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Alisha Blue
Identifying the Realism From and Within Romanticism
The
Romantic era, following the Enlightenment, was a unique period that allowed for
more freedom of writing. Where in the Enlightenment, philosophers were often
focused on science, specificities, and facts, the Romantic era allowed for
imagination, individualism, and appreciation of nature. Of course, there are
many other factors that accompany the Romantic era, as well as many causes to
the effect for this new era. Throughout this course, students were able to
immerse themselves in Romantic rhetoric as we read Poe’s
Ligeia and Emerson’s
Nature.
We were able to easily identify romantic
writing and the various factors that were included in such.
After
the Romantic period, Realism would then take place as the status quo for
writing. As we neared the semester, certain aspects of Realism began to surface
within the literature we studied. It was more easily identifiable due to its
distance from the previous Romanticism we reviewed due to its intricate details
within the writing, and simply being in the “here and now” where Romanticism is
the “anywhere but here and now.” Oftentimes however, Romanticism and Realism
intermingled with one another throughout the texts with which we were presented.
Because of this, it was interesting to identify Romanticism and Realism
separately, but also appreciate the mixture of the two. Poe’s
Ligeia and Emerson’s
Nature defined the Romantic era. Davis’s
Life in the Iron Mills and Alcott’s
Hospital Sketches reflect more
Realism. And finally, Whitman’s “The
Wound Dresser” and “There Was A Child Went Forth” employ both Romanticism and
Realism. By reviewing Romanticism and
Realism separately and together, it’s clear the ways in which to identify the
two with writings from this period.
Poe’s
Ligeia epitomized the Romantic era.
It employs the romantic, the gothic, and the sublime, all in one story. Perhaps
the most prominent of these is Poe’s signature use of the Gothic. This type of
writing is contrasted greatly against Realism, because it negates the “reason”
behind things, even if they sound absurd. The beauty in this is to allow readers
to be carried away in a literary land that encompasses Romanticism. Poe writes,
“And again I sunk into visions of Ligeia- and again, (what marvel that I shudder
while I write,) again there reached my ears a low sob from the region of the
ebony bed.” This type of suspense that Poe utilizes in his writing is indicative
of Romanticism. Of course, with Ligeia,
there are many other elements to the Romantic era that elevate his writing, much
like he does with Ligeia in the story.
Another prominent example of the Romantic era is Emerson’s
Nature. It’s classified in many ways
as Romanticism, but specifically through its use of Transcendentalism and the
most obvious indicator: nature. Perhaps my favorite line of
Nature is: “Seen in the streets of
cities, how great [the stars] are! If the stars should appear one night in a
thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many
generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown!” Emerson
takes an element of nature, in this case the stars, and applies it to everyday
settings that show how we take such beauty for granted. Through his writing,
like Poe’s, it’s also easy to get lost in his writing. This is the importance
and splendor of Romanticism.
However, in Realism, there is often other tones that occur that juxtapose
against Romanticism. Life in The Iron
Mills is a prominent example of how Davis portrays city life and social
classes. By portraying “masses of men,” Davis plays on the notion of chaos and
suffocation. More so, the fact that they are also nameless (and faceless)
indicates their unimportance and is widely contrasted to Romanticism’s
notion that everybody knows everybody. In essence, it contrasts the
urbanization that the US was coming to at that point in history versus the
previous rural setting like we’ve seen in
The Wide, Wide World.
Within Louisa May Alcott’s
Hospital Sketches, her style of
writing echo her voice which sounds different amongst the other authors of this
time period. Because of her quick wit, she possesses styles of Realism in her
writing. Comedy and humor is not typically associated within the Romantic era of
writing, and to read her writing is refreshing, as well as a challenge. She sets
the tone in Chapter 1, “As boys going to sea immediately become nautical in
speech, walk as if they already had their ‘sea legs’ on, and shiver their
timbers on all possible occasions, so I turned military at once, called my
dinner my rations, saluted all new comers, and ordered a dress parade that very
afternoon.” Clearly, she plays on the use of jargon t (both nautical and
military) to create a different kind of environment for her readers. Certainly,
aspects of this type of realism would have been refreshing to the readers of the
American Renaissance.
Whitman’s “The Wound Dresser” and “There Was A Child Went Forth” were both my
favorite poems of the semester in that they employed both Romanticism and
Realism aspects. Whitman has an impeccable way of weaving between the two: he
gives certain aspects of Realism, while looking through a Romantic lens. For
instance, in “The Wound Dresser,” he is in the action of aiding hurt soldiers
and notes their “stump of the arm and amputated hand” and the vivid image of
“putrid gangrene,” which very much is realistic. However, by his thoughts, “Come
sweet death…In mercy come quickly,” he personifies Death and romanticizes the
rhetoric to show mercy to the soldiers.
In
“There Was A Child Went Forth,” Whitman similarly uses this same frame again.
Through the child’s eyes there was “the apple-trees cover’d with blossoms and
the fruit afterward, and wood-berries, and the commonest weeds by the road.” The
beauty of the nature through the child’s eyes also focuses in on the “weeds”: a
very realistic and solemn observance on the nature of life. Whitman also uses
the mother/father lines as an example to juxtapose one another. One on hand, the
mother is sweet and homely, and highly romanticized, and on the other, the
father is harsh, mean, and abusive- a very realistic and serious observation.
Both of these poems masterfully employ the use of intermingling Romanticism and
Realism that allow this time period to stand out.
By
exploring the writings from this semester that used aspects of Romanticism and
Realism, it further allows us to appreciate the complexity of the American
Renaissance. It’s imperative to look at the differences of the two styles of
writings, and take into account what implications they mean. It’s also important
appreciate the beauty of the two mixed together like Whitman perfects. Overall,
the American Renaissance produced many
authors that varied in genres and styles of writing.
