American Romanticism

             When reading short stories of nineteenth-century America, we can see that many teach a moral and illustrate a point about American society. They take the characters, objects, and the plot of the story and create a theme within them. This is what American Romanticism is about, taking the objects in the story such as the characters, and using them to represent emblems of a greater reality. These stories go a step further; they take the elements of the story and introduce a mood to the story, or a new concept or idea that is contradictory from the traditional means. In these stories, we see a greater reality that is "romanticized" by emphasizing the aspects of society that are odd and atypical. For example, the stories talk about problems in American society and introduce unconventional characters and issues such as feminism, racism, and mental illness; highlighting the emotions of life and asking for reform. Rather than having a specific structure, these stories use imagination and illustrate the psychology of the characters. Throughout the stories we see over and over again a theme in every story, represented by the characters and the setting of the story.
             Starting from George Washington Cable's Jean-ah-Poquelin we see symbolism. This story definitely has a moral, illustrating the racial issues in Louisiana between the Creole culture and the Englishmen. The character Jean-ah-Poquelin, being an important element in the story, is laughed at and taunted by the entire White society including the mayor and even the children. Because of his Creole culture, he is seen as an ignorant fool who does not know anything about America and is still loyal to the King and Queen of France. The local society illustrates racism as "the name of Jean Marie Poquelin became of symbol of witchery, devilish crime, and hideous nursery fictions. The man and his house were alike shunned" (pg. 58). The situation with Jean-ah-Poquelin ge...

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American Romanticism. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 02:50, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/16607.html