Romanticism of Jane Austen
The Romanticism era or movement was basically a rebellion of the typical or mainstream idea of literature. This was a very strong movement, it was accepted and practiced by approximately two thirds of the popular writting population. It began in Germany and England in the 1770s, by the 1820s it had taken over all of Europe, it even took over the most "by the book," country, France. Then it made it's way into the western world, and in its musical form has triumphed around the globe, so that from London to Tokyo to Texas, the most popular orchestral music in the world is that of the romantic era. During the next hundred years the romantic literature and music was harshly condemned by the academic and professional world of Western hemisphere. John Williams wrote and directed one of the most distinctive songs in the entire world, The Imperial March, otherwise known as the theme song for the movie Star Wars, it was the sound of 19th-century Romanticism still the most popular style for epic film soundtracks.Since the Romantic movement started, it has transformed poetry, the novel, drama, painting, sculpture, all forms of concert music, and ballet. It was deeply connected with the politics of the time. It was the voice of revolution
Goethe deliberately places German folkloric themes and images on a par with Classical ones in rebellion. The Enlightenment had talked of "natural law" as a source of truth, but this was very controversial in human society at the time. Romanticism in nature is also a very large topic in Romanticism. All of this fantasizing about the creative folk process reflected precious little knowledge about the actual processes by which songs and stories are created and passed on and created as well an idea of the German soul which was to be used to dire effect by the Nazis in the 20th century. In England it was perpetuated with Joseph Addison and Richard Steele re-writting old ballads as if they were poetry. Voltaire and his comrades had used enthusiasm and strong language to get rid of the superstition in Gothic arts; the Gothic writers evoked all manner of irrational scenes designed to horrify and amaze. Rousseau was a large figure in the thoughts about nature and the land. Fairies, witches, angels all the fantastic creatures of the Medieval popular imagination came flooding back into the European arts in the Romantic period. The modern appreciation for "Victorian" designs is just one of many examples of the frequent displays of Romantic tastes and styles that are abundant in our time. Paintings of rural settings were usually extremely idealized: either well-tended gardens or tidy versions of the myth of ancient Greece and Rome. In this they were inspired by certain people that were associated with the Enlightenment, in particular the writings of Voltaire's arch-rival, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In Germany in particular, the idea of a collective people dominated a good deal of thinking about the arts. at the beginning of the 19th century and the voice of the Establishment at the end of it. Sometimes they tried to fit into the traditional patterns by buying noble titles; but more and more often they developed their own tastes in the arts and created new social and artistic movements, this was alien to the old aristocracy. This process can be seen operating as early as the Renaissance in the Netherlands.
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Netherlands Romanticism,
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