Romantic Synthesis-Asher P.1 T.1

Romanticism has been defined as an artistic and intellectual movement distinguished by a awareness in nature, importance on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, and removal from the attitudes of classicism. It created not just one artistic style however; it strongly influenced the principles of emotion, imagination, and the freedom of expression. Romantic poets, writers and artists of this era expressed their personal experiences and emotions in simple language, which appealed toward the readers, mainly the mid class. Romanticism took a step away from religion becoming more secular, rebelling against the church and coming back around to the idea of sympathy toward individual liberty. Representation of the secular man was portrayed in art, music, writing, and even buildings. Buildings were built in a medieval, gothic vision instead of the Enlightenment’s Roman and Greek classical style. For example, The Palace of Westminster is one of the buildings from the Romantic era. It is a Neo-Gothic edifice in England which represents the style of Romanticism. Also, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, is often cited as a precursor of modern sci-fi. The novel embraced the Medieval, Gothic culture so disregarded by the early 18th century of classicism, which actually made the novel so popular in its era. The Romantics revived, for the first time since the Renaissance, the characteristics of the style of Western Europeans from that era. It was during the Romantic era the rise of individualism became more widespread. Writers, poets, and artists of that era, including Shelly, Byron, Coleridge, Francois Rude, and Eugene Delacroix, also represented the Romantic Era with their style of expressing it.