Essay on Romanticism - 4035 Words

Romanticism In spite of its representation of potentially diabolical and satanic powers, its historical and geographic location and its satire on extreme Calvinism, James Hoggs Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner proves to be a novel that a dramatises a crisis of identity, a theme which is very much a Romantic concern. Discuss. Examination of Romantic texts provides us with only a limited and much debated degree of commonality. However despite the disparity of Romanticism (or Romanticisms) as a movement it would be true to say that a prevalent aspect of Romantic literature that unites many different forms of the movement, is a concern with the divided self. As the empirical Rationalism of the eighteenth century was†¦show more content†¦Griffiths agrees that the central distinctive feature of Romanticism is the search for a reconciliation between the inner vision and the outer experience. Duncan Wu asserts that Romantic texts are often concerned with division..and reunion between the body and the spirit. (Wu, xvii). David Oakleaf specifically applies this theme to Confessions identifying it as Robert Wringhims refusal to accept himself as both a spiritual and corporeal creature. (Oakleaf, 27). It is worth noting that Hogg himself felt somewhat torn between his traditional spiritual side and his intellectual corporeal side. We shall see that this is a biographical detail of Hoggs life that spills over considerably in his depiction of a crisis of identity in Confessions. It is also worth remembering that what is conveniently termed the Romantic period was one of great social and political division. Britain itself was undergoing a societal crisis of identity catalysed by the industrial revolution, increased literacy and the noble beginnings of the French Revolution. As a result the literature of the age reflected this on a number of levels both overt and covert; tangible and spiritual. In the Scotland of Confessions almost everything is at odds with everything else. It is fraught with historical, religious and familial divisions and, more substantially, divisions of identity. Although Scottish religious and political history provides an effectiveShow MoreRelatedRomanticism : Romanticism And Romanticism1444 Words   |  6 PagesRomanticism was a period time 1750 to 1870 in Europe, Latin America and The United States. Romantic Movement didn’t reach to France until the 1820’s. Romanticism main spirit was against of rule, law and formulas that classicism the different characterized of general in 18th century. Imagination, Subjectivity of approach, freedom, Expression and the idealization of nature will be focused in movement of Romantic Literature. In this period industrial revolution with the social and political norms formRead MoreRomanticism : Romanticism And Romanticism1141 Words   |  5 Pagesmovements. Although Romanticism and Modernism differ in their styles, values, and ideology, they were both important periods in literature. Romanticism was a literary movement during the late 18th century until the early 19th century that had an emphasis on the imagination and emotions. The movement moved through every country in Europe, Latin America, and the United States from approximately 1750 to 1870. However, France did not see the movement until the 1820’s. Romanticism was basically a rebellionRead MoreRomanticism Vs. Romanticism : Modernism And Romanticism1050 Words   |  5 Pagesor what does it take to better the society? Well, the Europeans had adapted the Neoclassicism and Romanticism form of art belief, in order to find the answers that they were always looking for. 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