Laurie Forshage

The Romantic Spirit and Idealism in American Literature

            The “romantic spirit” is a term that umbrellas many ideas, qualities, and attitudes.  One of these is the quality of idealism.  When considering idealism, it is almost a human instinct to desire perfection.  The idealistic view point can be found throughout the history of writing.  It did not just suddenly come about, but has been part of human nature, virtually from the time that humans could imagine.  Since then, the pursuit of perfection has remained with us and this is evident in the time line of American literature.

            A selection that is familiar to millions of people and is predominate in American Christian culture that exhibits this idealistic pursuit, is the story of Genesis.    When God created the world, he created it perfectly; there was only good in the world and no evil.  “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.”  God is perfect and God created man in his own image therefore man should be perfect.  He made man to “have dominion” over everything he created.  He even gave man the responsibility of naming everything in the world.   Man was given so much power over this perfect world, it led to the ultimate fall. 

Eve made the mistake of eating the forbidden fruit so she could have the knowledge of good and evil that had been forbidden to her.  It was in her instinct to desire more and this is the epitome of idealism.  It is achieving what is beyond and out of reach.  God is perfect and Adam and Eve wanted to be like God.  The serpent told her “God doth know that in the day ye eat therof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

All Christian children are told the story of creation in some manner.  They are told that they are perfect because they are created in the eyes of God.  This is the planting of the idealism seed because now at a very young age, humans believe that perfection can be achieved.  We are all guilty of the same flaw as Adam and Eve: the desire for more – the desire for perfection.  It is part of human nature to pursue the ideal, to pursue our own Eden; that is how God made us. 

Christopher Columbus’s letters describe in great detail the islands that he discovered while trying to reach India.  He explicitly describes the islands as being the most fertile and beautiful that he has ever seen.  They are described to the point that it sounds almost made up.  In his letter to Luis de Santangel, there are several points that are of the same nature as that of Genesis.  One point being that Columbus describes this island as having thousands of kinds of species of birds and a thousand kinds of trees.  The island has all types of landscapes including mountains and beaches.  “The island [is]…fertile to a limitless degree…Its lands are high…All are most beautiful, of a thousand shapes.”  This is like the world God first created as it had every single thing in it.  Not only do they both have everything in them, but they are the best and most perfect of everything.  In Genesis and on Columbus’s island, all things are perceived to be faultless. 

Columbus and Adam are both given the power of naming things.  Adam is allowed by God to name everything in Eden and Columbus feels that it is his responsibility to  name the islands he discovers.  “I saw another island distant eighteen leagues from the former, to the east, to which I at once gave the name ‘Espanola.’”  Columbus was on a quest for his own Eden.  What he really found is questionable because he, of course, had to send positive reports back to his financial sponsors.  However, Columbus knew exactly what to write to make it sound as though he had found a utopia.  He was searching for the place he described in his letters rather than describing the place he had found.  It is likely that the island he found was abundant in many resources, but the language Columbus uses demonstrates how idealism can skew the reality of a situation.  “In it are marvelous pine groves, and there are very large tracts of cultivatable lands, and there is honey, and there are birds of many kinds, and fruits in great diversity.  In the interior are mines and metals, and the populations is without number.  Espanola is a marvel.”

Idealism is also found in fictional pieces of literature.  A very early piece of literature that expresses human’s desire for the ideal is Charlotte Temple: A Tale of Truth.  The idealism portrayed in this text is different in that it is not about searching for the lost Eden.  As Brouke Rose-Carpenter notes in her midterm, Charlotte’s family live in their own Eden from the beginning and the story can effortlessly relate back to Genesis.  “With such an emphasis on the family’s garden, the image of the Garden of Eden comes quite easily, “I think my dear,” said Mrs. Temple, laying her head on her husband’s arm as they were walking together in the garden, “I think Wednesday is Charlotte’s birth day.”  Here a very biblical picture is painted, Mr. And Mrs. Temple stroll through their garden like Adam and Eve.”  While living in this seemingly perfect world, it is easy for Charlotte’s mother to get caught up in the idealistic life.  Charlotte’s mother actually idealizes her daughter to be perfect and never stray from the straight and narrow when in reality Charlotte has already left that path.  “She is indeed…a grateful, affectionate girl; and I am sure will never lose sight of the duty she owes her parents.”  Charlotte’s mother cannot help herself from imagining Charlotte this way.  Charlotte is her only child and, in her mother’s eyes, there is no possible way that Charlotte could be anything less than perfect.  The family may have had a moment to live in a utopian world but perfection to that degree can never be sustained.

Her mother is planning a birthday party for Charlotte so that everything will be “pleasing to Charlotte.”  The way her mother imagines the party is that all of Charlotte’s “little friends” will attend and they will “partake of a collation of fruit, sweetmeats, and other things suitable…to young guests.”  After the feast there will be music and to top it off – a dance.  All of this is out of touch with reality.  The mother does not know her daughter at all and turns a blind eye to Charlotte’s behavior.  She idealizes the character of her child and then as a result of that, tries to assemble and idealistic world for her daughter, which fails in the end.

Washington Irving also creates a character in an idealistic world with an idealistic mind: Ichabod Crane.  He spends a large portion of his time idealizing his future with the daughter of Van Tassel.  “His busy fancy already realized his hopes, and presented to him the blooming Katrina, with a whole family of children, mounted on the top of a wagon loaded with household trumpery…setting out for Lord knows where.”  His desire to be with Katrina blinds him to the fact that there is very little possibility of that coming to pass.  When he arrives at the Van Tassel party, he cannot help but imagine himself one day owning the entire property with everything on it.  He truly believes that he will marry Katrina and have a houseful of kids while living in the lap of luxury. 

It is logical for Ichabod Crane to have such an idealistic mind since he lives in a place that Irving has created.  It is not a place you would find anywhere if you looked for it because it is too idealistic.  The town is a very small town that is found in a valley among tall hills, it is “one of the quietest places in the whole world,” and there is a small brook that “glides” through it.  All of the people that live there are farmers and own their own land.  All the children attend school in a schoolhouse.  The wives of the farmers share stories and ghost tales among themselves.  To top it off, we have Ichabod Crane and his rival Brom Bones both in love with Katrina Van Tassel.  In the end, the attractive, tough, masculine man wins the love of the beautiful maiden and the lanky, educated, school teacher is never seen again.  The setting, the plot, and the main character all meet the standards of idealism.

            Edgar Allan Poe also contributes to the idea of idealism in romantic literature.  The narrator of Ligeia dedicates several pages to describing this woman that he believes is perfect.  She is described in all ways possible, from her looks to her education to her very soul.  She is the ideal woman even though she is not described as a “classic beauty.”  He mainly focuses on her looks and even more particular, her eyes.  He tries for several paragraphs to explain to the reader how magnificent her eyes are and finally concedes that there are no words that can describe them – “Ah, word of no meaning!”  He looks over her entire face and can find no faults; she is the absolute ideal woman.  She is beautiful and educated.  The narrator claims he has never known such learning in any other woman.  She is proficient in all classical languages and he resigns himself to her guidance because he feels that she is even more educated than he.

The narrator also claims that Ligeia and the narrator even have an idealistic love.  The language the narrator uses when describing her love for him is very definite and no room for questions.  “…In a bosom such as hers, love would have reigned no ordinary passion.”  Instead, her love for him is closer to obsession and “idolatry.”  That is essentially the way he feels about her and that is known through the detailed description of her person.

After Ligeia dies and the narrator remarries Rowena, he is very unhappy.  Rowena is the classic beauty: light complexion, light hair and light eyes.  Other than her appearance, the narrator has little to say regarding Rowena.  The narrator longs for Ligeia even more because he no longer has the ideal woman.  Rowena and the narrator do not love each other and she does not possess near the qualities of Ligeia.  Upon Rowena’s death and the resurrection of Ligeia, the reader is left wondering if Ligeia has truly returned to him or if it was the narrator’s desire to have perfection restored that enables him to imagine her return.

Idealism is predominant in romantic literature because it is about desire.  It is the desire to obtain more than what you have or more than is possible.  Idealism transitions to the qualities of desire and loss because idealism can never really be achieved.  As Michelle Glenn writes in her midterm, “In a Romantic text, once a state of fulfillment has been achieved, what was once idealized can no longer be.”  Some cases arise where idealism may be achieved but it can never be maintained and then it becomes a loss as well as a desire to obtain the ideal once more.  Idealism can never truly be accomplished because then it would become realism and once it becomes real, romanticism will not be satisfied; there can always be something more to desire.