Individualism expressed during the
Romantic Period
By Lauren Martilli
The modern subject
claims to be an “individual.” To me, an “individual” is a person that refuses
to identify himself with a group or an organization; one that disregards the
common beliefs or values within society and chooses to act or think in his own
way, using his own thoughts and ideas.
An “individual” is free to make his own choices and declares his
independence from others. This, however,
does not mean that he fails to follow laws, for example, failure to follow any
given law which results in the injury of another person. Instead, an “individual” wishes to convey his
own feelings without regard to how others might react. I think that the roots of the “individual”
emerged during the Romantic Period which surfaced as a result of the widespread
rejection of neoclassical principles.
Neoclassicists, according to Matthews and Platt, “followed the ancient
Greco-Roman ideals of balance, simplicity and restraint” (458). Such principles were “thought to embody the
underlying order of the universe” (458).
The Romanticists disagreed with these principles and rejected them by
venerating the spontaneity of nature and exploring the obscurities of the human
soul. The Romantic ideas that came to
light around 1770 influenced western thought well into the Modern era. In order to gain a better understanding of
the “individual” and how he differentiates himself from the “maternal
totality,” I will examine and provide examples of individuality expressed in
philosophy, literature, artwork and music of the Romantic period.
First of all, an
important influence on Romantic thought came from the works of Jean Jacques
Rousseau (1717-1778). His philosophy
brought forth the idea that God was present in nature, causing the Romanticists
to have a profound reverence for nature.
Literature during this time praised nature and included new emotions of
human nature that Rousseau discussed. In
addition, beliefs during this era stemmed from the rejection of Neoclassicism,
Industrialism and the French Revolution.
Romanticists rejected the Industrial revolution which was taking over
the land in which they admired. During
the French Revolution, such words as “liberty,” rights of man,” “the individual,”
and “equality” were paramount in the development of Romantic thought (Matthews
and Platt, 462). The idea of the
“individual” was brought on by all these events along with the rise in
middle-class society. Additionally, this
influx gave rise to the importance of education, which allowed the people of
society to read and understand current issues.
The new middle-class also got
involved in the arts of the period; they could afford to buy paintings and go
to musical performances.
As a result of Romanticism,
the school of thought known as idealism emerged in
The important role of
the “individual” and how he is differentiates from the universe as a whole is
present in several noteworthy literary works including Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe’s (1749-1832) novel, The Sorrows
of Young Werther, and the poetry of, William
Blake (1757-1827). Artists during the
Romantic period also depicted a new “individual” approach, such as John
Constable (1776-1837) and Joseph Mallord William
Turner (1775-1851). Musical styles
during the Romantic period, especially those of Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770-1827), also embodied the urge for individualism. By looking to the works of literature, art
and music during the Romantic Period, we can uncover the agenda of the “individual.”
Von Goethe’s, The Sorrows of Young Werther,
gives a detailed account of the main character, Werther,
and his struggle with life which results in suicide because the woman he loves
does not return his affection. The novel
examines Werther’s inner thoughts and emotions
because he expresses them in writing to his friend, William. During the initial letters, Werther conveys his reverence for nature by describing its
beauty and “succumb[s] to its magnificence” (25). He disfavors “the limitations imposed on
man’s powers of action,” because he sees that they are all “aimed at nothing
but the satisfaction of needs” and prolong a man’s “miserable existence”
(28). Such “rules and regulations” Werther says, “ruin our true appreciation of nature and our
powers to express it” (30). He relates
the pointless constraints placed on us in society to love and does not think
that anyone should be able to set forth rules to limit such things as
love. Contrary to common perception that
laws are good, Werther discusses his own, individual
idea of “rules and regulations,” using an example to counter their
usefulness. He soon meets Lotte and falls in love with her although he is aware of
her engagement to another man. This does
not stop his from expressing his feelings toward Lotte. Soon, he becomes obsessed and even makes
himself believe that Lotte returns his love, but his
belief is not based on any rational basis.
Werther tells William that he can “read true
symphony in her eyes” (52) and concludes that she loves him, yet he fails to
consider alternate alternatives. His
thoughts become completely consumed by thoughts of Lotte. When she does not return his love, he decides
that it is “certainly easier to die than stand up to a life of torment”
(60). Even when Albert, Lotte’s fiancé is around, Werther
somewhat befriends him, but fails to hide his affection toward Lotte. Werther becomes so depressed, especially during the winter
months, that he no longer has the ability to find tranquility in nature; his
entire worldview changes. Along with
expressing his obsessive love with an engaged woman, Werther
also discusses his hatred for society’s class system. The “deplorable social conditions” irritate Werther (75). He
feels that there is no point in having such a system because it results in
unhappiness. The rejection of the
aristocracy was a big issue during the Romantic period and helps with the
emergence of the “individual.”
Throughout the Sorrows of Young Werther, the main character constantly changes. Werther starts as
an optimistic Romanticist engulfed by the beauty of nature and ends up as a
pathetic pessimist who decides to end his life because of a failed love
affair. By reading Werther’s
letters to William, the reader can see the beliefs of the community in which Werther lives and can gain insight into the idea of how the
“individual” breaks away from the “maternal totality” view of society.
An important poet
whose poetry expressed an individualized view of humanity important to
Romanticism was William Blake. Blake’s
poetry is described as “highly individual in style and technique” (Lawall, ed., 540).
He uses different voices in his poems to relate to the reader and put
forth his own ideas about human existence.
For example in his poem, The
Little Black Boy, Blake uses the voice of a black child who does not
understand why he is different than the white child. The reader is probably “painfully” aware of
the society’s judgments of black people during this time. The black boy concludes by seeing himself as
a protector to the white boy, “I’ll shade him from the heat till he can bear / To lean in joy upon our father’s knee” (Lawall,
ed., 544). Instead of understanding that
white means good and black means bad, the black boy comes up with a new meaning
for his black skin (Lawall, ed. 541). Blake uses emotion in his poetry to enhance
the reader’s reaction to his works. He
also seeks to reveal the inner thoughts of the human being. Blake’s individualism within his poetry
portrays the ideology that Romanticists sought to convey.
Romantic artists used
the new standards of Romanticism in their paintings as well as writers. Two forms of Romantic painting were
developed: pastoral and sublime. A
pastoral painting portrayed landscape settings, “in which peasant life was
equated with the divine order of things, thus forgoing a moral link between
human beings and the natural environment” (Matthews and Platt, 464). John Constable’s paintings depicted pastoral
settings. His landscapes sought to
include God within nature and show his connection with nature in order to
arouse the viewer’s appreciation for nature.
Many of his paintings were criticized, but he managed to gain
appreciation from his painting, The Hay Wain (Matthews and Platt, 465). In this and other paintings by Constable, his
naturalistic approach is evident, especially in his precise depiction of the
clouds. Constable’s
pastoral paintings parallel with von Goethe’s novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther by
expressing nature in its realistic and pure form. The other form of Romantic artwork is the
sublime, which illustrated natural disasters such as storms. J.M.W. Turner used his highly individual
style to depict “wild nature.” His
innovative use of “virtuosic color” and anticipation of “modern abstract
painting” made his artwork popular during the period (Matthews and Platt,
467). The developing principles of
Romantic thought can be viewed by looking at the pastoral and sublime forms of
art that emerged during the eighteenth and centuries.
As a result of the rise in the
middle-class, the “musical scene became a marketplace” and replaced “elite
forms of patronage” (Matthews and Platt, 474).
During this changing “musical scene” a musical genius emerges. Ludwig van Beethoven expressed his extensive
individuality in all he composed. He
started out as a Classical composer, but ended up a Romanticist. Among his many achievements, Beethoven,
increased the size and complexity of the sonata form, created program music and
was the first composer to introduce human voice in the symphony (Matthews and
Platt, 474). Although he was deaf by the
age of thirty, Beethoven achieved these along with many other accomplishments
contributing to the spreading ideas of individualism.
Many times the theories set forth by philosophers
are helpful to distinguish different viewpoints in society at various times. The idea of individualism was important
during the Romantic period and its emphasis carries on to the Modern era,
causing the modern subject to claim to be an “individual.” The events that occur in society usually have
a vital effect on its values.
Individualism arose from events such as Industrialism and revolution. Similarly, idealism in
Works Cited
DeWitt, F. Platt and
Matthews, Roy T. The
Western Humanities, Fifth Edition. Mayfield
Publishing Company,
Lawall, Sarah, ed. The
Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces: The Western Tradition, Seventh Edition. W.W. Norton and Company,
Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. Translated by Catherine Hutter. The Sorrows of Young Werther.