In the Romantic Period, why did writers begin to focus more on the indivual rather than the general?
Posted on October 23rd, 2009 by admin
was there a change in the world that made these authors change from writing about the general (i.e. in the 18th century) to writing more about personal feelings in the Romantic Period?
It followed the Neoclassical era, which was very serious, logical, and always dealt with the masses. If society was happy, man too could be happy. The Romantic period drifted away from that. It focused on art and inner expression, something that the Neoclassical era shunned. The Romantic era was more along the lines of…if man can be happy, society can follow suit.
October 24th, 2009 at 12:47 am
It followed the Neoclassical era, which was very serious, logical, and always dealt with the masses. If society was happy, man too could be happy. The Romantic period drifted away from that. It focused on art and inner expression, something that the Neoclassical era shunned. The Romantic era was more along the lines of…if man can be happy, society can follow suit.
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My brain and English class
October 24th, 2009 at 12:59 am
I believe it’s the change that overcomes mankind in general, nearly in every generation, but much more often every 75–100 years or so… Change is part and parcel to being alive.
If a time passes (as it did) in which mainstream work was about ‘the general,’ (a very general description), the change to Romanticism is natural.
I wrote this long other explanation but just deleted it as unnecessary; I get carried away. I find old knowledge coming back to me.
Luck to you.
ADD: Yeah, I started a long contrast between writing for ‘masses’ vs. the ‘individual,’ but there are always big exceptions, the leaders who take literature to its next phase. I got carried away.
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