Gordon Lewis

October 2, 2006

The Romantic Spirit of America

It is possible to intellectually conceptualize a view that even if America did not physically exist, it probably would have been created as an imaginary place in literature.  From its inception in history with Columbus’s voyages, American has been an element of the quest of the adventurer, of the one seeking the promise of a better life with opportunities for riches, opportunities for freedom and a new way of doing things, and opportunities for freedom involving a new ways of thinking, and in particular, opportunities for religious freedom.

An era becomes named, the Classical Period or the Romantic Period in literature, history or art because of the dominant activity in the discipline during a particular time period.  But even though a particular element is dominant in a specific time period, it remains true that the salient ideas associated with a period are neither exclusive during that age so named, nor confined to only that respective age.  Thus it is possible to discuss the threads of a period, such as the Romantic Period throughout history, where the ideas may have been present and carried another label or were not the dominant thinking during that time period.  Using this premise makes it convenient to view the elements of a period, such as the Romantic Period, in other historical time periods, a mechanism that I freely utilize in this paper.

In the introduction to this course there are references to Northrop Frye’s Anatomy of Criticism (1957) where he has included in his definition of Romance literature (quoting from introductory course materials), “Action often takes the form of a physical journey or adventure; characters may be captured or threatened or rescued.”  Further in the introductory materials are references to C. Hugh Holman’s A Handbook to Literature (3^rd ed.) where the medieval romance is identified as tales of adventure in which the hero or heroine is driven by impulses of love, religious faith or desire for adventure.  These elements identified by Frye and Holman are present in most of the readings for this course regardless of the time period. 

Thus the very first readings from the letters of Columbus encompass the elements of adventure and the quest.  This connection was noted in the midterm essays of both Robert Huffman and Matt Mayo.  Huffman writes, “. . . there are vestiges of Romanticism philosophy creating new reality in Christopher Columbus's descriptions of Espinola written in 1493. The ideal of a perfect paradise and humanity's need to return to such simplicity is prevalent in the Romantic philosophy. . . . Although Columbus writes the story two hundred years before the official beginning of the Romantic era, readers can tell how the writing anticipates its birth. . . .These pristine lands yielded abundant fruit crops, and gave him idyllic thoughts of returning to a simpler, better life for all of humanity. Columbus describes these lands as stunningly beautiful gardens, and the landscape as having breathtaking beauty. He gives detailed descriptions of the shapes of the vegetation, and their ultimate connection to other parts of nature.”

            Matt Mayo adds to this portrayal in his essay by comparing the Columbus story to

the Genesis story.  He writes, “Columbus was the first European to claim the Americas for God, King and Country. . . . Columbus authored the “Genesis” of Anglican-American conquest . . .”

            What these two students note are the elements of the quest or journey of the romance narrative that involve crossing physical borders and the integral themes of idealism and nature in the romance ideology as identified in our course objectives.  Indeed, it does not seem possible to view Columbus’s entire goal as anything else than a romantic adventure to find new routes and vast riches from his goal of locating a new route to the Indies.  The discovery of new lands and the successive adventures merely enhances the romantic nature of his endeavors. 

            An additional important component of Columbus’s writing is the inherent homology with the Genesis story of the Garden of Eden.  In his Letter to Luis de Santangel, Columbus refers to “birds of a thousand kinds,” and “Its lands are high and there are in it many sierras and very lofty mountains, beyond comparison . . . .  All are most beautiful, of a thousand shapes, and all are . . . filled with trees of a thousand kinds and tall, and they seem to touch the sky.”  These thoughts readily reference the Garden of Eden story in Genesis where it states, “the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight.” 

            Indeed, in part because so many immigrants to the new land came for religious reasons, the concept that the Americas are a new “Promised Land,” or “Garden of Eden” continues throughout American culture, both history and literature.  The fertility of the soil, the abundance of natural resources, the beauty of the nature of the land, have all contributed to these analogies.

            But also important for the “Romantic Thread” in the writings and life of Columbus, is the element of the sublime.  The sublime incorporates both ideas of pain and danger, the strongest emotion of which the mind is capable (referencing Burke from course materials).  Columbus moves from the exultation of the discovery of new lands with a beauty that taxes descriptive powers and with the promise of great wealth to issues of slain settlers, arrest and return to Spain in chains and great poverty.  It is hard to imagine such extremes in social position and when it does happen, it is usually so unusual that it becomes part of the study of history as evidenced by persons as disparate as Thomas More or Richard Nixon.  This theme of attainment of the goal often associated with beauty and pleasure, followed by loss, often a devastating loss, is a recurrent theme of the Romantic Ideology.

            These “Romantic Views” of America as the land of opportunity where riches, religious freedom and intellectual freedom are inherent and the reality of the sublime coexist throughout early writings.  Both John Smith of Jamestown and William Bradford of Plymouth, both of whom are represented in the Text, continue the threads of the Romantic Spirit of crossing physical borders in order to attain some transcendent goal or dream.  They sought both religious and financial freedom.  However, both communities experienced horrendous pain and loss as they tried to survive the initial years of settlement and battled the elements of weather, starvation, and occasionally hostile Indians.

            In an assigned reading, the Romantic heroine is well defined in Mary Rowlandson’s, Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration, which our text editors note is the best of the “Indian captivity” narratives.   Her narrative is resplendent with the piety with which we associate the pilgrim community.  Her faith allows her to hope that she will attain her goal and regain her freedom and be reunited with her family and community.  She endures as a slave, but focuses in her writing on her faith and her goal.  Mary Brooks in her midterm essay, “In the Space Between Rests the Sublime,” discusses this narrative as a sublime struggle with evil and virtue while (Rowlandson) was a captive of the Indians.  The sublime in her Narrative is captured in the following quote from the excerpt in our text, “I have seen the extreme vanity of this world:  One hour I have been in health, and wealthy, wanting nothing.  But the next hour in sickness and wounds, and death, having nothing but sorrow and affliction” (151).  Her narrative easily fits into Fry’s definition of Romance Literature.

            The theme of desire and loss is again seen in Susanna Rowson’s, Charlotte Temple: A Tale of Truth.  In a manner similar to other writings such as Columbus’s, the imagery of the Garden of Eden is evoked as her parents plan a garden birthday party for Charlotte designed to bring her much pleasure.  Instead, she is beguiled by the temptress Mademoiselle La Rue and led down a road by the rogue soldier Montraville who leads her into a world of loss of innocence and family and abandons her.  The element of hope to regain what was lost transpires when her family restores Charlotte’s illegitimate child to the family circle.   Charlotte Temple certainly embodies the Romantic traditions with the combination of the sublime transposed beside beauty and pleasure.

            Romantic idealism permeates American literature and culture.   Cooper is one author who encapsulates the romantic spirit in his writing.   He is mocked by D. H. Lawrence in Studies in Classic American Literature. (1923)   “ . . . the Indians are gentlemen through and through, though they may take an occasional scalp . . .”  Lawrence continues in his essay to mock Cooper, “Of course, it never rains: it is never cold and muddy and dreary: no one has wet feet or toothache: no one ever feels filthy when they can’t wash for a week.  God knows what the women would really have looked like, for they fled through the wilds without soap, comb or towel. . . .Yet at every moment they are elegant, perfect ladies in correct toilet.”

            In spite of D. H. Lawrence’s critical views, for the most part, it is the Romantic ideals of Cooper that have prevailed throughout American literature and culture when viewing the American Indians and the early settlers of the country.  “Cooper is the definitive American Romantic writer and the first American writer to make a career as a professional novelist (White).  His characters are the prototypes for subsequent portrayals of the American Indian as the noble savage (Tonto), and the prototype of the American hero, who has in the past been portrayed as the cowboy in the white hat (the Lone Ranger), but more recently portrayed as the superhero (Batman, Superman) (White).  These characters have always been in literature, Beowulf of the Geats, King Arthur, Robin Hood, but Cooper introduced the portrayal into American literature, and for that his contribution to letters is quite significant.

            Coopers particular gift is his ability to weave motifs in his tale.  The role of nature in The Last of the Mohicans is so significant that it rises, I believe, to a circumstance where the setting can be considered as important to the novel as a character is.  If one is familiar with the woods, lakes, rivers and hills of Pennsylvania and New York, it is obvious that the setting alone is an element of the sublime where the beauty of the spring, summer and fall is contrasted with the harshness and loss of the winter.  Wildlife is still so plentiful in this part of the country that hunting and fishing remain major activities of both the residents and tourists.

            A central motif of the novel is the journey where numerous tasks and obstacles need to be overcome to attain the goal, a basic element of the Romance.  In addition, the characters continue to experience success and loss and refocusing onto the next goal.  Another example of Cooper combining motifs is his identification of Cora as a child of mixed race, a step sister to Alice.  This helps separate her from the masses as an individual, and in a sense, transcending social boundaries, another romantic element.

            Because I am older, I have some recollection of the Leatherstocking books when I was a child, but I cannot remember the last time I saw a title of Cooper’s, other than The Last of the Mohicans, which has been popularized by the movies.  J. K. Rowlings has demonstrated that the young reader has a more voracious reading appetite than many thought.  Perhaps, Cooper may come back into style.  Teaching Cooper in the schools would help promote that goal, and this class lends itself to accomplishing that end.