Romantic Literature Essay Example for Free

Romantic Literature Essay Romance is described as a mysterious or fascinating quality or appeal, as of something adventurous, heroic, or strangely beautiful. Romance is often written about in many works throughout time. In the 18th century the â€Å"brooding† romantics shared an idea that all humans were capable of being evil. Their writing was often complex, mysterious, and filled with emotion. Washington Irving’s â€Å"The Devil and Tom Walker†, Edgar Allen’s â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death†, and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Minster’s Black Veil† are romantic stories because they emphasize on passion, nature, the individual, and the unusual. Even though Hawthorne, Poe, and Irving are all romantic writers, they use different elements to develop their stories. Washington Irving uses several romantic elements to tell the story of Tom Walker, an old miserly man who sells his soul the Devil in exchange for wealth. One element that is illustrated is the use of imagination and emotion once Tom became secure in his wealth he started to show how evil he really was, â€Å"Let the freebooter roast,’ said Tom; ‘who cares!’ He now felt convinced that all he had heard and seen was no illusion.† (Irving 319). As Tom starts to grow old he realizes how bad his deal with the Devil was, he attempts to undo his wrongdoing by becoming religious. Tom gets out of the deal and is left poor when he asks to be taken if he has made money off of hopeless people, Walker is left with nothing, and his fortune is now worth mere pennies. (Irving 324). Irving also shows an interest in the historic past, the Devil is guarding a hidden treasure buried by Kidd the pirate, the treasure was never recovered because of the pirate being killed. (Irving 312). While Tom Walker was taking a short cut home he comes across old Indian land. â€Å"Nothing remained of the old Indian for but a few embankments, gradually sinking to the level of the surrounding earth, and already overgrown in part by oaks and other forest trees, the foliage of which formed a contrast to the dark pines and hemlocks of the swamp.† (Irving 315). Finding an old Indian skull really sparked Walker’s interest in the bizarre; this is when the devil first comes in contact with Tom. (Irving 317). During this encounter the Devil describes who he really is, â€Å"I amuse myself by presiding at the persecutions of Quakers and Anabaptists; I am the great patron and prompter of slave dealers and the grand masters of the Salem witches.† (Irving 317). Washington Irving’s 18th century work is romantic literature because it exhibits the use of imagination and emotion, an interest in the historic past, and also an interest in the unusual, bizarre, or unfami liar. Poe uses a belief in the unusual, bizarre, or unfamiliar, a revolt against authority and an emphasis on imagination and feeling in his romantic writing. In this tale a disease called the Red Death infects a country, Prince Prospero decides to take everyone who has not came in contact with the illness to his palace where they will party all day and have a moment of silence at the sound of a clock ringing every hour, to commemorate being. (Poe 431). â€Å"Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and lighthearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court . . . â€Å"(Poe 429). One day at midnight an uninvited guest arrived wearing a mask that resembles a corpse and his face has spots of blood, suggesting that he is a victim of the Red Death. The prince revolts against authority when he attacks the masked mummer for showing up to his party. (Poe 433). The palace where the festivities were held had intercut and bizarre rooms, each area was painted a different solid color, but the last room is black with red windows creating an eerie feeling. (Poe 430). To develop his story, Hawthorne used the elements of emphasis on the individual, emphasis on the unfamiliar, bizarre, or the unusual, and the use of imagination. â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil† walks the reader through a minister, Mr. Hooper, and his community once he starts to wear a black veil over his face every day. (Hawthorne 461). The people of Milford, including his fiancà ©e, were all confused on why the minister would not ever remove his veil. The tale is centered on Mr. Hopper and the reason for the veil, â€Å"A rumor of some unaccountable phenomenon had preceded Mr. Hooper into the meeting house, and set the entire congregation astir.† (Hawthorne 460). The face covering was mysterious and unusual to the public, they figured that the minister wearing the veil symbolized a horrible sin, â€Å"Swathed about his forehead, and hanging down over his face, so low as to be shaken by his breath, Mr. Hopper has on a black veil.† (Hawthorne 460). The minister never told anyone why he wore the shield on his face but demanded that people respect his decision to wear it. This caused him and his fiancà ©e, Elizabeth, to have arguments. Hawthorne uses imagination in this work when Elizabeth and Mr. Hopper have their final argument over the veil, â€Å"For a few moments she appeared lost in a thought, considering, probably, what new methods might be tried to withdraw her lover from so dark a fantasy, which, if it had no other meaning, was perhaps a symptom of mental disease.† (Hawthorne 467). His fiancà ©e leaves him, but come back years later to help take care of him in his last years; throughout the time they were apart she never married anyone else. On his death bed Mr. Hopper still did not remove the black veil; the town thought this to be bizarre but did not question his choice. (Hawthorne 470). The minister wished that his congregation would help him through his journey, but instead the gossiped and proved that they were not supportive churchgoers as they portrayed. Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil† proves that is a romantic work because it illustrates emphasis on the individual, emphasis on the unfamiliar, bizarre, or the unusual, and the use of imagination. Poe, Hawthorne, and Irving are romantic writers because their works use five different elements in order to create a short story. All three stories have a male character that had to make a choice without thinking about how it affected the people around them. The tales had emphasis on emotion, nature, and the individual. The â€Å"brooding† romantics were not like the authors that write romance novels now. Their writing was darker and definitely not as light hearted. Centuries later the definition of romance has changed drastically.