Romanticism

Introduction

Perhaps more than anything else, the artistic movement that came to be called "Romanticism" is a reaction to the art and thinking of the 18th century, often known as the Enlightenment.  Fascinated by what they believed was their ability to understand and manipulate their environment, writers and other artists of that age had celebrated order and reason.  Romantics rebelled against these notions, instead favoring freedom and emotion. Musicians such as Ludwig von Beethoven and Petr Ilyich Tchiakovsky, for example, composed bombastic, passionate works.  In literature, German writers such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe emphasized emotion in works that came be known as part of the "Sturm and Drang," or "storm and stress," movement. Some of the greatest Romantic literature came from England, where William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, Emily Bronte, and other writers sought to depict passionate characters and to express their own emotions. Leading American writers of the Romantic age include novelist James Fenimore Cooper, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson, and short story writers Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne.  This literary period produced or developed some of the most enduring character types and genre, including the Byronic hero, femme fatale, lyric poem, and Gothic short story. 

"The Cask of Amontillado," by Edgar Allan Poe

  1. What motivates the narrator to bury Fortunato?
  2. This story contains some examples of "dark humor"--that is, material that is simultaneously disturbing and funny.  Identify and analyze some of this humor in the story. (Maranda Hammonds)
  3. Like "William Wilson" and other works by Poe, this story features dual characters who may symbolize psychological entities or states.  Paying especially close attention to the story's conclusion, explain how Montresor and Fortunato represent two sides of a human mind.
    1. "The Cask of Amontillado" by Dawn Wallace
  4. The inscription--"Nemo me impune lacessit (No one insults me with impunity)"--closely resembles Poe's own words to his publisher at Gentleman's Magazine: "If by accident you have taken it into your head that I am to be insulted with impunity I can only assume that you are an ass" (Silverman 316).  What other elements in this story and Poe's life suggest that "The Cask of Amontillado" has autobiographical elements?
    1. Essay by Rich Timko
  5. The critic Daniel Hoffman has suggested that Poe, trapped in his real life by circumstance, sought control and freedom in his mind and art: "All that is left to this headstrong and penurious youth are his dreams, his vain imaginings, which he spells out in chiming, rhyming lines. Edgar has no recourse but to become the hero of his own imagination" (28). Elsewhere, Hoffman writes: "Poe, poor Edgarpoe, the penniless orphan, the abandoned and lovelorn boy, cognizant of his impotence in the affairs of men and the love of women, conceives himself as a self-begotten deity, the infinite I AM made finite, given a habitation and a name. Name of Edgar Allan Poe" (46). Use details from this story--and, if you like, one or two others--to support Hoffman's argument.

"The Tell-Tale Heart," by Edgar Allan Poe

  1. How would you describe the narrator of this story? Why is it important that we hear this story from his point of view?
  2. What is the "Evil Eye," and why does it disturb the narrator?
    1. Essay by Josephine Sutton
  3. What do you suppose is the real reason that the narrator killed the old man, and why is he telling us this story?
  4. What parallels do you see in the story? What do these parallels suggest about the narrator's motivation in killing the old man and then confessing his crime?
    1. "The Mind of a Killer" by Koji Sado
  5. Elsewhere in his writing, Edgar Allan Poe described something he called "The Imp of the Perverse," or simply "perverseness," which he defined as the urge to do wrong for wrong's sake. How is this narrator a victim of the Imp of the Perverse? Have you ever given in to perverseness in a similar way? If so, what do you think motivated your actions?  (Tracy Newkirk)
  6. What does the narrator do with the old man's body? What do you think is the significance of this act? What does it suggest about his personality and about human nature in general?
    1. "Essay-The Tell-Tale Heart" by Patricia Miller

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs

  1. How does Harriet Jacobs characterize the life of a slave?  How does she recreate this life for her readers?
    1. Essay by Jessica Locklear
  2. Analyze the relations between slaves and their masters.  Consider not only cruelty, but also issues such as control, dependency, and condescension. (Niakeya Jones)
  3. Pay attention to what Jacobs included in her story, as well as what she excluded from the narrative.  How does her selection of her details shape the effect of her work?
    1. "Essay for: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs" by Alvin Martin

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Updated November 23, 2000 | University of North Carolina at Pembroke
© Mark Canada, 2000 | mark.canada@uncp.edu