Priest (n. d.) explains that the word ‘romance’, was originally used to define languages that originated from Latin but was developed in the local vernacular, specifically from Old French.

(Just kidding. This video has nothing to do with the 'Romanticism' I'm writing about. I'm really not into relationships talks.)
But by the twelfth century it was used by the French to describe a type of literary content, after the medieval age it was used in conjunction with fiction that was imaginative storytelling (Priest, n. d.). The Online Etymology Dictionary states it as a story used for entertainment, and in its change in definition:

“The sense evolution is because medieval vernacular tales usually told chivalric adventures full of marvellous incidents and heroic deeds. In reference to literary works, often in Middle English meaning ones written in French but also applied to native compositions. Literary sense extended by 1660s to "a love story." Meaning "adventurous quality" first recorded 1801; that of "love affair" is from 1916. ”

(An interesting video from Youtube on Romanticism.)

The word ‘romantic’ became associated with a word associated with love, whimsy, chivalry, adventure, and imagination, some characteristics which were prominent during the Romantic Period, an era that emphasized the individual and his tendencies towards emotional responses in regards to searching for meaning, which was opposite to the rational and logical mind-set of the Classical Period (Romantic - history of a word, n. d.).

Definition of ‘romanticism’

Romanticism, according to Merriam-Webster (n. d.), was a literary, artistic, and philosophical movement during the eighteenth century, and Encyclopædia Britannica describes it as an attitude or philosophy:

“seen as a rejection of the precepts of order, calm, harmony, balance, idealization, and rationality that typified Classicism in general and late 18th-century Neoclassicism in particular. It was also to some extent a reaction against the Enlightenment and against 18th-century rationalism and physical materialism in general. Romanticism emphasized the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional, the visionary, and the transcendental”.

The New World Encyclopedia in its entry on “romanticism” states that it was an “artistic and intellectual movement” that was seen as a revolt against the rationalistic tendencies of the Enlightenment. Burns, Lerner & Meacham (1980) explains that rather than a single idea, ‘romanticism’ represented a broad spectrum of it, but it primarily was the idea of radical and innovative revolt against the rationality that defined the Classical era.

It is characterized by the ideas of emotion over logic, interest in the beauty of nature, ideals of the goodness of man in general, a partiality for the exotic as well as mundane, and it explored the extremes.

Romanticism as an intellectual, literary, and artistic movement

Intellectual

At the core of Romanticism there was a spirit of rebellion against the restraints of tradition, culture, and governance. Having slaved under the opppression of nobility, religious orders, and royalty, people were yearning for freedom, not just in their actions but also in thought. For years, those in power had been keeping the masses in an ignorant state, as it was thought that they had no use for education, and some also were of the mind that it would give them ideas to go beyond their 'stations' in life.

Rather than reason and order, Galitz (2004) says, the movement of the romanticism emphasizes the imagination and emotion. At its core is the spirit of revolution that pervaded the era, which is why historians often call it the “age of revolutions.” With the interest in the conditions of humanity at large, there were calls for social improvement, justice and equality, and several philosophers like Rousseau and Kant created their philosophies based on true freedom and human point of view.

(Youtube video on Jean-Jacques Rousseau, an important figure during the period whose ideas became widespread.)

Burns, Lerner, & Meacham (1980) saw the intellectual movement as a reaction against the rational and scientific Enlightenment, which had considered man as a creature that must be ruled by intellectual reasoning and not by emotions.

“Philosophical Romanticism holds that the universe is a single unified and interconnected whole, and full of values, tendencies and life, not merely objective lifeless matter. The Romantic view is that reason, objectivity and analysis radically falsify reality by breaking it up into disconnected lifeless entities, and the best way of perceiving reality is through some subjective feeling or intuition, through which we participate in the subject of our knowledge, instead of viewing it from the outside. Nature is an experience, and not an object for manipulation and study, and, once experienced, the individual becomes in tune with his feelings and this is what helps him to create moral values (Mastin, 2008).”

Empiricism, materialism, idealism, rationalism, these are some of the philosophies that were espoused by the intellectuals of the period in their quest to find answers the questions of their day.

Literary

Smith (2011) said that:

“The literary products of the period reflected the priorities and values of the time, focusing mainly on political and economic themes. Philosophical writings similarly reflected the mechanistic preoccupations of the age and dealt more so than ever with the individual human experience as well as personal thoughts.”

Rather than on the scientific, the writings of the time concentrated on the humanity and its emotions, as the writers placed more importance on the philosophy of man as a being that learned through feelings and experience.

(Yup, 'Frankenstein' is a product of the imagination of a Romatic period writer.)

Writers like William Wordsworth and Byron adhered the Romantic philosophies concerning the individual, nature, emotions, such that they concentrated on themes of self-analysis and spontaneous emotions, which Wordsworth believed as:

"because in that condition the passions of men are incorporated with the beautiful and permanent forms of nature." (Kreis, 2014).

Artistic

Even with the widespread Romantic movement, styles concerning art differed from place to place, and while a majority of the themes were concerning nature, especially in painting, quite a few where about myths, legends, the supernatural (Furst, n. d.). Expressive and unrestrained, dream-like and wild, the extremes were being explored a depicted with a preference for immortalizing images on the canvas. Gainsborough, Delacroix, and Goya belonged to this era of romanticism in art.

Ayn Rand (1968) explains that:

“What the Romanticists brought to art was the primacy of values, an element that had been missing in the stale, arid, third- and fourth hand (and rate) repetitions of the Classicists’ formula-copying. Values (and value judgments) are the source of emotions; a great deal of emotional intensity was projected in the work of the Romanticists and in the reactions of their audiences, as well as a great deal of colour, imagination, originality, excitement and all the other consequences of a value-oriented view of life. This emotional element was the most easily perceivable characteristic of the new movement and it was taken as its defining characteristic, without deeper inquiry.”

Importance and Impact of Romanticism in History

The decline of monarchy continued at a steady rate, what with the people seeking equality and freedom under the law, the spirit of rebellion had swept over the entire continent from the French Revolution which was a symbol of democratic ideals and hopes. But those in power also pushed back hard, England struggling to hold on to its colonies, Russia putting out the flames of peasant revolt, the Austrian Empire rising in importance.

Still, with the evolving views on freedom and liberty, revolutionary ideas on politics were touted by the people with liberalism and democracy gaining many supporters among the middle class and intellectuals (“Romanticism in Literature and Politics,”).

The example of the French Revolution had a widespread influence on European countries, which led to uprisings and protests against established governments. People demanded for equality under the law, which they perceived as being partial to giving special privileges to the nobility. An example is the Corn Laws in England, which kept grain prices high to ‘protect’ English farmers from foreign competition, though it was a financial burden on the working class but benefited landowners, a majority who were nobility who inherited their lands (“The Corn Laws”). Interest in libertarianism and democracy was generated, and America became a prime model for democracy as a colony that successfully separated from its sovereign state through revolution.

“Political liberalism was championed by social reformers in 19th century England. These reformers, however, tried to avoid repeating the "mistakes" of the French Revolutionaries by applying abstract scientific rules to the understanding of society. They decided successful social reform would come from the application of tangible, practical rules to society, therefore their adoption of the term "utility" in judging government performance, and their initial adoption of the term "happiness" as a measure to evaluate the success or failure of administration. (“Romanticism, Economic Liberalism and Political Liberalism").”

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References:

“Romanticism”. Boundless Art History. Retrieved from
https://www.boundless.com/art-history/textbooks/boundless-art-historytextbook/european-and-american-art-in-the-18th-and-19th-centuries34/neoclassicism-and-romanticism-211/romanticism-757-5786/

Burns, E. M., Lerner, R. E., Meacham, S. (1980) Western civilizations. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company

Galitz, K. C. (2004, October). Romanticism. Retrieved from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/roma/hd_roma.htm

History of Europe. (2015) In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Europe/Revolution-and-the-growthof-industrial-society-1789-1914

Kreis, S. (2014). Toward a Definition of Romanticism. The History Guide. Retrieved from http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/romanticism.html

Mastin, L. (2008). Basics of Philosophy: Romanticism. Retrieved from http://www.philosophybasics.com/movements_romanticism.html

Priest, H. (n.d.). Review: Romance: The History of a Genre, edited by Dana Perce [Review of book Online]. Retrieved from http://jprstudies.org/2014/10/reviewromance-the-history-of-a-genreedited-by-dana-percec/

Rand, A. (1968). Introduction to the Fountainhead. The Objectivist. Retrieved from http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/romanticism.html

Romance. (n. d.). In Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=romance

Romantic - History of a Word. (n. d.). Retrieved from http://www.classichistory.net/archives/romantic

Romanticism in Literature and Politics - The First Generation In Britain And Germany, The Second Generation In Britain And Germany, French Romanticism (n. d.). Retrieved from http://science.jrank.org/pages/8061/Romanticism-in-LiteraturePolitics.html#ixzz4crN1pIpt

Romanticism, Economic Liberalism and Political Liberalism. (n. d.). Retrieved from http://www.iun.edu/~hisdcl/h114_2002/romanticism.htm

Romanticism. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/art/Romanticism

Romanticism. (2015) In New World Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Romanticism

Romanticism. (n. d.). In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/romanticism

Ross, D. (n. d.). The Corn Laws. Retrieved from http://www.britainexpress.com/History/victorian/corn-laws.htm

Smith, N. (2011, December 5). Overview of Romanticism in Literature. Retrieved from http://www.articlemyriad.com/overview-romanticism-literature/

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