Romanticism and Realism: Key Features and Differences
Features of Romanticism
Romanticism is characterized by several key features:
- Individualism: Art and literature become a manifestation of self, expressing personal feelings. This leads to the development of lyric poetry and music, art forms particularly suited for expressing subjectivity.
- Irrationalism: Romanticism opposes Enlightenment rationalism, valuing emotions, dreams, and fantasies. This gives rise to modern fantasy and horror genres.
- Defense of Liberty: Romanticism champions liberty in all areas and is often defined as “liberalism in literature.” Morally, romantic sentiment is regarded as the only standard of conduct, sometimes excusing adulterous love and suicide. In art and literature, neoclassical standards are rejected in favor of originality and unique style.
- Idealism: Romantic thought views the poet and artist as geniuses who can intuitively penetrate the unknown and mysterious. This idealism leads to a search for lofty ideas, especially in love, which often results in disappointment when faced with reality.
- Nationalism: Against the universalist spirit of Neoclassicism, Romantics value the unique features of each country, reclaiming their history and customs.
- Exoticism: The rejection of modern society leads to a romantic escape to earlier times (like the Middle Ages) or regions not yet dominated by European civilization (East, America). Spain became popular because it was considered a backward country.
- Rebellious Spirit and Youth: While Neoclassicism aligns with maturity (rationalism, moderation), Romanticism resonates with youth (rebellion, passion, idealism). It was largely a movement of the young generation clashing with the tastes of an older audience educated in Neoclassicism.
Key Romantic Features:
- Freedom against the canons of neo-classicism.
- Subjectivism and individualism.
- The importance of feelings.
- The excellence of imagination and fantasy.
- Instinct over reason.
Features of Realism
Realism is defined by the following characteristics:
- Objectivity Above All: The writer aims for objectivity, applying the experimental method to reflect social reality accurately. The author’s subjectivity and feelings are kept out of the work. The novel becomes a mirror of life. However, this striving for objectivity is compatible with the omniscient narrative point of view, where the author anticipates events, judges characters, and dialogues with the reader.
- Vulgar, Everyday Reality: Arguments are based on vulgar, everyday reality. Stories are credible, featuring ordinary characters taken from reality, set in recognizable, contemporary contexts rather than extraordinary or exotic environments.
- Protagonist-Centered: Works revolve around a protagonist, often reflected in the title. The literary work becomes the story of the clash between personal aspirations and social norms, often leading to the protagonist’s defeat. This conflict, arising since the Romantics, now sees the author siding with reality, “punishing” characters for being too idealistic.
- Sober, Simple Style: The style is sober, simple, and formally uncomplicated. This apparent simplicity results from intense cleanup efforts.
- Novel as Primary Medium: Realism is mainly expressed through the novel, which experiences extraordinary development. Realistic poetry has little literary value, and theater uses romantic procedures without great success. Thus, realism is often identified with the realistic novel.
- Focus on the Bourgeoisie: The purpose of describing society as a whole is rarely met, as the realist writer primarily describes the world of the bourgeoisie and middle class, with few forays into the environments of workers or the marginalized. Naturalism later includes these sectors in the novel.