back to life in the body of his deceased wife in the end of the story. In other works, like “Anabelle Lee” the passion and love is extreme and powerful “I was a child and she was a child/In this kingdom by the sea;/But we loved with a love that was more than love-/I and my Annabel Lee;/With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven/Coveted her and me.” This pessimistic author always gives us the view of one character and how his believes become facts, leaving the reader to decide whether logic has bended or his illusions were strong enough.

           Different yet the same; the Romantics of the New World stated how a group of completely different ideas can co-exist with each other to bring us an eternal mark of a beautiful and controversial period. Setting from optimistic and pessimistic levels to the love and state of mind. The group of this period signed history with extreme ideas and logical pushes to the minds of the readers and rulers for the greater good or the bad.