Romanticism

            Romanticism began in the early 19th century and totally changed the way people viewed themselves and the condition of nature around them. Unlike Classicism, which stood for order and established the foundation for architecture, literature, painting and music, Romanticism allowed people to get away from the limited, rational views of life and concentrate on an emotional and sentimental side of humanity. This not only influenced political doctrines and ideas, but was also a sharp contrast from ideas and harmony featured during the Enlightenment. The Romantic era grew alongside the Enlightenment, but concentrated on human diversity and looking at life in a new way. It was the combination of modern Science and Classicism that gave birth to Romanticism and introduced a new outlook on life that embraced emotion before rationality. Romanticism was a diehard period of history when its seeds became planted in poetry, artwork and literature. The Romantics turned to the poet before the scientist to harbor their convictions. They symbolize what Romanticism stood for. His character expressed feelings from the heart and gave way to a new trend of expressing emotions through individuality as opposed to collectivism. The perception that the Enlightenment was destroying the natural human soul and substituting it with the mechanical, artificial heart was becoming prevalent across Europe. The Lyrical Ballads, published in 1798, was a series of poems that examined the beauty of nature and explored the actions of people in natural settings. Written by William Woodsworth, this form of poetry was free, expressive and without constraint as evident by this passage: "If this belief from heaven be sent, If such be Nature's holy plan, Have I not reason to lament, What man has made of man?" Such passages from his work indicates that poetry and literature was also used as a form of rebellion or distaste for political institutions or social conditions during the 19th century.