1. In the Romantic Era, the reaction against reason and the newfound emphasis on imagination ennobled common men in secular ways. Writers and artists began to portray the movement of the common man by turning towards scenes of nature, the beauty of nature, and scenes of experiences and strong emotions. For example, Caspar David Friedrich’s painting, Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, shows the emphasis on nature and personal reflection as a man is shown staring into a foggy landscape. This emphasis on nature and profound thought shows how people in the Romantic Era turned toward their inner emotions, to the beauty of nature, and away from the industrialism ideas from the previous era.
Another example would be Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte. This novel again shows the love of nature that the Romantic era is defined by, as the characters pay attention to the weather and the weather seems to sometimes be similar to the mood of certain characters. The main character in this novel, Heathcliff, is a perfect example of a Byronic hero, one of the romantic elements of literature. Heathcliff has almost every single one of the characteristics of a Byronic hero: He is rebellious, passionate, isolated, has mysterious origins, lacks family ties, and he seeks to resolve his isolation through love. He is a perfect example of a common man being represented secularly, and he can be considered a common man because he was adopted into his family.
Justin Cornford, Fedor Kossakovski, John Farnworth, Charles Salumbides
Good examples and excellent explanation. The part about Caspar David Friedrich’s painting is good and we can imagine the feelings and moods when you guys were looking at it. It would be even better if you describe the painting a bit more in detail and explicit how each part of the painting exphasize differently on the unique senses of romantic era. As for the part of Heathcliff, it is geat that you used the term Byronic hero, but it need to be defined because you cannot assume that your readers know it. In general it is a pretty synthesis and we learned somrthing from it.
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