The 20 most famous and recognized authors of Romanticism

Romanticism has been an artistic current that has provided countless authors and artistic works to humanity.

This movement, which developed mainly in Europe and America, has laid the foundations for understanding the concept of the current nation, in addition to being, in a certain way, behind subcultures such as emo or gothic.

There are hundreds of romantic authors, of all kinds and nationalities, which makes it almost impossible to make a compilation of all of them, not However, with this article, in addition to understanding the main characteristics of the movement, we will see its most important characters. featured.

• You may be interested in reading: "The 35 best Poems of Romanticism (by great authors)"

Romanticism: main characteristics

Romanticism is a cultural movement that appeared for the first time at the end of the 18th century, trying to break with the previous current, neoclassicism. The romantic movement defended the idea of ​​fantasy, in addition to the expression of the deepest feelings of each one and fleeing from the excess of neoclassical rationalism.

Romanticism has laid the foundations of today's national movements, defending the idea of the homeland as something alive, either from a more cultural perspective or in the political sense of the term.

Among the most outstanding characteristics of the movement is the defense of liberalism, in addition to the beauty of what incomplete, something that can be observed in the extensive literary corpus of the authors of the moment, in which there is no shortage of novels incomplete. They fought against the traditional, seen as the mere copy of another copy of what at one time was an original idea. The original and what was out of the ordinary was received with open arms by the romantic authors.

Each author, whether he was a painter, writer or even a journalist, expressed himself in completely personal terms, trying to capture his own vision of the world. In addition, the romantic work was a claim for freedom and escape from the society in which its author had been forced to live. The romantic is associated with the melancholic and the exaltation of one's own culture or homeland, in addition to the mystery and omnipresence of natural landscapes..

notable authors

Romanticism has been written and painted by both men and women, although as has always happened with them, they have not been given the due prominence they deserve.

1. Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) is one of the best-known poets, novelists, and playwrights of French Romanticism. In addition to dedicating himself to literature, he was also a political asset.

As the versatile person that he was, his works touched multiple genres, however, among his most notable works is 'Les Misérables' from 1862.

Others that cannot be ignored are the plays 'Lucrèce Borgia', 'Marie Tudor', the novel 'Notre-Dame de Paris' and poetry such as 'Odes et ballades', 'L'art d'être grand-père' and 'Les quatre vents de l'esprit'.

2. Jose de Espronceda

Jose de Espronceda y Delgado (1808-1842), born in Almendralejo, Badajoz, is one of the best-known and most representative Spanish poets of romanticism in his country.

Although she wrote novels such as 'Sancho Saldaña', her poetic work is much better known as 'The student of Salamanca', 'The pirate's song' and, although unfinished, 'El diablo mundo' and 'El pelayo'. He also worked as a politician for the Spanish Progressive Party, participating in the Paris revolutions of 1930.

3. mary shelley

mary shelley, whose real name was Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, (1791-1851) she is the first woman on this list, but not the last. She was well known in various fields thanks to her contributions in philosophy, theater and essays. Born in London, she is considered one of the first science fiction authors in history.

Among his best-known works are 'Frankenstein' (iconic work of Romanticism that is part of the of popular culture around the world), 'Mathilda', 'Falkner', 'The fortunes of Perkin Warbeck' and 'Valperga'.

4. Gustavo Adolfo Becquer

Gustavo Adolfo Becquer (1836-1870) whose real name was Gustavo Adolfo Claudio Domínguez Bastida, was a Spanish poet and writer who, although well-known while he lived, was not really popular until after his death.

Among his best-known works are several stories such as 'The Devil's Cross', 'The Promise', 'Believe in God' and 'The Eyes greens ’, but without a doubt, it is his poetry in ‘Rhymes and Legends ’what has made him widely known within the current of romanticism.

This work is a set of stories that together make up one of the greatest works of literature in Spanish.

goethe (1749-1832) is one of the most recognized people within romanticism, being a benchmark not only in his native Germany, but also in the rest of the Western world.

He was not only a playwright, novelist and poet, which is not little, but he also dedicated himself to the world of science.

Goethe's work is so significant that today it continues to mark the world, especially because the institution in charge of disseminating German culture, the Goethe Institute, takes its last name.

Among his most notable works are 'Die Leiden des jungen Werther', 'Wilhelm Meister' and, the best known, 'Faust'.

Among his scientific work, his theory on color is noteworthy, in addition to having studied the development of organs in plants and their morphology.

6. Lord Byron

George Gordon Byron (1788-1824) was not only a recognized poet in his time, but also became a true celebrity thanks to his great attractiveness and his eccentric, acid and controversial personality.

Due to his peculiarities, there are those who have defended the idea that the English poet suffered from bipolar disorder.

He published many works, notable among them being his great unfinished work 'Don Juan', as well as 'Hours of Idleness', 'The Bride of Abydos' and 'The Corsair'.

As a curiosity, Lord Byron was in possession of several animals throughout his life, including monkeys, a hawk, an eagle, a fox and even a bear.

7. william blake

william blake (1757-1827) was little known during his lifetime, although this poet and painter managed to achieve fame after his death.

It is probable that this was due to the fact that his work was considered more typical of the Enlightenment than of Romanticism, although today it is classified within the second artistic current.

Among her works you can find 'All religions are one', more of an enlightened tendency, and 'Poetical sketches’, ‘An island in the Moon’, ‘The French Revolution’ and ‘The Four Zoas’ moving further away from the Illustration.

8. Charlotte Bronte

Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) is together with her sisters Emily Jane and Anne one of the members of the well-known Brontë family, with notable artists among them. Charlotte and Emily, however, are the most notable of this lineage of poets.

Charlotte's best-known work is the novel 'Jane Eyre', although she wrote others such as 'Villette' and 'The Professor ’, which were inspired by her love for the director of the school where she studied.

9. Emily Bronte

Emily Jane Bronte (1818-1848) is, like her sister Charlotte, well known, especially for being the author of 'Wuthering Heights', a novel characterized by passion and violence, with a marked character sexual.

In fact, Emily Brontë had such a shocking writing style for Victorian society at the time that many believed that her main work had been written by a man.

This caused the work to be seen as something immoral and obscene, despite the fact that with the passing of time it would become a classic of English literature that in no institute in the United Kingdom ceases to be part of the curriculum school.

10. Alexandre Dumas

The life of Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870), born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, his name has gone more unnoticed than not, known worldwide for being the author of 'Les Trois Mousquetaires' and 'Le Comte de Monte-Cristo'.

What is perhaps not so well known are his origins, being the son of a French general in the colony of Santo Domingo at that time who, in turn, was the son of a French nobleman and a black slave.

Thus, Alexandre Dumas is considered not only a great writer, but also someone who, at a time when slavery and biological racism were still valid, showing that people of African or mixed race could create great works artistic.

11. Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand

François-Rene, Vicomte de Chateaubriand (1768-1848) is considered one of the founders of French romanticism.

Among his most outstanding works you can find 'Essai sur les Révolutions', 'Atala', 'René', 'Les Martyrs' and 'Mémoirs d' Outre-Tombe'.

12. Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854-1900) is one of the most prolific of the great Irish writers in the English language. Not only was he dedicated to the novel, he also made poetry and plays.

Her work is not merely romantic in the more 'standard' sense, so to speak, of the term. He used this movement as if it were a pillar and shaped it at will to create new sub-branches within it.

Of her personal life, the most notable thing is her homosexuality, more than controversial in the Irish society of the moment, characterized by a strong Catholic morality.

Among her best-known works are 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' and 'The Importance of being Earnest'. His latest publications, 'De profundis' and 'The Ballad of Reading', were written from prison.

13. Jane Austen

Jane Austen (1775-1817), is one of the referential authors of English romanticism, it is essential to read his works in Saxon country, such as 'Pride and Prejudice', 'Sense and Sensibility', 'Mansfield Park', 'Love and Friendship' and 'Emma'.

born as Edgar Poe (1809-1849) is perhaps the best-known romantic writer born in the United States. In addition, he was a poet, literary critic and journalist.

His writings are characterized by being short stories, with a Gothic tendency, as well as being abundant between his work, horror stories and being one of the main references in terms of the genre of fear.

'The Black Cat', 'The Cask of Amontillado', 'The Pit and the Pendulum' or 'Hop-Frog' are some of his most known, and among his poetry one cannot ignore 'The Bells', 'Ulalume' and, perhaps his best known work, 'The Raven'.

15. lewis carroll

His real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898) and, in addition to being a writer, he was a mathematician, an Anglican deacon, and a photographer.

He is known worldwide for being the author of 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' and its sequel 'Through the Looking-glass', being children's novels that have become classics, in addition to being adapted on several occasions to the movie world.

In his novels he winks at the world of mathematics, as well as being marked by paradox and nonsense.

16. Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) he is the author of up to 15 novels, as well as several short stories and essays critical of the state of English society in which he lived.

His works are quite famous such as 'Oliver Twist', 'Nicholas Nickleby', 'David Copperfield' and 'Great Expectations'.

17. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Although she lived in a time before romanticism, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was a Genevan philosopher and writer, as well as a musical composer, botanist and naturalist.

She described the society of her time and intended to improve it through the use of her thought, writing works as notable ones such as 'Du contrat social' and 'Discours sur l'origine et les fondements de l'inégalité parmi les hommes'.

She also wrote novels, such as 'Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse', and also texts on pedagogy, such as 'Émile, ou De l' éducation'.

18. William Wordsworth

Like the great English poet that she was, William Wordsworth (1770-1850).

His works include The Solitary Reaper, The Prelude, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, The Tables Turned and many more.

19. Rosalia de Castro

Maria Rosalia Rita de Castro (1837-1885) was a Galician poet, very important and prominent in Spanish literature.

She wrote both in Spanish and in her native language, Galician, being a symbol of Galician culture her work 'Cantares galegos', whose date of publication, May 17, 1863, has become the 'Galician Letters Day', celebration of literature in Galician.

Her work is characterized by appreciation for her homeland, showing longing or 'longing'. In addition, the fact that part of her work is written in Galician is a declaration of principles, attachment and defense of her culture. Other notable works are, in Spanish, the poetics 'La flor', 'A mi madre' and 'En las orillas del Sar', while in Galician it is remarkable 'Follas novas'. In prose we can highlight 'Contos da miña terra'.

20. Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (1830-1886) was an American poet, whose poetry is characterized by having a special sensitivity, as well as being wrapped in mystery and addressing various themes in a very profound way.

Bibliographic references:

• Council of Galician Culture and University of Santiago de Compostela (1986). Proceedings of the International Congress of studies on Rosalía de Castro and her time. Publications service of the University of Santiago de Compostela.
• Franklin, R. W. (1999). The Poems of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge: Belknap Press.
• McCalman, I. (2009). An Oxford Companion to the Romantic Age. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. Online at Oxford Reference Online
• Reynolds, N. (2010). Building Romanticism: Literature and Architecture in Nineteenth-century Britain. University of Michigan Press.
• Wilde, O. (2009). "The art of conversation". Spain.