American Romantic Period
The American Romantic period of literature was simply an attitude or intellectual orientation that characterized many works of literature in America over a period from the late 18th to the mid-19th century. Like the writers who embodied it, it was a time where the people of America had a deep appreciation of the beauties of nature as well as a novel infatuation with exceptional literary figures; focusing on their passions and inner struggles. Writers of this era believed that the creative spirit was much more important than traditional writing procedures. America had been a country for approximately 75 years and was running out of wilderness to fantasize about. The writers of the time came from many different ethnic and religious backgrounds. Literature at this time was influenced by a combination of French, British, Spanish, German, and African folklore (1) and truly placed an emphasis upon imagination as a gateway to a transcendent experience and spiritual truth. Because of the diverse cultural backgrounds of the American populace, and obsessive interest in folk culture occurred giving writers freedom to explore the exotic, the remote, the mysterious, the monstrous, the occult, and yes, even the satanic. Using three differ
ent literary works from this period, I will show how the elements of the supernatural were used to conjure the imagination and spark the literary passions of a nation during a time we now call the Romantic period. "(5) I believe Thorpe's use of the unreal aspects in his story was his way of keeping the interest of the reader while paying tribute to the area he held so dear. "(3) In Young Goodman Brown, Hawthorne used the occult and satanic forces to deliver his belief in individual choice and consequence. I believe the storyteller's pride in his home state and the fact that no one wants to listen to a boring story were the catalysts that spurred on his tall imagination. I believe Irving chose this setting in the Kaatskill Mountains for its already rich abundance of local folklore. "Rip Van Winkle" was a short story written by Washington Irving in 1819. "(4) has fallen to the temptation of the devil, does he feel that all hope is lost. "(5), the essence of the story that related to the American Romantic period in literature, was based on the unreal aspects of the storyteller's story. " (5) Other examples of the storyteller's imagination was the story of the 40 pound turkey that could barely fly and the oversized mosquitoes of which he stated, "a small mosquito would be of no more use in Arkansas then preaching at a cane-break. The little men that Rip Van Winkle encountered during his hunting trip were not fairies or pixies as some people claim that I read during my Internet research, but was spirits of Hendrick Hudson, the Dutch ship captain who first sailed up the Hudson River and his crew. Hawthorne used the symbolism of the supernatural at a time in American history when many of the New England children were beginning to abandon his Puritan faith, and this story was simply a tool he could use to relate his message in a manner that would keep the interest of the readers of the day. Even though the supernatural aspect of this story is very short lived with little detail, Irving used it as a means to realistically substantiate the true essence of this story, which was the simplistic relief through the escape of the common man from his common everyday irritants in life.
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Acceptance Essays
