20 Examples of Romantic Literature

The romantic literature It is the set of literary works that were written in Romanticism, the cultural movement that took place in Europe and America between the mid-18th century and the mid-19th century. For example: Our Lady of parisby Victor Hugo.

Literary Romanticism originated in Germany and broke away from Sturm und Drang, a movement made up of Johann Georg Hamann, Johann Gottfried von Herder, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, among others. These authors considered that literature did not have to follow the fixed rules imposed by the neoclassicists and that it should express subjectivity.

Furthermore, the romantics rejected the rationalism of Neoclassicism and adopted idealism, a philosophical current that maintained that it was not possible to find the truth nor perfection in objective reality and that emotional states could be more real than everything that happened in the world.

As a consequence of these influences, exotic places prevail in romantic literature, the past historical (generally, the medieval), the interiority, the imagination and the fantasy in front of the reality of the present; creative freedom against the use of pre-established rules; sentimentality versus objectivity; the overflow of emotions in the face of self control; and particularity and individuality versus universality.

to take into account: Romantic literature does not refer to works whose central theme is love, but to those that produced in Romanticism and that express sentimentality, which in some cases is related to love, but in other cases others not.

• See also: poems of romanticism

Characteristics of romantic literature

• Topics. The themes of romantic literature are very diverse and several appear in the same work. Some of them are destiny, nature, religion, melancholy, escape, the night, love, death, pessimism, nationalism, regionalism, folklore, fatalism, emotions, feelings, passions, virtues, fears, traditional and popular stories, medieval legends, the gloomy, the sublime, the grotesque, the exotic and the dreamlike.
• Characters. The characters can be ordinary people, from traditional stories or from legends. In addition, it is very common for there to be marginalized subjects and fantastic beings, such as monsters or ghosts. These characters always express their interiority, that is, their emotions and feelings.
• Places. The places, generally, are pre-industrial, natural, fantastic, mythological or legendary sites, or that exist in reality. In addition, it is very common for some to be described as sublime, terrifying or threatening.
• Style. The style is sentimental, overflowing, fanciful and expressive, therefore, it stands in contrast to the orderly and proportionate neoclassical style. In addition, it is subjective, because according to the romantic authors, art is not mimetic, that is, it cannot represent objective reality.
• Structure. The structure of the novels, the theater plays and the poemsGenerally, it is not previously delimited, because the authors can write freely and creatively.
• Language. The language presents great variations, but since the traditions, identity and history of a people are usually represented, it is common for them to be included. archaisms, colloquial words and dialects and that the texts are in vernacular languages.
• figure of the author. According to the romantics, a literary author is a genius, because he creates with imagination and inspiration; it is original, because it does not repeat previously invented shapes and themes; and he is misunderstood, because he doesn't quite fit in with society and because he has a rebellious attitude.

Genres of romantic literature

In romantic literature, works of all three were produced. literary genres (narrative, dramatic and poetic). In addition, in this movement a new type of text was invented, the customs table.

Narrative genre

In it narrative genre Different subgenres arose and the structure of the plot was modified, since moments of great tension and very emotional were included, especially in the endings.

The most important subgenres of romantic literature are:

• The psychological novel. Is a novel which focuses on describing the emotions, feelings and thoughts of the characters and which, generally, deals with love. For example: Adolf by Benjamin Constant.
• historical novel. It is a novel that deals with historical or legendary themes and that represents the identity of a nation or a region. For example: The Magic Ring, by Friedrich de La Motte-Fouqué.
• sentimental novel. It is a novel in which sentimentality and lyricism predominate. For example: Devil's Swamp, by George Sand.
• The novel or the tale mystery or fantastic. It is a text in which fantastic elements and characters appear, such as vampires and monsters, and which usually has a horror plot. For example: "The Sandman" by E. T. TO. Hoffmann.
• folk tale. It is a traditional story of a region that is transmitted orally and that, in some cases, tells a legendary story or has fantastic characters. For example: "Rapunzel" by the Grimm brothers.

poetic genre

In the poetic genre creative freedom predominated, therefore, the compositions could be in verse or prose and brief or longer according to the author's intention. In addition, since fixed rules were not followed, polymetry began to be used, that is, the combination of verses of different lengths.

However, compositions with specific characteristics continued to be written. Some of them are:

• Romance. It is a poetry of indeterminate extension that, generally, contains verses of eight syllables. For example: Historical romances, of the Duke of Rivas.
• Ode. Is a poetry in which one reflects on feelings, thoughts and emotions. For example: "Freedom" by Alexander Pushkin.
• Anthem. It is a poetry in which legendary or historical characters are praised or praised or in which the identity of a nation or a region is represented. For example: "Hymn to pain", by Esteban Echeverría.
• Song. It is a poetry that, generally, is composed of several stanzas and that is used to express feelings and emotions. For example: "Song of the pirate", by José de Espronceda.
• Ballad. It is a poetry that, generally, is composed of stanzas and a chorus and that usually narrates legendary stories. For example: “Arion”, by August Wilhelm Schlegel.

In any case, all the romantic poems showed lyricism, because they expressed the exaltation of the self, the passions, the feelings and the emotions.

Drama

In it drama they continued to write and perform comedies and tragedies, although modifications were included in these works of classical origin, for example, elements were incorporated fantastic, the elevated characters were mixed with the common ones and the parliaments could be written in prose.

However, a new subgenre emerged, the romantic drama. In this type of work, elements of tragedy and comedy were mixed; the Aristotelian units of time, place and action were abandoned; stories of legends medieval and exotic themes; were included dialogues in polymetric verse or in prose; and emotions and feelings were exalted. For example: The Conspiracy of Venice, by Francisco Martínez de la Rosa.

Customs chart

The picture of customs arose in Romanticism, was published mainly in newspapers and described in synthetic way and, generally, with a satirical tone, the habits and daily activities of the society. For example: "A happy man", by José Milla.

Main authors and examples of romantic literature

Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829)

He was a German writer, philosopher and philologist who, together with his brother, August Wilhelm Schlegel, laid the theoretical, critical and literary foundations of Romanticism.

1. Lucinda. In this sentimental novel the central concepts of Romanticism are developed; love, anguish, loneliness and lyricism.
2. alarcos. This romantic drama tells the story of Count Alarcos, who was a recurring theme in the Spanish romances of the Golden Age and whose plot revolves around love and death.

Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811)

He was a German writer who began as a classicist, but ended up producing poetry, plays, and romantic novels.

1. Robert Guiscard. This drama tells the story of Roberto Guiscardo, a medieval adventurer.
2. Penthesilea. In this tragedy some elements of classicism are seen, since the main character, Penthesilea, is from Greek mythology, but the plot focuses on typical romantic themes; love, passion and death.

Mary Shelley (1797-1851)

She was an English writer who mainly produced plays, novels, and essays that were very original and relevant to the time and that laid the foundations of science stories fiction.

1. Frankenstein or the modern Prometheus. This novel tells the story of how a doctor, Frankenstein, after a series of experiments, can create and give life to a monstrous being, which then escapes from the laboratory and generates various drawbacks.
2. The last man. This novel tells the story of Lionel Verney, a man who lives in a dystopian reality, because he is the only survivor of a plague that destroyed humanity.

Jane Austen (1775-1817)

She was an English writer whose novels narrate love stories with a lot of sentimentality, with irony and with a criticism of the morality of the time. In addition, her works focus on developing the personality and psychology of the protagonists.

1. pride and prejudice. This sentimental novel tells the love story between two characters, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. It uses ironic and satirical resources regarding society and describes the evolution of the characters.
2. Emma. This psychological novel narrates the development, mistakes and evolution of the main character, Emma.

Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

He was a French writer and politician and produced poetry, plays, and novels that focus on historical, moral, political, legendary, philosophical, and love themes. Also, some of his works can be read as a criticism of society.

1. The Miserables. This novel tells the story of Jean Valjean, a poor young man who is torn between good and evil. In addition, reference is made to contemporary events of the author, the Napoleonic Empire and the Revolution of 1830, and justice and society of the time are criticized.
2. Cromwell. This drama represents the story of Oliver Cromwell, an English politician and soldier. In addition, the prologue of this work is essential for the development of Romanticism in France, because in it Victor Hugo establishes how drama should be and why this subgenre should replace tragedy and comedy neoclassicists.

Emily Brontë (1818-1848)

She was an English writer noted for the sentimentality of her poetry and her only novel, wuthering heights.

1. wuthering heights. In this sentimental novel, different stories of love and revenge are told, emphasizing sentimentality and character development. The work is considered one of the best of Romanticism, because it presents a change of narrators that creates a complex structure.
2. "When I should sleep"

Oh when I should sleep
I will do it without identity,
I will no longer care about the falling of the rain
or if the snow covers my feet.
Heaven does not promise wild desires,
may be fulfilled, perhaps half.
Hell and its threats
with its inextinguishable embers
will never submit this will.

Therefore I say, repeating the same thing,
still, and until I die I will say it:
three gods inside this little frame
they fight day and night.
Heaven won't keep them all, though
they cling to me;
And they will be mine until oblivion
cover the rest of me.

When time seeks my chest to dream
all battles will end!
Well, the day will come when I must rest
without suffering again, never again.

Novalis (1772-1801)

His real name is Georg Philipp Friedrich von Hardenberg. He was a German writer and philosopher and mainly produced lyric poetry related to sentimentality, idealism, Christianity, darkness and nature.

1. Fragment of "Hymns to the night"

1

What living being, endowed with senses, does not love,
above all the wonders of space that surrounds it,
to the one that makes everything happy, the Light
–with its colors, its rays and its waves; its sweet omnipresence,
when she is the dawn that breaks?
Like the deepest breath of life
the gigantic world of the stars breathes it,
that float, in restless dance, through its blue seas,
the stone breathes it, sparkling and in eternal repose,
the plant breathes it, meditative, sipping the life of the Earth,
and the wild and fiery manifold animal,
but, more than all of them, the egregious Foreigner breathes it,
With pensive eyes and a floating walk,
lips sweetly closed and full of music.
The same as a king of terrestrial Nature,
Light summons all forces to innumerable changes,
tie and untie endless bonds, envelop every being on Earth with his celestial image.
His mere presence opens the wonder of the world's empires. (…)

1. Fragment of "Spiritual Songs"

1

What would it have been without you? I wonder.
What is it that I would not have been without you?
To fear and anguish destined,
Only in the world would I have seen myself.
I would not know for sure what I loved,
The future would be a black abyss for me;
and when the heart is disturbed
Who could give my pain relief?

Consumed with love and sadness
I left the day as the dark night;
I only saw, through bitter tears,
of our lives the runaway course.
In my home I would find only anguish
and perpetual restlessness within the world.
Who without a faithful friend there in heaven
on Earth could he be sure?

But Christ has manifested himself to me
and firmly in Him from now on I believe.
Life of light, how quickly you dissipate
the empty baseless darkness!
Only He, only He, has made me a man;
clear the destiny to the presence of him I see;
the tropical flora, even in the North,
around will emerge the one I want. (…)

Lord Byron (1788-1824)

He was an English poet whose works show the rejection of reality, the hypocrisy of society, melancholy, sentimentality and a taste for the exotic and legendary.

1. Excerpt from "Darkness"

I had a dream, which was not quite a dream.
The bright sun was going out, and the stars
They wandered fading through eternal space,
No lightning, no roads, and the frozen earth
It wavered blind and darkening in the moonless air;
The morning came, and went, and came, and brought not the day,
And men forgot their passions in the face of terror
Of this desolation; and all the hearts
They froze in a selfish prayer for light;
And they lived by fires – and thrones,
The palaces of the crowned kings – the huts,
The dwellings of all things that inhabited,
They were burned on the stove; the cities were consumed,
And men gathered around their burning houses
To see each other's faces again;
Happy were those who lived within the eye
Of volcanoes, and their mountainous torch:
A fearful hope was all the world contained;
The forests were set on fire – but another after an hour
They fell and faded - and the creaking logs
They went out with a crash – and all was black. (…)

1. "Verses to sing"

1.

None of Beauty's daughters
it has the magic that you have;
and like the music of the waters
is your sweet voice for me:
when, as if its sound
could calm the enchanted ocean,
the waves stand still and glistening,
and the sleepy winds seem to dream.

2.

And the midnight moon is weaving
the shining chain of him in the depths,
whose chest placidly breathes,
like a sleeping child
Thus the spirit humbles itself before you,
to listen to you and adore you;
with an intense but sweet emotion,
Like the waves of the summer ocean.

Gustavo Adolfo Becquer (1836-1870)

He was a Spanish writer whose poems were polymetric and dealt with the different themes of Romanticism, such as love, destiny, dreams, melancholy and loneliness. In addition, he wrote legends, which included fantastic elements and medieval stories.

1. the moonbeam. This legend takes up the medieval story of Manrique, a knight who falls in love with a woman he can never reach. In addition, different romantic themes are included; loneliness, the dream world, ghosts and impossible love.
2. "Rhyme VII"

From the living room in the dark corner,
of its perhaps forgotten owner,
silent and dusty
saw the harp

How much note slept on its strings
like the bird sleeps in the branches,
waiting for the hand of snow
who knows how to tear them off!

Oh! -I thought-. How many times the genius
so he sleeps in the depths of his soul,
and a voice, like Lazarus, waits
to tell him: "Get up and walk!"

Ignacio Rodríguez Galván (1816-1842)

He was the first romantic writer in Mexico and produced poetry, novels and plays that deal with various themes of this movement, but that emphasize history, traditions and popular knowledge Latin Americans.

1. Fragment of "Goodbye, oh my homeland"

(...) In Mexico... Oh memory...
When your rich soil
and to your bluish sky
shall I see, sad singer?
Without you, anger and tedium
it makes me happy.
Goodbye, oh my country,
Goodbye, land of love.

I think that in your enclosure
There are those who sigh for me
who looks to the east
looking for her lover.
My chest moans deep
trust the breeze
Goodbye, oh my country,
Goodbye, land of love.

1. Fragment of "Prophecy of Guatimoc"

Yo

Behind black clouds she appeared
Pale ray of shining moon
Dimly whitening crags
That they wear the skirt of Chapultepec.
Patchy ashen, yellow,
Or covered in black-green moss
At intervals they looked at each other, and the sight
From the places of deep shadows
With terror and respect she turned away from her.
The stout old trees,
In whose fountain centuries a thousand rest,
His venerable gray hair moved
From light wind to delicate breath
Or to the fluttering of the nocturnal raven,
That maybe descending the fast flight
She curled with her flapping wings
The crystalline waters of the pool,
where she swayed softly
The image of the clouds portrayed
In his shining mirror. the plains
And the distant hills repeated
The ominous howl of wolves
Or the pitiful bleating of the lamb,
Or at all the prolonged bellow.
Oh loneliness, my good, I salute you!

Interactive test to practice

Follow with:

• Literature of realism
• modernism literature
• magical realism literature
• baroque literature
• lyric poems
• ancient legends

References

• Huertas, a. (2021). Neoclassicism and Romanticism. Humanities Magazine, (1), 29-41. Available in: UES magazine portal
• Iañez, E. (1991). XIX century. romantic literature. Tesys/Bosch Editions.
• IEDA. (November 7, 2017). Reason and individual freedom: the Age of Enlightenment and Romanticism: Romantic narrative and theater. commons Available in: commons
• IEDA. (November 7, 2017). Reason and individual freedom: the century of enlightenment and Romanticism: Romanticism. The poetry. commons Available in: commons