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LITR 4232: American Renaissance  |
Final Exam Essays 2013 Sample answers for
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Kayla Davis
The Realities of Romanticism
Romanticism often emphasizes the beauty
and awe of nature and the purity and innocence of youth. It speaks of the
greatness of human emotion, love, and desire. Its preference for escapism causes
Romanticism to seem far from the realms of reality. But even the most Romantic
literature has bits and pieces of Realism and the most realistic literature has
bits and pieces of Romanticism. James Cooper’s
The
Last of The Mohicans, Rebecca Davis’
Life in the Iron-Mills, and Walt
Whitman’s “The Wound-Dresser” have aspects of Romanticism and Realism.
Though Realism and Romanticism are different
in nearly all aspects the authors of the Romanticism period, especially the late
period of Romanticism portrayed aspects of realism. Realism and Romanticism
differ in that characters in Romanticism may be “larger than life”, while
characters in realism resemble ordinary people. In Romanticism the plot contains
unusual events, mystery, or high adventure, while in Realism the plot is
developed with ordinary events and circumstances. In Romanticism the language is
“flowery,” the setting is more fantasy than reality. In Realism the language and
setting are realistic. The Last of the
Mohicans, Life in the Iron Mills,
“The Wound-Dresser” exemplify Romantic literature with ideas of Realism.
The Last of the Mohicans
presents a Romanticized view of the Native-American experience and other
Romantic notions. However, the historical fiction also depicts Colonial Realism
and realism in its depictions of battle. Chingachgook, friend of the
protagonist, Hawkeye, is presented as the Romantic “Noble Savage.” He is
characterized as both wise and uncivilized, caring, but blood thirsty.
The Last of the Mohicans also
highlights numerous ideas from Romanticism through Hawkeye’s shunning
civilization and seeking nature, his rescuing of Alice and Cora from Magua, and
his love for the supernatural and the imaginative realms.
However, aspects of Realism are also
present in The Last of the Mohicans. The battles in the story portray the French
and Indian War, though in a dramatic and exaggerated way. Another realistic
aspect of Last of the Mohicans is the
interaction between the different races. Cooper describes the Native Americans
as being both good and bad, and uses the friendship between to portray the
necessities and benefits of interracial interaction. Another example of
literature where Romanticism and Realism meet is
Life in the Iron Mills.
Life
in the Iron Mills appears at the end of the
Romantic area as the first American sample of realism. Realism can be applied to
the storyline embedded in Davis’s short story, but there are many characters
such as Hugh, Deborah and Quaker woman do not fit into the notions of realism.
Hugh, Deborah, and the Quaker woman, all carry certain characters of
Romanticism. Hugh and Deborah both went to the church, though Hugh still fell
into the wrong path, Deborah went onto a brighter future with the help of Quaker
woman. This is certainly not the case for most immigrants working under the
shadows of industrialism, but it serves as the hope and signal for change among
the readers. Davis also uses her narrator as a first person and gives many
abstract and imaginative description of each scene in the story, making the
Life in the Iron Mills further apart
from Realism. Even with the realistic scenes depicted in Davis’ story, different
aspects of Romanticism still remain. Another story that is realistic, but also
includes Romanticism is “The Wound-Dresser.”
“The Wound-Dresser” demonstrates Romanticism
in the beginning of the poem and the end. The poem begins with young men and
women asking the narrator to recount his days as a Civil War wound dresser,
expecting him to tell them “of these scenes, of these furious passions, these
chances, of unsurpass’d heroes” (1.7-1.8). The ideas of passion, heroes, and the
youth embody the principle of Romanticism. The self-sacrifice and heroic nature
of the narrator is also Romantic.
However, the graphic description of the wounds is anything but Romantic.
The narrator depicts the true horror of war in with scenes bloodshed,
amputations, and death. The quick transition emphasizing the bloodshed and death
caused by war is all it takes for one to snap out of the romantic, heroic
mindset.
In
The Last of the Mohicans, Life in the
Iron Mills, and “The Wound-Dresser” emerged from the Romantic Movement, but
still shared characters of Realism. The battles and the description of the
Native Americans as being both good and bad present Realism in the Romantic
novel, The Last of the Mohicans,
The realistic descriptions of
industrialization in Life in the Iron
Mills gives the story Realism, but the salvation from the Quakers and the
emphasizes of individualism also makes it Romantic.
The gruesome and realistic depictions in “The Wound-Dresser” and its
heroic portrayal of the narrator make the poem both Realistic and Romantic.
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