The romanticism is not a period of the love like the one which appears in movies nowadays of a

couple having a perfect time in love, but it is more about imagination, individuality, nature as a
source of spirituality, looking the past for wisdom and seeing the common man as a hero.

The romanticism also started for the industrial revolution. In the revolution period a lot of people
moved to the big cities and these ones turned full of people and cities started to get dirty and also it
increases the levels of diseases. The industrial revolution is linked with the escapism, which is a
characteristic of the romanticism, for the inconvenient and the hard life people carried, romantic
literature was the responsible to transport people to a dreamed world and to forget about the bad
times they were happening.

The Romanticism era is divided in 3 main stages:

•Early Romantic: Authors began the tradition of creating imaginative literature that was distinctly
American

- Washington Irving (folktales)

Among the most known works of Washington, we can see "Rip Van Winkle" (1819), "The Legend of
Sleepy Hollow" (1820), and Tales of the Alhambra.

- William Cullen Bryant (poetry)

The most remarkable works of William are Thanatopsis, The death of Lincoln and the evening wind

- James Fenimore Cooper (novels)

Their works include The Pioneers (1823), The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Prairie (1827), The
Pathfinder (1840), and The Deer slayer (1841).

•Fireside Poets: The most popular Romantic poets of the time, were read in the home by the fireside
because their poetry contained strong family values, patriotism, etc. It has remained popular in
elementary schools for memorization

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882)
was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of
Hiawatha, and Evangeline

Oliver Wendell Holmes: His most known works are The Professor of the Breakfast-Table (1860), The
Poet of the Breakfast-Table (1872), and Over the Teacups (1891)

James Russell Lowell: Lowell authored multiple poetry books, including the collections Poems:
Second Series (B. B. Mussey and Co., 1848) and Poems (John Owen, 1844), as well as the popular
book-length poems A Fable for Critics: A Glance at a Few of Our Literary Progenies (Putnam, 1848)
and The Vision of Sir Launfal (George Nichols, 1848).

John Greenleaf Whittier: His most known works are: Lays of My Home (1843), Voices of Freedom
(1846), Songs of Labor (1850), The Panorama (1856), and Home Ballads and Poems (1860).

•Transcendentalism: The Transcendentalists believed there is a divine spirit in nature and in every
living soul. Through individualism and self-reliance human beings could reunite with God.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was its putative leader. Henry David Thoreau and Margaret Fuller were
among the principals of the movement.

Ralph Waldo Emerson: His most famous work, Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self-Reliance can truly
change your life for the better. Other famous works are The American Scholar summary, The Lord's
Supper, Nature, St. Augustine Confessions, Harvard Divinity School Address, English Traits,
Representative Men, and his collection of poems.

Henry David Thoreau: He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in
natural surroundings, and his essay "Civil Disobedience" (originally published as "Resistance to Civil
Government"), an argument for disobedience to an unjust state.

Margaret Fuller: Among the most know works of her are:

Summer on the Lakes (1844)

Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845)

Papers on Literature and Art (1846)

•Anti-Transcendentalism: Dark Romanticism (also known as Gothic or Anti-Transcendentalism) Belief

that man’s nature is inherently evil. Belief that whatever is wrong with society—sin, pain, evil—has
to be fixed by fixing the individual man first.

Nathaniel Hawthorne (novels, short stories): His notable works are: Twice-Told Tales (1837–1842)
The Scarlet Letter (1850) The House of the Seven Gables (1851)

Herman Melville (novels, short stories, poetry): His best-known works include Typee (1846), a
romantic account of his experiences in Polynesian life, and his whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851). His
work was almost forgotten during the last 30 years of his life.

Edgar Allan Poe (short stories, poetry, literary criticism): Edgar Allan Poe's best-known works include
the poems “To Helen” (1831), “The Raven” (1845), and “Annabel Lee” (1849); the short stories of
wickedness and crime “The Tell-Tale Heart” (1843) and “The Cask of Amontillado” (1846); and the
supernatural horror story “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1839).