ROMANTIC LOVERS

Victor was very much in love with his wife, Elizabeth. Everytime he talked about her, he always used terms of endearment and loving words to describe her.He always described her so angelic and loving; this is portrayed throughout the novel. Mary Shelley mirrored her story closely to her and Percy. We see links to her and Elizabeth, Percy and Victor and also how she changed the place where they went for honeymoon to fit the place in the story, keeping in mind, hints to Mary's own experiences.
Romanticism was a huge part of Mary Shelley's lifestyle which she brought to life in her novel, Frankenstein.
Ann-Marie
Gustav Klimt
The Kiss, c1908
at FulcrumGallery.com

Uncle Sam was into Romanticism too!

The romantic movement arrived to America from Europe during the early nineteenth century. Romanticism was well received by Americans since it had recently broken away from the British empire, who had longed to be free of strict religious tradition. The America's focus on freedom gave authors the power to freely express their ideas without fear of ridicule and controversy. Early romantic literature that made an early appearance in the United States was Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820) and Rip Van Winkle (1819), followed from 1823 onwards by the Leatherstocking Tales of James Fenimore Cooper, with their emphasis on heroic simplicity and their fervent landscape descriptions. Other notable authors during the romantic movement are Edgar Allan Poe, Henry David Thoreau Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson and Herman Melville. The Romantic movement in America continues to this day to influences modern writers.

- Philip Siu

Characteristics of Romanticism

Romantics encouraged the innate, thus creating an atmosphere of creativity,imagination,individuality and a love for nature. In the words of early century poet William Wordworth "an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things". expresses a thought provoking glance into the beauty that nature has bestowed upon us.

The emotion grabbing movement of Romanticism also depicted mysterious, romantic disillusionment and unreal works of art that made Gothic romance popular. As such, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was written with an emotional undertone that allows the reader to see through the eyes of “the monster”, seeking empathy and questioning whether he (the monster) was even a monster at all?

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/296
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/romanticism-characteristics-of-romanticism.html


-Tamika

A closer look into Romantic philosophy and its proponents.

Romantics put a strong emphasis on emotions and the importance of the subjective experience. According to the History1700s website, they believed that nature was not an object whose only purpose was to be interrogated and controlled, but rather an experience. In addition, if an individual experienced nature he would be more in tune with his feelings and become more aware of the “self.”Romanticism is a transition from the objective world to the subjective world. According to the Philosopher website, the shift was due to, “Kant’s idea that human beings do not see the world directly, but through a number of categories.” I believe that Kant’s ideas truly outline the limitations of an objective observer. If an individual is to experience the whole of life, I think he should consider the fact that he is looking through his eyes and not "him (his eyes)" looking at the world. I think that Romanticism rids itself of a mechanistic viewpoint of the world, while at the same time allowing for expressions that are more meaningful. Some of the major philosophers and writers who influenced Romanticism include the following: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) and Immanuel Kant (1724- 1804); Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), Freidrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling (1775-1854), and George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) in Germany; Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) and William Wordsworth (1770-1850) in Britain.

-Francisco

http://www.history1700s.com/articles/article1064.shtml
http://www.philosopher.org.uk/rom.htm

Romantic Influences

Mary Shelley was surrounded by three strong Romantic Poet influences such as Percy Bysshe Shelley, whom she married, had encouraged her to write Frankenstein. Shelley referred to himself as Victor when he was a young boy, just like in the novel. Mary Shelley critiqued his beliefs and used them (Shelleyan Idea) as a muse to create the Frankenstein and his creature. Lord Byron, close friend, was able to set the mood for her inspiration of Frankenstein. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, whose poem “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” greatly influenced Mary’s Frankenstein story. The loneliness of the Mariner was similar to the Frankenstein monster’s loneliness.

- Ann Marie

Art as an emotion...?

"The Enlightenment of the 18th Century was the Age of Reason. Emotions and faith were put on the back burner, while people sought answers to all of life’s mysteries through science, math and logic. By second of half of the 18th Century, when the Enlightenment was in full force, many people began rejecting the idea of basing everything on reason and sought a return to emotions and feelings. This return to emotion would be known as the Romantic Movement.."

The romantic movement originated in western europe and made a huge impact on other countries. The romantic movement would take the reader, watcher or listener from a place of logic to a place of emotion;

http://weuropeanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_romantic_movement#ixzz0ie0M97ec

-Tamika

Romantics v.s. Philosophes

As Philip stated, the Romantic Movement was sort of like a dissension against the Enlightenment. According to the historyguide Website, “the Romantics attacked the Enlightenment because it blocked the free play of the emotions and creativity.” According to the same website, “The philosophe (French intellectuals) had turned man into a soulless, thinking machine -- a robot.” Perhaps Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a representation of the prevalent ideas of the time, with the “creature” representing the intellectuals in one side and Vincent on the other, or is it the other way around?


http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture16a.html

Francisco

What the hell is "Romantic" if its not about the silk sheets?

It was a literature movement that began in the late 18th century in Western Europe, that rebelled against the Enlightenment of the previous century, which was focus on scientific and rational thought. Romantic literature is characterized by an emphasis on emotion, passion, and the natural world. An important factor in the Romantic movement was Nationalism. Many authors from this period drew their inspiration from folk tales and native mythologies.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-was-the-romantic-movement-in-literature.htm

-Philip Siu