Romanticism 

:
Romanticism in America was the representation of what was buried in the human soul since
the Americans were suffering from the issue of slavery, capitalism, industry crisis in addition
to many other problems that make it hard for them to live.

American Romanticism in its standing against the rational thinking and pragmatic standards
of the age of reason produced a huge amount of literary works and master pieces that gave
that era specific characteristics. It was a vigorous movement full of distinctive themes like
imagination, individuality, nature, even the way they described religion was different as
compared with the age of enlightenment.

Within stories, novels and poems, there are five characteristics that we can use to identify
American Romantic literature. These are:

1. Imagination
2. Individuality
3. Nature as a source of spirituality
4. Looking to the past for wisdom
5. Seeing the common man as a hero

Dark Romanticism : a literary subgenre that emerged from the Transcendental philosophical

movement popular in nineteenth-century America.

Works in the dark romantic spirit were influenced by Transcendentalism, but did not entirely
embrace the ideas of Transcendentalism. Such works are notably less optimistic than
Transcendental texts about mankind, nature, and divinity.

The Dark Romatics looked into the dark side of the human psyche.

The Dark Romantics rebelled againist the Puritans. The Puritans came to America for
religious freedom, however, there was no separation between religion rules and state law.
They were the same.

The Dark Romantics took place in the eighteen hundreds. The origin comes from the pessimistic
nature of the Romantic Literary Movement, however, the Dark Romantics started as a reaction to the
Transcendentalists (Answers). Some authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Nathanial Hawthorne, and
Herman Melville were popular writers who in influences people greatly in this era.

The believers studied the psyche effects of sin , guilt, and madness in the mind.

Edgar Allan Poe was infamous for his short stories of "maddness, revenge, and tragic fate"
(House).
Herman Melville's short stories reflected humanity and nature on a Dark Romantic view.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's novels and short stories mostly reflected on humanity.

Features of the beliefs of the dark romantic writers :

 - They were against the Transcendentalists

- They believed that humans are sinful

- They were pessimistic about mankind and nature

- All of their stories’ settings were in dark places.

- Use of dark atmosphere and corrupt characters

Themes : Horror, Mystery, Evil, Madness, Self Distruction.

The Setting of Southern Gothic :

Set in the landscape of the South ; plantations, wilderness, small dusty towns, grand old houses,
motifs of a long history of wealth, slavery, social class (aristocratic)

Obsessed with choosing the setting (southern landcsapes), southern identity and history.

Decay in th Southern Gothic : Deterioration

Many things in Southern Gothic Fiction are usually described as falling apart, people, houses, towns,
morals decaying and falling apart.

Decay is an entrached theme is Southern Gothic Literature because the south was after all on the
losing side of the civil war. And this loss permanently chnaged the souothern way of life.

The theme of Decay and decomposition is prominent partly because Southern Gothic writers were
writing at a time when the South was in decline.
- Themes : History of slavery, rational opression, moral and social corruption were often dealt with.