The Romantics

Some of these musicians were Ludwig van Beethoven and Richard Wagner. The revolutions in America were very much influences by the ideas of the Romantics, because Romanticism became associated with economic and social reform. Many typically romantic characteristics appear in the poetry of William Wordsworth of England. And he also believed that conversations with simple peasants taught us more about truth and reality then with college educated philosophers. He also believed that we learn more by using nature then by reading books.

The French Philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau taught that man is naturally good, but has been corrupted by the traditions of civilization. He preferred a dreamy, pensive mood to an organized, scientific search for truth. l potentialities; a preoccupation with the genius, the hero, and the exceptional figure in general, and a focus on his passions and inner struggles; a new view of the artist as a supremely individual creator, whose creative spirit is more important than strict adherence to formal rules and traditional procedures; an emphasis upon imagination as a gateway to an inspiring experience and spiritual truth; an obsessive interest in folk culture, national and ethnic cultural origins, and the medieval era; and a predilection for the exotic, the remote, the mysterious, the weird, the occult, the monstrous, the diseased, and even the satanic. Most writings were of legends and folklores, as seen in, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, collected by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm. Romanticism stresses freedom for the individual. The Romantics were influenced by this concept and often took part in more liberal and revolutionary activities. They believed that man’s creative powers work best when the imagination is unrestrained. Examples of artists during this period were, Eugene Delacroix and Nicolas Poussin, who both use dramatic scenes of nature.

Romanticism affected all forms of the Arts.