Origins of Romanticism

Preceding the Romantic era was the Age of Enlightenment. It is characterized by attitudes of rationality, rigidity, skepticism, and balance, centering reason as the primary source of knowledge. Individuals of this era tested ideas using scientific methodology and reductionism, broadening possibilities and stressing the use of rational analysis. The spirit of this time period brought together thinkers, and when sharing thoughts and ideas, were capable of the avant-garde. The ideas that came about by thinkers from this era questioned and undermined authority, and eventually brought about political revolutions in France and the United States, as well as the Industrial Revolution. Regarding the arts and literature, the era led many writers to portray ideals of classicism in their work. Classism's main themes included structure, unity, and clarity.

During the latter half of the 1700s, some individuals began to feel suffocated by the Enlightenment, feeling that it was chucking spirit and passion. In retaliation to the intellectualism and rigidity of the Enlightenment era, Romanticism was born. Romanticism is an artistic and philosophical movement that mainly occurred in England and Germany from 1770-1870. It stressed the beauty of nature, the individual, the emotional, and the irrational. Unlike Enlightenment ideals, Romanticism supported the idea that reason cannot always explain everything. Many consider the publication of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Lyrical Ballads" the official launch of the Romantic era. "Lyrical Ballads," a collection of 23 poems by the two aforementioned writers, conveys the writers' emotional responses to the nature or events surrounding them.