(2015 midterm assignment) Model Student Midterm answers 2015 #1: Long Essays (Index)

LITR 4328 American Renaissance

Zach Thomas

Romanticism Feeding Realism

The title may sound contradicting here, but bear with me. In many of the short stories we have read in class, this statement becomes very true. Romanticism is what paints the backdrop of this beautiful landscape/setting in order to set up the possibility of realism (not always does a story get to this point.) Realism in inversely related to Romanticism. Most stories that we have read this semester combine the two and I believe that works best. Realism is the structure that holds the story together while Romanticism is the free-spirited details that make the story enticing to read. 

In Emerson’s Nature, Romanticism masks Realism, but there are still small glimpses of their relationship. “But when a faithful thinker, resolute to detach every object from personal relations, and see it in the light of thought, shall, at the same time, kindle science with the fire of the holiest affections, then will God go forth anew into the creation.” (25). He speaks of a great man of science and brings in a sort of Enlightenment thinking, but then follows up with Romanticism overshadowing science with religion in its most romantic form. Emerson wants to focus the reader on the beauty of religion, in that God is in creation and the rarest beauty comes from viewing nature in this way. 

Rip Van Winkle plays mostly on romanticism as well when Rip finds himself searching after a figment of his imagination and sleeping through years of his life. Realism takes place though when he has to face reality when he comes back to his sleepy town and does not recognize anything. “[38] “Oh, he went off to the army in the beginning of the war; some say he was killed at the storming of Stony Point*—others say he was drowned in a squall at the foot of Antony’s Nose*. I don’t know—he never came back again.”’ As this poor man endeavors to enlighten Rip of his return, there is focus on war and necessary means to survive. Many of these individuals that left felt that they had to to protect their homes and families. Of course for Rip, none of this made much sense because his life has been characterized by fantasy and lack of involvement in reality.

For Ichabod Crane in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, his romantic pursuit for the daughter of Van Tassel also brought about the real sense of what that pursuit entails for him. “Ichabod, on the contrary, had to win his way to the heart of a country coquette [flirt], beset with a labyrinth of whims and caprices, which were forever presenting new difficulties and impediments.” (26). Yes this statement is mostly romantic in his longing to be with this woman, but he is faced with the reality of knowing this will be an uphill battle. He has to compete against other men and also her father in order to win her over. This process in a man’s eyes can be very disheartening because there are so many things stacked up against them. For Crane, he must think and devise plans unique to his circumstance. Romance is only won by Realism in this case.

Racial tensions are what drives The Last of the Mohicans as the two daughters of the colonel are taken on this wild adventure. Copper wants to lay out the divisions between colonists and natives in order to strike up certain examples of Realism. The French and Indian War brings about avenues that Cooper uses to place real historical facts, but also goes off into a romantic sense by introducing historical imagination to encapsulate the reader. The daughters begin to interact differently with Magua than they would other colonists because they have never truly seen a distinction between races like this before. 

Ligeia focuses primarily on Romanticism to engage the reader in the scenery of this particular building that the narrator enters. “The gloomy and dreary grandeur of the building, the almost savage aspect of the domain, the many melancholy and time-honored memories connected with both, had much in unison with the feelings of utter abandonment which had driven me into that remote and unsocial region of the country.” (14). This story seems to neglect the realism aspect of romanticism and that is perfectly fine to do. Poe invites the reader to survey the building on which he has entered, so that the reader can feel what will happen next when he takes hold of Ligeia. The gothic scenario of this grand building puts me in a sense of fear to walk into such a dreaded area. Poe enhances the story by bringing about the death and resurrection of Ligeia in order to set apart his writing with Romanticism. His stories shine light on the gothic aspect of Romanticism because there are huge aspects of melancholy in his personal life. 

Romanticism does not always play nicely with Realism in stories or narratives. Most of the time, Romanticism even blots out Realism entirely. As Romanticism describes the setting, Realism puts people into the setting with specific conflict and plot. Romanticism focuses on sometimes a sense of vagueness that Realism is devoid of. Realism takes place when the purpose of the story is  to be specific of the time and place, but also speaks in the common vernacular.