Romantic+Art


 * Prompt:** Discuss some of the ways in which Romantic artists, musicians, and writers responded to political and social-economic conditions in the period from 1800 - 1850. Document your response with specific examples from discussions of at least two of the three disciplines: visual arts, music, and literature.


 * By:** Melody Huang


 * Thesis:** In the midst of chaos caused by overpopulation, revolutionary forces, and contradicting political views, Romantic artists, musicians, and writers turned to the expression of individual uniqueness to find a stability within art.


 * Political Background:**
 * Conservatism (Metternich) primarily dominated, but there were problems
 * Lots of Revolutionary upheaval due to growth of liberalism and nationalism
 * i.e. Second French Revolution, rebellions in Greece and Central Europe


 * Social Background:**
 * Rise of an orderly society
 * Huge influx of people coming from the cities led to horrible living conditions, poverty, unemployment, and social unrest
 * Middle class urban people freaked out since they felt the poor posed a threat to them
 * Development of the police force
 * Lightly armed
 * Goal: Protect citizens!
 * Law enforcement officers who were to preserve property and lives, maintain domestic order, investigate crime, and arrest offenders
 * Created after the huge rise in criminal activity
 * Reform of Prisons:
 * Use of isolation as form of punishment instead of torture and work
 * Influenced by American prisons


 * Romanticism**
 * Individualism = Focus on self and the unique traits of each person
 * Rebel against middle-class conventions
 * "Giest" - spirit that made people unique
 * Importance of inner feelings (sentiment)
 * Many Romantics sought drugs and suicidal depression to find the "unusual" in their own lives
 * Stressed importance of intuition, feeling, emotion, and imagination
 * Literature:
 * Grimm brothers: Dark fairy tales
 * Hans Christian Anderson did the same
 * "Ivanhoe" - Clash between Saxon and Norman knights in medieval England
 * Edgar Allan Poe: Short horror stories
 * Mary Shelley: "Frankenstein"
 * Art:
 * Casper David Friedrich: "Man and Woman Gazing at the Moon:
 * Loved to paint landscapes with mystical feel in it, feeling of mystery
 * Delacroix: "Death of Sardanapalus"
 * Use of light and patches of interrelated color
 * Supported liberal movements
 * "Massacre at Chios" - Brutal event in Greek war of Indepndence
 * Made to arouse popular indignation
 * Music:
 * Beethoven: Deaf guy who wrote lots of music
 * Berlioz: "Syphony fantastique" (Opium induced symphony...Psycho man)
 * Revival of Religion:
 * Catholicism revived
 * Showed a force for order in society
 * Protestantism also was revived
 * Referred to as the Awakening

Sources: Favorite book in the world: Culture and Values, Volume II (Wadsworth Group) AP Achiever (McGraw-Hill, by Chris Freiler)