This is in belated celebration of Valentine's Day...
After class today I thought quite a bit about our discussion on the Romantic movement in English Literature and tried to link it to our modern notion of "Romance" (yes, with a capital R). It seems as though we associate the descriptor more with popular media such as the Romantic Comedies or Romance Novels (with or without a shirtless hunk on cover), rather than the philosophical ideals of Blake and Wordsworth.
I wonder, do we still value a notion of Romance similar to that of Romantic Poets of the late 18th and early 19th century? Let us think of this kind of Romanticism as at least one (or more) of the following: emotional and less rational, idealistic of innocence and nature over corrupt society, a romantic idealization of one's country, and a direct connection with the transcendental/spiritual through nature. In your opinion, do we see any resemblance of this Romanticism in today's politics, culture, media, beliefs? Do we rather seem to exhibit the Enlightenment values Voltaire and Rousseau? Is one way of thinking about the world better than the other? If helpful, give some relevant examples and explain how they demonstrate your point.
I believe that our perception of Romance is somewhat similar to the Romanticism Era in the sense that it’s less rational, emotional and innocent. But there is less emphasis on the value of pure nature, since so many towns and cities have been completely urbanized. In the era we live in, we are socialized to live in cities and towns with a smaller percentage of people making direct spiritual connections with nature. There is also less, if any, emphasis in modern Romance on the idolization of our country. However, The Notebook highlights some of the similarities in the Romanticism Era and modern Romance. The Notebook is a story of two lovers from different class rankings, whose love is forbidden by the parents of the girl. Noah Calhoun and Allie Hamilton spent the summer together as two innocent teens falling in love. Then, Allie is forced to leave and go to school. So Noah writes her a letter everyday for a year, but unfortunately Allie’s mom kept the letters hidden from her. The notion of a man writing letters everyday for a year embraces the emotional and irrational themes present in Romanticism. It is further enforced when an engaged Allie sees a picture of Noah in the paper and goes back to check on him. Her visit leads her to choosing Noah over her fiancée and they fall in love all over again. In the end, the audience finds out that the man who had been reading this story to a woman in the nursing home are really Allie and Noah. Finally, although Allie suffers from Alzheimer’s, she remembers Noah one night and they die in each other’s arms. This example of modern Romance fiction completely plays into the expressive and ridiculous ideas in Romanticism. Overall, I believe our society embraces the ideas of emotional, innocent, irrational love, which has given people hope for this type of fantastical love.
ReplyDeleteIt seems we live in a day that is split by Romance and Rationality. I initially started this blog post with, "Romance is dead" but the more I thought on this topic I realized that there is still Romance out there. I mean, you can't search Richard Dawkins on youtube without getting 50 results for a spiritualists rebuttal.
ReplyDeletePerhaps all of us experience a struggle between our emotions and intellect. I know from much experience, this is not always an easy battle.
When I initially reflected on current times, I thought that Romance was sometimes frowned upon as being frivolous and/or juvenile. Accentuating emotions and spirituality seems to inhibit humankinds ability to explore and progress. But then I started to think about the "green and natural" movement. Living sustainably and holistically seems a very Romantic idea. Getting back in touch with the rawness of agriculture, and employing biodiversity on orchards instead of pesticides conjures up Romantic images. And it doesn't always seem rational to spend $5.00 a lb. for locally grown apples when you can go to Big Y and get them for $1.25. But there is a growing population of people who spend the extra money to support local growers. It seems that this sustainable way of living parallels the 18th and 19th centuries idea of Romanticism.
I believe Romanticism is still evident today in much the same form. An excellent example of this is the new film, Valentine’s Day. The emotional and less rational is evident in most of the multiple storylines in the film. A little boy runs away to the flower shop, just so he can get flowers to his teacher whom he loves. A man runs after his best friend because he knows that her boyfriend is actually married and he later realizes that he actually loves her, even though she is his best friend. The idealistic of innocence over corruption is seen in that little boy again. His mother is in the army and he will do his Valentine’s Day traditions with her or by himself but no one else. A man recognizes the innocence of a child when this same child gives him $13 or so for a fifty dollar bouquet of roses, but this man says he will deliver them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Robyn in that the connection with nature is not evident with many films or novels in our society today. That tradition seems to be almost lost but not entirely. In Valentine’s Day, an important moment between best friends in love occurs on a bridge over a beautiful creek. After being rejected by one woman, this man realizes that he loves his best friend right then and there and takes the plunge. It is not so much a connection with nature here either though; it just makes the scene that much more perfect.
Romanticism seems to decrease in its value of which it stood in the late 18th and early 19th century. Today's world portrays physical idealistic career, money, and fame as most importance. There isn't an idealistic of innocence and nature over corrupt society or a direct connection with the transcendental/spiritual through nature anymore. This is replaced the ability of an ideal person able to survive the horror of the world. Today's world emphasizes on physical and therefore the natural world is often taken for granted and lost in meaning. Studies have showed that more and more people are suffering with depression. War and confliction has been amplified through recent years. It seems as if the world is ending and there is no more hope left. Movies across the media describe this very day of corruption; some examples are 2012, War of the Worlds, and The Day After Tomorrow. I feel that the 18th and 19th century have a better thinking of the world. Today's world is filled with bunch of expectations and boundaries that does not let a heart roam freely in nature of in a society because of the busy life everyone has today.
ReplyDeleteIn today’s society there is still Romanticism as well as rationalism always competing against each other. One example of this is the tv show Bones. Booth is the FBI agent that has nothing but pride and support for his country and is what most today would call a “romantic” because he believes that love and human emotion are stronger than anything, while Bones is the forensic anthropologist who appears like a “cold fish” because of her completely rational thought process. Together they make possibly the best crime fighting team ever to grace a prime-time drama. Booth uses his gut and his beliefs that there is always some good in the world to put together the pieces of the puzzle that Bones finds from her hyper rational and scientific processes in order to catch the murderer. There are times when Booth’s heart gets carried away and clouds his thinking in a case and Bones has to reason him into a proper state of thinking. Booth also has to help Bones with matters of the heart because she often pushes people away with her rationality. This is a perfect example of how neither approach is better than the other but when combined they can accomplish almost anything. This is one of those things where you need one thing in order to appreciate the other. Without rationality, romance doesn’t mean anything and vice versa.
ReplyDeleteI believe that notions of Romance in today’s society is somewhat similar to that of the Romanticism poets of the 18th and 19th centuries. The first thing that come to mind is how it was frowned upon for a women to have a child out of wedlock during this period. Even though this concept is still frowned upon now, it is very prevalent in everyday society. My mother is a great example of this. When my sister, at 18 years old, called my mom and told her that she was pregnant, my mom was devastated. She believes that no one should engage in sexual activity (or even move in with someone) until you are married. This notion of having children at a young age and out of wedlock is becoming more and more prevalent in everyday life and in pop culture. There are a few shows (reality and TV series) on television that approaches the “problem” of teens as parents. The Secret Life of the American Teenager is a series on ABC Family that is constantly reminding you to talk with your parents about sex so that you can find ways to prevent out of wedlock births from happening. Teen Mom, a reality show on MTV, exposes the hardships that these girls are going through to try and live as normal a life they can with raising a child. Though this idea is still frowned upon, many of the people in our generation are not seeing it as such a bad thing anymore. I for one was excited for my sister to have a baby. It is unfortunate that the father was a dud, but he gave my sister a beautiful little girl and I know she will find someone who will be able to support them someday.
ReplyDeleteI feel that people living today have lost a lot of the "Romantic" qualities that are exhibited in Blake's and Wordsworth's writings. I mean let's be honest, the main reason we go to watch a handful of the movies we watch is because we think that the main characters are handsome, or beautiful or in some other way physically attractive. I won't lie I've done it! I mean if this wasn't so true, and I hate to say it is, then why do movies with amazing looking actors and actresses always do better in the box office than those that lack them? More importantly why does everyone think that you must be perfect looking to be famous? So yes, I do think that a lot of the "Romantic" ideals have been lost through time.However, I do have to say that people haven't necessarily lost their love for nature. Whether it be to maintain a nice household or just for the pure joy of it, people do maintain the agriculture around their homes. I mean isn't a house with a full garden of flowers more fun to look at than one without?
ReplyDeleteIf you had asked me this a few years ago I would have said that our appreciation for nature has fallen so incredibly low, but the summer when my family and I visited Armenia was a very eye opening experience for me. Never before had a seen such vast mountains and openness and greenery. Coming from New Jersey, this was a complete anomaly. I had never appreciated it and believe it or not I realized, that I had never taken the time to just clear my mind and breathe it all in. Which brings me to my last point. It's not that people don't try, it's just that there is no time!
Who ever said that we should enjoy each day as it were our last clearly never lived in this new millennia. Whether it's work, or school, or family, or friends, people just don't have the time to relax and enjoy what's going on around them. We live such a closed off and sheltered life that some people even fear to wander off into nature to explore it. It really is sad.
I believe the crux of the question lies in the term “value”. As a society, I believe what is valued is expressed by who we deem an example of success. In this sense, emotionality is most certainly not valued over rationality, innocence and nature are not put before what one might term “corrupt” actions, and our country’s nationalism is deflating more quickly with each succeeding generation. To say that as a society we value a direct connection with the spiritual through nature would be to ignore the hundreds of thousands of citizens who are born, raised, and then die in our cities. Today society values materialism, as it almost always has. We show how successful we are by how many cars are in our garages, how large are homes are, or how many we own for that matter. People flocked to America with the dream of building their own success, and this was measured in dollars and business deals. In order to obtain this kind of success, the valued traits of an individual are motivation, and determination; someone who is not afraid to step on a few toes to get where they want to go. A society consumed by personal gain does not strike me as one that “values” compassion and Nature; rather it needs romantic individuals willing to sacrifice themselves so there are fewer competitors and more people who are easily taken advantage of.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to choosing Romantic values or Enlightenment values, as was probably the case throughout history, it all depends on who you ask. Even when Romanticism was at its peak, there were most likely those writing with cutting wit and criticism like Voltaire, and vice versa. So I believe both views can be found often in today's society, depending on where you look.
ReplyDeleteWorks familiar to or inspired by Romanticism can still be found, whether in a picture-perfect postcard or a book of photography celebrating a certain secluded forest. But perhaps more prominently, the ideas and views of Romanticism are still seen within people. Just as Blake emphasized the goodness and innocence of faith in "The Lamb", religion is still a major factor in the lives of many all across the world. Also, with the Olympics happening now, an idealized view of country is very prominent. People currently are incredibly proud of their country and its accomplishments, and they are not hiding this pride at all. Even Canada, which is typically a reserved and humble country, is proud to show off what it has to offer, whether it be through loudly supporting an athlete or showing sweeping shots of the country's natural beauty. These views and ideas all stem back to Romanticism, from both Blake and Wordsworth.
While these aspects of Romanticism are still plain, the more critical and satiric views stemming back from Enlightenment authors such as Voltaire are also still present. All the examples described in the former blog post are examples of current works made with the purpose not to celebrate beauty and life, but to criticize in the hope change will occur. Without both of these inspirations present in today's culture, society would not be complete.
I feel like we as a society want to have these Romantic ideals. We try to keep children under the cover of innocence and keep them from harm, but the reality is that innocence is disappearing at an earlier and earlier age. As for feeling a spiritual connection with nature, there are some people who feel this way. I think most people can agree that standing in a field of flowers and just laying there with friends, family, or a loved one; there is a sense of overwhelming joy and relaxation. But at the end of the day people go back home and turn on their big screen TVs and immerse themselves in shows while outside the window four wheel drives zoom by polluting the air, and we are okay with this. This is our way of life and we are used to it. We still appreciate the Romantic ideals but they are just not as relevant in our society as they used to be. They only times we really see them take center stage is when we watch a movie like Avatar that emphasizes the beauty of nature. But to make this movie there was probably the equivalent of one real plant used.
ReplyDeleteRomanticism is not all about love stories, though the meaning of the word seems to have morphed into such. It was the idea of thinking outside the box, with emphasis on intuition, imagination, and feeling. It was a direct response to the Age of Enlightenment, which emphasized reasoning.
ReplyDeleteI feel that today, society exhibits overwhelming amounts of both ideologies, neither being a better way of thinking about the world than the other. We’re talking about 200 years ago here. The world population was exponentially smaller and of those fewer people only half were even allowed to be thinkers, (free men,) and of those, only few had the resources to be. There simply was not near as much knowledge as we have now. Heck, the light bulb was only a dream at this point! Likewise, we have 200 years more art than was available then. With our 200 years more advanced education system, we all learn both perspectives, whether we like it or not. We just have more ways of thinking, more things to think about, and more thinkers. Our world has the capabilities to entertain both extremes in remarkable balance.
There is no doubt in my mind that we have lost the Romanticism of the nineteenth century. To them, there was so much of the world yet to be explored and seen. The beauty of nature was rare and breathtaking. In todays society, we are saturated with pictures of nature. There are pictures of the Andes mountains, the Sahara Desert, Antarctica, lakes, oceans, and celestial bodies. With the definition of these pictures, it is like being there. For people in today's society, there is not that mystery of the unknown that Blake and Wordsworth had.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the nationalism that was felt in the nineteenth century is almost completely gone. Every two years when the Olympics come around, there is nationalism, but even then there is only nationalism to a small extent. For instance, there is a figure skater representing Georgia, and she has never even stepped foot in that country. The current society is such a globalized one that people do not identify with their nation as much as they used to.
Today’s society has completely evolved from the societies such as those of more “Romantic” times. Today we live in a totally different type of world and therefore Romanticism and the notion of romance have had to evolve. We live in a world where accessibility and personal gain are so important to people love and personal space sometimes take a backseat to ambition. Now both men and women have careers. Females are now viewed as equals. They are no longer staying at home to take care of the house and the children. Many people choose to have devices such as blackberries and webcams which make it possible for them to be accessible to their employers and peers at all times. So where is the romance in their lives?
ReplyDeleteThe best example I can think of for finding the romance through a busy life is my dad’s best friend. As president of one of the biggest American health insurance firms, it is unimaginable how busy this man is. At some point in the last twenty years he decided that he needed to put the romance of nature back in his life. He did this by purchasing a 9-acre island in the middle of a lake in the Adirondack Mountains. The island does not have television or cable and there is most likely not a cell phone signal for miles. And being on an island you are literally trapped in by nature, but this is not to say it isn’t stocked. This island is an extraordinary place. In fact, it not only puts the romance of nature back into life, but also the romance of things like relationships, friendships, family time, quiet time, and food, which also sometimes get lost along the way. Visiting it is such a spiritual experience in itself, it would be almost impossible to visit and not be grounded.
I don’t believe that romance has been lost; it is just something that has to needs to be sought out and found. Romance now comes from taking time out of your day to spend time with someone or go somewhere special, it is found in smaller quiet moments. Romance also in a way needs to be more personal than it used to be because of all the time we spend making ourselves accessible to everyone.
In some ways Romanticism today is comparable to Romanticism during the 18th and 19th centuries looking at emotional and rational issues. Blake wrote the Songs of Innocence, emphasizing the sublimation of nature and religion. I think the nature aspect of romance has taken a backseat in today’s culture. Writers during the Romanticism era focused on thoughts and emotions, which leads me to believe that often their idea of romance was irrational. Irrationality is also involved in romance in the 21st century. Our society worships hearing a love story, fictional or real, involving a couple meeting and instantly knowing they would spend the rest of their lives together. Novels such as The Notebook and movies such as Prince and Me engulf our culture with ideas that true love is powerful, sacrificial, and far-reaching. Often the characters act of love and not out of critical thinking. In both the Romanticism and the 21st century there are examples of the importance of religion and spirituality. Blake was hugely affected by God and his preaching, which is evident in his poetry. Today some people’s religious affiliations help guide them to who they should marry and what kind of beliefs they have about after life. Similar to over 200 years ago, people can believe that some divine being caused them to meet. Some people today think fate or a mystical force guided them to their soul mate. But, perhaps romance is supposed to be imaginative and emotional rather than analytical and filled with reason.
ReplyDeleteRomantic thought has always been a part of society. Romance implies an ideal that is attainable through some action be it communion with nature, passionate love or the pursuit of happiness. Romance represents a happiness that is uncorrupted by evil, society or obligation. While we may currently be a culture that is obsessed with information and the transportation of it, we still cling to the idea of Romance that was made popular by the Romantic period poets.
ReplyDeleteThe Romantic poets wrote about an ideal of life without the constraints of culture, such as Blake with his poem “The Tyger.” Blake longed for a return to what he viewed as a better time and one that was not a slave to industry. He viewed industry as an evil that corrupted youth and our connection to nature. This idea is also emphasized in Wordsworth’s poem “Tinturn Abbey.” A return to communion with nature would create an idyllic society; one that shed all of the evils brought about by society and in simpler terms, a happier world.
Romance novels today hold a very different idea of the term. Society has cruelly attached an image of mind lewd covers on cheap paperbacks read by lonely women with too many cats to the novels. However, in their essence, romance novels are only a search for a better tomorrow. They tell stories of people brought together to experience a time of love and happiness. Even if it comes with improbable expectations of love and sexual expression; at their core they are the same as the Romantics. The heroes and heroines of romance novels are made happier by the companionship of their loved one, while the Romantics are made happier by abandonment of industry and a return to God and nature.
A Romantic ideal still hold true today in our most cynical of times. Our very country was founded on the ideal that “Tomorrow can be better than today.” We get up each morning hoping that our actions of today will make for a better, more secure tomorrow. This is a very Romantic idea in that it seeks something that is perfect. Although the ideal is different from that of Romance novels and the Romantic period, all forms are looking for happiness and are different sides of the same coin.
In the study of economics humanity is viewed as being purely rational. Everyone acts based upon their own self interests and seek to maximize their utility. In politics neorealist beliefs argue that countries have no choice but to act in a rational manner and constantly seek to increase their power and security. It seems that we value our world as being very rational. We watch the news carefully, picking over facts, studies, and data. We have people that tell us what movies to watch, what music to listen to, and who to vote for. In this sense it would seem that people in today’s modern society rarely listen to their emotional ideals, but instead follow the ingrained ideals forced on them by society. If we look closely, however, we find that this is not always the case. American’s specifically are very patriotic, we personify the United States and ask God to bless it. We ignore the fact that the U.S. is no more than a unified state of people, lacking emotion, purpose, or any particular moral agenda. We can also look at our religions and notice how we often ignore scientific truths in order to find a sense of comfort in a confusing world. In a time where scientific progress is answering what were once the most elusive of questions we still have people who choose to believe in the power of faith over reason. One could argue the benefit or dangers of such practices, but the fact remains that modern society still needs to see the world idealistically in order to be happy. We can also argue that the new found interest in being “green” is an example of worshiping nature and focusing on the beauty of the world over the benefit of machines that pollute and destroy nature. Although being green may be more out of fear rather than an actual emotional attachment to nature, it still is undeniable that people seem to care more about things outside of their own self interest then rationality gives them credit for.
ReplyDeleteAdam, thank you for bringing up the Romantic vision that Americans have about their own country, history, identity, etc. I think that it is important to realize how much ideologies from the past have shaped the way in which we understand the concept of the nation: "out of many, one." For example, German nationalist Romanticism was a precursor to our modern narrative of the "American dream" and impulse to homogenize this vision despite ethnic, racial and gender diversity.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, I agree that patriotism is a form of modern Romanticism; nationhood is a social construction and our belief that it has an essential character that transcends convention, surely is a Romantic ideal.
I feel as though Romanticism is still evident in our world today, but in different ways. The poems that we read from Wordsworth and Blake used either nature or a straightforward approach to describe their romances. It was very popular in their time to use poetry to portray Romance. While this was true of the past, in today’s world, most of the romance we see is in movies, novels and television shows. There is constantly something new that is coming out that describes young love and romance but it doesn’t have to do with nature, like many of the poems did. Like Natasha said, nature is just there to enhance the scene but does not describe the romance. I definitely agree with Robyn about the reference she made to The Notebook. This novel and movie demonstrates the emotional and irrational themes of Romanticism. The things that occur in the book and movie are exaggerated and might never occur in real life, but the readers and viewers become captivated with a story that expresses such love and romance, which can be linked back to the Romanticism era of the 18th and 19th centuries.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though Romanticism in our society is different compared to the 18th and 19th centuries' idea of it. True love in today's world is portrayed by the media as happening quickly and without much thought. For example, in the newly released movie "Dear John", the main character Savannah falls in love in just two weeks with a stranger she meets. Back in the 18th and 19th centuries this wouldn't happen because people back then believed in true love taking time, effort, and careful thought. Also our society today does not look much into the little things such as having a deep connection with nature in order to explore critical thinking. Many people take for granted the sights of nature and are too focused on their busy lives with all of their advanced technologies that they have at their fingertips that they forget about having a spiritual connection with their environment. However, one thing that still remains apparent in our society today is the overwhelming amount of people who practice a religion and are able to explore deep thought and express their emotions through what they believe and value.
ReplyDeleteI feel that there is still Romanticism around today, but not as comparable to the Romanticism that occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries. I feel that the principles of romanticism today have lost touch with what exactly it meant back then. For example, romanticism today can be described as nothing more a consumer driven society. We have valentines day so people will go out and buy cards, go out to dinner, see am movie, etc and put money in the pockets of the big companies. We even have movies about Valentines Day because people can become so consumed with the holiday, whether you’re single or in a relationship, Valentines Day is a holiday that does not go unnoticed. We care more about material things in the world today then we did back then. Nature, for example, was seen as a thing of beauty back then. People loved going out and exploring the countryside, the beach, or even walking around in the city. They loved describing it and authors used it in a lot of their pieces during the romantic period. In this day and age, I feel we take nature for granted and never really focus on it as we’re walking. We always just think of the next place we have to be or whether we’ll get there on times, instead of focusing on the beauty around us.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the Romantic Period's notion of love is still accessible in the right circumstances, but has been largely replaced in popular culture by a love of diversion and abstraction to the point of dilution.
ReplyDeleteI find a certain beauty and awe at how our bodies work, how the universe is in such perfect balance. As Carl Sagan put it:
"Look again at that dot. That's here, that's home, that's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering ...Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark."
When you look at the world and our surroundings, the balance, and perfect harmony in the mechanics of the universe astounds and humbles me. I feel that this connection is still very real and possible if we seek it out.
If however, we move our gaze to popular culture, i feel that this type of romance has been replaced by one of spectacle and awe. The saturation and ease of access to a wide variety of media and entertainment, can erode our senses and weaken our ability to discern the subtle joys of life.
Without media the only things we had for entertainment were related to romance, gaiety, and nature so we were in a way forced to see the world this way. In modern times, it may well be that this idillic view is so much harder to find, that it may be more meaningful than ever before.
I believe that modern day culture, at least in the United States, is somewhat a mixture of both Enlightenment and Romantic ideology, however, that being said, in the context of everyday life and the casual scratching of the surface, both ways of thought are somewhat displayed in a shallow manner. Romanticism, in a modern and casual sense, is no longer made up of an emotional setting or nature-born enthusiasm; it isn’t set on classic subconscious intangibles or metaphysical being, but rather, it’s casually fixated on lustful or sexual principles. Modern day Romanticism is synonymous with the word “love”, and what individual people believe what it means to love. Though the depth and heart of the Romantic movement may still exist in some circles, its casually been warped into something much more shallow and instinctual. The enlightenment thought process and logical rational has also undergone a radical transformation, however still existing alongside Romanticism. Some people still look at logical explanations for a multitude of things, perhaps even the associated chemicals in our brains telling us to love, but some of those same people, within in our modern day society, belong to one of countless religions which preach one thing that goes completely against everything the Enlightenment stood for, “Faith”. Both Romanticism and Enlightenment thoughts exist today, however they have both become shaved down to a very basic and shallow level.
ReplyDeletei believe that we have lost the Romanticism of the nineteenth century and eighteenth centuries. Back then the poets talked about the beauty of nature and how important it was to them. They explore nature not like it is explored today. Back then they kept striving for new discoveries in nature, and in todays society, we already know all there is to know of nature. There are no poets who talk about nature and its importance now like there was. Now nature is far discovered and there are so many pictures and books to explain that. We have pictures from the farthest places on earth where Blake and such only dreamed of going. Today people don't have the mystery of nature and what it consists of like they did in the 18th and 19th centuries. However, Nationalism has not diminished over the years. I believe that there are still people who take pride in their country and represent it to the fullest like they did in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Olympics is a big consideration for this because everyone is representing their country and everyone also watches it all over the world. In the case of Nationalism i think that it is still represented in many ways like it was in the 18th and 19th centuries. However, i think the romanticism has been lost because people now don't pay attention to the beauty of little things like Blake, Voltaire, and Wordsworth did.
ReplyDeleteI think that the 18th and 19th century notion of Romance is still valued today, however, it is more often thought of than practiced. Everyone wants or hopes for the ideal romantic situation, in which their good characteristics are emphasized. It is easy to see only one side of something and ignore the others to avoid conflicting points of view. The romantic poets focused on nature, innocence, and emotions. Back then nature was a bigger part of people's lives because they didn't have TV or video games to entertain themselves, they would spend their time outdoors. This allowed them a better opportunity to enjoy and appreciate the natural beauty around them. Today's version of romance is mostly about sex. It is less about the qualities within a person that make them attractive and more centered on their physical appearance. There is a resemblance in the modern version of romance when compared to the views of poets like Voltaire or Rousseau, in that they both are emotional. The difference is that the poems of the Romantic movement involve love, and the image of the ideal in more than simply a physical way. In the present times emotions are used in a manipulative way, with the emphasis being on the physical form of perfection. If it is not physically ideal then it has less societal value.
ReplyDeleteAsking whether modern man values Romanticism is asking if modern man values his humanity. My conception of the Romantic has always been that it was a reaction to the rigid standards of logic that the Enlightenment represented. It was a passionate love of our humanity opposed to the passionate love of reason and order that the Enlightenment represented. Only someone trying to describe society as an Orwellian dystopia devoid of love and humanity would try to argue that western thought had purged itself of Romanticism. It would be similarly reductionist to say that Enlightenment thought is absent from western culture and thought. To be devoid of Enlightenment influence would be to be devoid of sensibility and reason. The foundation of western government, of democracy, has its roots in the Enlightenment. Challenging authority on the basis of overstepping power, appealing to natural rights, all appeal to the Enlightenment. In the end, it would seem that there is a continuum between the Romantic and the Enlightenment; feelings versus reason, heart versus mind. Western man is somewhere in the middle presently.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I would like to believe that the thoughts and ideas from the Romantic Era are still around to do this, I do not believe they are. Now, I'm not saying that Romance is dead and chivalry is gone, I just think somewhere over the course of time these notions and ideas have faded into the background of our society so that newer ideas can take the spotlight. I do however still there their are closet romantics our there waiting to spring their thoughts and ideas upon the curious.
ReplyDeleteRomance is still alive just changed. Gone are the days of Pushkin dueling for his cheating wife's honor (mostly because dueling doesn't exist anymore, but that's another topic in itself). Instead romance today is more of the imaginary as opposed to the real. Today we dream of prince charming and a knight coming to rescue the damsel in distress.
Romanticism though is more than an act of love. It is a larger idea that to me encompasses imagination, thoughtfulness, and creativity. It is about others importance more so than your own. So even though I don't think Romanticism exists today like it use to in the 18th and 19th centuries, I do think there is still something out there that provides a sense of hope and comfort for people.