How Romanticism Changed Societys Way of Thinking Essay -- Romanticism

To understand how Romanticism changed the way society thought, you must first understand the meanings and reason behind the movement. The Romantic Movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries was described as a movement in the history of culture, an aesthetic style, and an attitude of mind. (Fiero) Romanticism provided expression of their thoughts and ideas toward their own societies, which was in effect predominantly in Europe and in the United States. The movement was a reaction to the Enlightenment which provided strict ideology and rationalism. The Church had much to do with the Enlightenment seeing as if religion and the importance of God were incorporated into most aspects of their culture. Thus, Romanticism was a response to the Enlightenment Movement and their religious ideology. Romantics began to believe that it was important to be in touch with your emotions. Romanticism was viewed as an assertion of intuitive individualism and the primacy of feeling. (Fiero) These ideas lead to more detail and expression in art. Portraits are perfect examples for the subject of the individual because in portraits you can see what the person was feeling. Artists typically painted as a reaction of what was going on around them and portraits gave them the opportunity to express what their society was like. Traditionally, records of individual likeness, portraits became vehicles for expressing a range of psychological and emotional states in the hands of Romantic painters. (Galitz) In the book Toward a Theory of Romanticism the author Morse Peckham gives his own idea on the theory of Romanticism. He gave his opinion on the theory of romanticism because he proclaims that while there is a definition for the romanticism movement, ... ...lt good about themselves as human beings. Because they acquired this mindset, they used their instinct to form opinions on issues that they dealt with at that time. People’s morals changed because of Romanticism and that changed the mentality of individuals for the better. Without individuality, society would yield all excitement and become very dull. Works Cited Galitz, Kathryn Calley. "Romanticism". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. Fiero, Gloria K. The Humanistic Tradition 6th ed. Vol. II New York: McGraw Hill, 2011 Print. Gleckner, Robert F., and Gerald E. Enscoe. "Toward a Theory of Romanticism." Romanticism; Points of View. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1970. Print. Curran, Stuart. The Cambridge Companion to British Romanticism. Cambridge [England: Cambridge UP, 1993. Print.