Romanticism in Universal Literature: Most Outstanding Authors

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In the 19th century, in Germany, a group of young people led by Goethe promoted a new way of making and understanding art: the romanticism. They were a group of rebels who acted against Neoclassicism and the Enlightenment to bet on a more humane, sentimental and truer literature. The fight against the coldness of reason and objectivity was reflected in the creation of poems, stories and novels where human feelings and passions were the main protagonists. In this lesson from a TEACHER we want to discover who the authors of romanticism in world literature most prominent and representatives of this new movement.

Index

1. Origin of literary romanticism
2. Goethe, a German romantic
3. Victor Hugo, the romantic from France
4. Alexander Dumas, another renowned French romantic
5. Walter Scott, the romantic from England
6. Edgar Allan Poe, the romantic of America
7. Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, the romantic from Spain

Before starting to talk about the most prominent authors of romanticism in world literature, it is important that we understand a little what this movement consisted of and how it originated. The country where it all started was

Thus, it is in Germany that the group arises Sturm und Drang("storm and momentum") that was led by one of the top names of European romanticism: Goethe. This group defended freedom, feelings and the breakdown of the dominance of the mind and reason as the engine of society and art.

General characteristics of romanticism

It was a movement that repositioned man and his individuality as the artistic object. He defended so much the personal and collective individuality And, therefore, this movement led to the rise of nationalist movements in the vast majority of European countries.

Some characteristics of literary romanticismThe most prominent were the following:

• Individualism: With romanticism, attention is returned to the individual, to their personal characteristics, to their problems, to their emotions, and so on. The generalization of Neoclassicism is closed and, now, romantics will pay attention to people individually
• Feelings: the emotional, spiritual and dream plane becomes the protagonist of the works of the romantics, therefore, put aside objectivity to enter fully into subjectivity and the analysis of our feelings more intimate
• Rebellion: romantics act like rebels, people who rebel against a world that they do not understand and that does not take them into account. They are people who are very emotional and visceral, so they consider that they have no place in a materialistic and cold world.
• Love: love becomes one of the most important themes among romantic writers. But love seen from all levels, both positive love, love evil, loss, desolation... Pessimism is the most common tone among romantics
• Fantasy exaltation: imagination and fantasy reposition themselves in romantic writing. The influence of realism and materialism is left behind to enter the paths of the mind and the labyrinth of human emotions

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Leader of the Sturm und Drang, Goethe is one of the most important authors of romanticism in world literature. He was born in Germany, into a bourgeois family, and his literary career began in Strasbourg where he continued his studies. It was in this city where he began to move through literary and artistic circles and where he founded the group Sturm und Drang which consisted of the beginning of the first romanticism.

During his literary career, Goethe wrote novels, poems and plays. A prolific literary career that has made him, today, one of the most representative authors of European and universal romanticism. His works were widely imitated by the authors of his time and served as inspiration for authors from all over the world.

Plays Goethe's highlights:

• Splendor
• Poetry and truth
• Wilhelm Meister
• Poetry and truth

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Inside of the french romanticismIf there is a name that stands out above the rest, it is Victor Hugo. From a very young age he showed an enormous interest in the world of letters and, in fact, being only a child he wrote down in his school notebook that he wanted to be like Chateaubriand.

Today, his name is one of the best known in world literature since he wrote some of the most successful works of romanticism such as "The Miserables", a piece that is still highly recognized today and that, in fact, have created highly successful musical shows and films. The themes of his works were very varied and the author, in addition to being a writer, was also a man involved in politics and society.

More important works by Victor Hugo

• The Miserables
• The last day of a man sentenced to death
• Who loves does not live
• Autumn leaves
• The end of Satan

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Romanticism made a very deep mark on France and, therefore, from the Gallic country we have some of the best authors of The End of Romanticism in world literature, such as Alexander Dumas. This novelist was born in a French town in 1802 but, in his early 20s, he moved to Paris. It was here that he rubbed shoulders with the literary environment and left his law career to bet on his ability in letters.

Dumas's formation was completely autodidactHowever, this did not harm him when it came to writing and becoming one of the most established writers of the romantic movement. Some of the best known stories in literature come from his pen as is the case with "The three musketeers" or "The count of Monte Cristo". However, at the end of his life Dumas suffered from depression and eventually fell into a state of insanity and psychosis.

Most important works of Dumas:

• A masked ball
• The man without tears
• The Three Musketeers
• The Count of Monte Cristo
• The mouth of hell

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To speak of universal romanticism and not to speak of Walter Scott would be a profound sacrilege. And it is that this English writer born in 1771 became one of the most representative voices of the movement in his country. He was a poet, novelist and editor, although where he most triumphed was in his novelistic side and, above all, in the subgenre of the romantic historical novel.

Originally from Scotland, Walter Scott was the most influential representative of the romantic novel since, in his works, we find a strong presence of the legends and historical myths that were part of the historical corpus of Scotland. Medieval times were his most consecrated source of inspiration and this environment was later one of the most evoked in his poems or novels.

Best known works by Walter Scott:

• Ivanhoe
• The pirate
• The Heart of Midlothian

Another of the best known and international authors of romanticism in universal literature is, without a doubt, Edgar Allan Poe. In fact, he is one of the most popular romantics both in the United States and in the rest of the world. He became known, above all, for his great mastery in creating horror stories and for cultivating a narrative subgenre of which he was a very prominent voice: the gothic novel.

Today, Poe is well known for being one of the most outstanding teachers of the short story. But, in addition to stories, the author also wrote a wide variety of genres such as poetry, essays or literary criticism. Mystery, horror or detective stories are still, today, well known by fans of fantasy and Gothic literature.

Most outstanding works by Poe

• The black cat
• The well and the pendulum
• The Tell-Tale Heart
• The premature burial
• The Arthur Gordon Pym Narrative

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The romanticism in Spainit was an artistic movement that came a little late. In fact, while in the rest of Europe at the beginning of the XIX it was already a consolidated current, in Spain it did not arrive until the middle of the XIX. However, the influence of the romantic spirit was very powerful in the authors of the time and, Among all of them, the one who has had the most success and international recognition is Gustavo Adolfo Becquer.

This author achieved literary recognition once he died. Today, he is one of the indispensable authors in our literary history for having created a very simple, direct and emotional poetic language in which, without frills, he is able to express a large number of emotions and feelings.

Bécquer's most outstanding works

• Rhymes and Legends
• Letters from my cell
• Book of sparrows

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