Romanticism: A Literary Movement in Europe and Spain
Summary of Romanticism
Romanticism is a literary movement that flourished in Europe during the first decades of the nineteenth century. It is characterized by its devotion to imagination and subjectivity, freedom of thought and expression, and its idealization of nature.
The idea of freedom drives everything else. Thus, writers claimed:
- Freedom of topics: The range of topics is broad, but it focuses on the exaltation of feelings (love, death, angst, melancholy, etc.).
- Freedom of literary forms: Writers are not constrained by traditional literary forms but mix different genres, prose and verse, and various stanzas and verses in the same poem.
- Ideological freedom: Some works show political traditionalism, while others supported the revolutions of the time.
- This freedom can end with suicide, which was fairly common at this time.
This movement was born in the late eighteenth century in England and Germany, then spread over the rest of Europe. Major European Romantic authors were Goethe and Schiller in Germany, and Keats and Lord Byron in England.
Literary Genres in Romanticism
Poetry
Poetry is the most typical form of Romantic expression, the most appropriate vehicle for expressing the world of feelings, sensations, and experiences within the Romantic author.
Theatre
Romantic theatre represents a complete break with neoclassical forms:
- The rule of three unities (place, action, and time) fell into disuse.
- Works often had five or more acts, instead of the three classic acts.
In terms of content, Romantic theatre seeks to move the viewer and impress with great theatrical effect.
Prose
Romantic prose relies mostly on imagination and often has the underlying theme of past events shrouded in mystery. The Middle Ages was a favorite time period because it fit great mysteries and fairy-tale creatures.
Romantic Poetry in Spain: Part 1 (1820-1860)
Strong feelings are exalted, with violent contrasts of mood, singing of marginal figures, and political and social concerns, among other topics.
José de Espronceda
His political activities led him to prison and exile in England and France to defend the ideals of justice and freedom. In his songs, he expresses rebellion against a world that seems filled with moral hypocrisy and selfishness.
As for his literary ideal, he highlights the mixture of different lines, the contrast of situations or feelings, and reflects a taste for grim times and places of the past.
Duque de Rivas
Like Espronceda, he made contact with Romanticism in exile for his liberal ideas. In exile, he wrote To the Lighthouse of Malta, and upon returning to Spain, he wrote a poem called The Moor Foundling, which marked the beginning of Romanticism in Spain.
In general, his style is restrained, simple, and very expressive.
José Zorrilla
Zorrilla stands above all in poetry with legendary narrative content. One of his most important poems is the one devoted to Mariano José de Larra after his death.
Post-Romantic Poetry: Part 2 (From 1850)
From the 1850s, young writers who did not live the fullest Romantic era but felt the same need to express feelings and inner exploration that had moved the Romantics of the early period incorporated Romantic elements into their work.
Bécquer
Bécquer believed that poetry is born of a creative process that originates in the exploration of feelings and emotions. In that world, women have a special place, not only because they represent beauty but also because they are poetry.
His Rhymes have an essentially musical quality. They are short poems in assonant verses, in which he exalts love, loneliness, and despair.
Bécquer learned to refine his feelings and express them in thoughtful, well-structured, simple poetry that also conveys emotions.
Rosalía de Castro
Rosalía de Castro is a Galician poet who elevated the Galician language to the literary rank. She had a rebel and nonconformist personality, and her writings are very close to all beings who suffer, especially migrants. Her major works are Cantares gallegos, Follas novas, and On the Shores of the South.