The 17 characteristics of Romanticism

The main characteristics of Romanticism, a fundamental artistic movement in History.

Romanticism was an artistic, cultural and literary movement that took place, mostly, in the European continent between the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Romantics are characterized, among many other things, in creating a counter movement to what the Enlightenment and Neoclassicism, very close in time, supposed.

Next, we will see the characteristics of Romanticism. we will see the characteristics of Romanticism together with some of the most outstanding characters of this artistic-philosophical current.

The characteristics of Romanticism that help to recognize it.

Romanticism was an artistic, intellectual and cultural movement that took place at the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century in several European countries.but above all in England, Germany and France.

These three nations would be the main scenario of this cultural movement, but it would end up spreading to the rest of European countries and, also, it would cross the Atlantic reaching the United States. These are its main characteristics.

1. Rejection of the Enlightenment and Neoclassicism

The Romantics arose as a counterpoint to the intellectual movement of the Enlightenment and its artistic expression through Neoclassicism, in which the Enlightenment and Neoclassicism were highly valued.where logic, reason and objectivity were highly valued. Both enlightened thinkers and neoclassical artists were in favor of standardizing everything in form and content.

The Romantics were against these ideas, as they were a way of restricting creativity and expressive freedom. Furthermore, in the 18th and 19th centuries there were a deep disappointment with Humanity, since with the Industrial Revolution the people were being exploited even more, if possibleand many unjust ways of treating the proletariat were emerging.

This is why the Romantics were unable to think that they were living in the best moment of history, because it seemed that society had become a hostile, cruel and squeezing place.

2. Exaltation of subjectivity and emotions

The Romantics exalted feelings and subjectivity.They were able to liberate artists and art. Feelings were above reason, which is why emotions such as fear, love, passion, madness and loneliness were recurring themes in both written and pictorial works of the time.

Within the romantic logic it is understood that art should obey only the purpose of expressing the subjectivity of the artist, expressing his point of view, sensitivities, opinions, fears and desires.

Art is no longer made in the interests of the client (patron) and becomes an individual expression of the artist.. The Romantics fled from the propagandistic use that had been made of artistic compositions, converted into products made to represent the wealth and riches of the ruling elites.

3. Rebellion against rules in art

The Romantics are against the rigidity of the academicism promoted by the Enlightenment. They freed art from standardizing rules, which gave way to a true explosion of artistic creativity, with an immense diversity of styles.There was an immense diversity of styles. Romantic art and literature cannot be considered as a unified style whichever way you look at it.

4. Cult of the self and individualism

Before the emergence of Romanticism, the artist had to create a work of art according to what he was commissioned to do. This piece of art had to be made according to the designs of the patron, since he was the one who paid for the commission.

However, this is different in the Romantic mentality. This artistic imposition is overcome, making the artist of this current make full use of his total freedom, and within this liberation he could focus on his own individuality.

Thus, the Romantics exalt the expression of the "I", claiming their individual identity.. The subject is someone unique and different who, also, is part of a collective, but within that collectivity this individual must enjoy the same recognition.

5. Valuing originality

Romanticism, insofar as there are no limits to artistic creation, is also a period of great originality. Originality becomes a criterion of artistic valuation, in which new things are intended to be done, leaving behind the idea that art must respond to tradition, continue it or perfect it.The idea that art should respond to tradition, continue it or perfect it is left behind.

6. The misunderstood genius

In the Romantic movement the idea that the Romantic artist is a misunderstood genius, whose limitless imagination, liberating creativity and tormented life makes him a character widely rejected by the society of his time, is sustained. This contrasts with the idea of the Renaissance genius, who is shown as a man of great skill in his art, with an impeccable command of the art of the Renaissance.of impeccable handling of artistic techniques.

7. Sublimity

Romanticism puts the idea of sublimity before the idea of classical beauty, which was austere and orderly. Classical beauty was so balanced, so symmetrical that it had become predictable and stereotyped.

By contrast, the romantic sublime implies finding beauty in the most terrible and uncomfortable, in that which is not pleasant, that which leaves no one indifferent.that leaves no one indifferent. Great masterpieces can be made from the murky and moving. 8. Exaltation of fantasy

Romantics give free rein to their fantasies, to their dream world. From the supernatural they extract all kinds of artistic expressions that can be material for both a fairy tale, with dream worlds, and horror stories, in nightmarish worlds. Even even goes beyond the line of what is morally accepted, introducing in his works very unorthodox topics, such as taboos and ritualssuch as taboos and satanic rituals.

9. Nostalgia for a better past

As a movement critical of its historical period, in which it was an obvious fact that enlightened logic and reason had failed, Romanticism developed a strong nostalgia for an idealized past, seen as a better time.

The movement was counterposed to the dramatic progress of the Industrial Revolution, which threatened to break up the unity of the world.which threatened to break the unity between man and nature.

It was very common to find in romantic works the exposition of historical passages, especially centered on the Middle Ages or other periods such as contemporary time, which were somehow perceived as better times. In the case of the French Romantics it was very recurrent to focus their gaze on the French Revolutionseen as a period of great change and splendor for the nation.

10. Interest in the Middle Ages and the Baroque period

As we have already mentioned, the Romantics felt a predilection for past eras, being the Middle Ages the period that was most represented. One of the reasons for this was that it is in this period in which many peoples of Europe emerged, either by the disintegration of the Roman Empire and the creation of new Christian kingdoms or by the mixture of pre-Roman cultures.

From the Middle Ages they draw as a symbol of great artistic representation its late medieval movement, the Gothic.. This movement, full of darkness and shadows on the outside but vivid colors on the inside, was seen by the Romantics as the maximum exponent of spirituality and mysticism.

As for the Baroque, the Romantics considered it as a movement of true liberation of emotions, rich in effects and exuberance.rich in effects and exuberance, principles very similar to the creative and expressive ideals of Romanticism.

11. Interest in the exotic

As their immediate world was perceived as a hostile, failed and unwelcoming environment, the Romantics not only took refuge in the ideal of bygone eras, but also idealized distant worlds, especially the Far East.

They sought to break with Western tradition in the exotic by seeing the non-European as a far better world.. Orientalism and the idea of the American aborigine are two examples of this romantic interest in very distant cultures, very biased in their idealization based on the concept of the good savage of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

12. Interest in the landscape

Landscape is an element that cannot be missing in Romanticism. Its writers, painters and musicians had recourse to it in two ways. The first is an effort to bridge the gap between man and nature, a gap caused by socio-economic changes. The second is to turn the landscape into a metaphor for the subject's inner world..

Both forms are attacks against neoclassical rationalism, which in most of its compositions preferred interior and sober scenes, so that the viewer would focus his attention on the message presented in the work and not be distracted by landscape elements.

13. Popular culture

If the Enlightenment movement sought to standardize knowledge, considering that only the culture in the hands of the most expert and enlightened characters was valid, the Romantic movement defended the search for knowledge through popular culture, seen as an inexhaustible source of knowledge. The wisdom of the people was stored in the folklore of each culture, transmitted from generation to generation by the Romantic movement.transmitted from generation to generation through dances, proverbs and legends.

14. Nationalism

The Romantics are strongly nationalistic, in that they see this ideology as an expression of the collective self. This is not surprising, since Romanticism coincided with a historical moment in which nation-states began to proliferate, staged with the unification of Germany and Italy.

Nevertheless, one should not fall into the error of thinking that the Romantics placed their emphasis on the institutionality of the state, but rather on the identity of the people.but on the identity of the people. The identity of that nation, its heritage and the sense of belonging are aspects that every Romantic author introduced in his works.

15. Valuation of vernacular languages

Romantics highly value vernacular languages, especially by using them as a means of national expression. using them as a means of nationalistic expression. Language is the driving vehicle of national identity, popular culture and the collective self.

An example of this assessment can be seen in the abandonment of Italian as the language of opera, which had been the norm up to those centuries, in favor of composing works in German, French, Spanish and English, among others.

16. Death

Death is an indispensable theme in the romantic works, being approached from many points of view, especially the idea of suicide.. Taking one's own life was an idea that every romantic author had to introduce at some point in his art, be it painting, novel or opera. This idea became especially present in this current thanks to the influence exerted by Goethe's novel The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774).

17. Strong idealism

The Romantic is idealistic by nature. He imagines that a better world is possible, not only artistically, but also politically and socially.

Living in a world perceived as the worst that could be lived in, romantics believe that, in the future, things could get better, but for that to be possible, it is necessary to do something. For this reason it is common to find hundreds of Romantic authors having participated in political causes and spiritual movements.

Representatives of Romanticism

There are many representatives of Romanticism, including both men and women. Here are some of the names of some of them. we will discover the names of some of them according to the type of artistic work in which they stood out the most. and some of their most representative works.

Writers

• Mary Shelley (1797 - 1851), Frankenstein (1829)
• Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849), The Tell-Tale Heart (1843)
• Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), Les Miserables (1962)
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774)
• Alexandre Dumas (1802 - 1870), The Count of Monte Cristo (1844)
• José de Espronceda (1808 - 1842), The Student in Salamanca (1840)
• Lord Byron (1788 - 1824), The Pilgrimages of Childe Harold.

Painters

• Francisco Goya (1746 - 1828) The Dreams of Reason Produce Monsters (1799)
• William Turner (1775 - 1851), Rain, Steam and Speed (1844).
• Leonardo Alenza (1807 - 1845), The Romantics, or Suicide (1837).
• Théodore Géricault (1791 - 1824), The Raft of the Medusa (1819).
• Eugene Delacroix (1798 - 1863), Liberty Leading the People (1830)
• Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840), The Walker on the Sea of Clouds (1818)

Composers

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Symphony No. 9 (1824)
• Franz Schubert (1797-1828). Ellens dritter Gesang or Ave Maria (1825)
• Robert Schumann (1810-1856). Dichterliebe (Love and life of a poet) (1840).

Bibliographical references:

• Berlin, I. (2000). Hardy, Henry, ed. Las raíces del romanticismo. Madrid: Taurus. ISBN 978-84-306-0369-5.
• De Paz, A. (1986). The romantic revolution; poetics, aesthetics, ideologies. Translation by María García Lozano. Madrid: Editorial Tecnos. ISBN 978-84-309-3960-2.
• Fay, E. (2002). Romantic Medievalism. History and the Romantic Literary Ideal. Houndsmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave.