Dark romanticism
Dark romanticism is a subgenre of romanticism that emerged in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, primarily as a reaction to the idealistic tenets of its parent movement. While romanticism celebrates emotions, nature, and the inherent goodness of humanity, dark romanticism challenges these notions by exploring the darker aspects of human nature, such as sorrow, insanity, and moral corruption. Key themes in dark romantic literature often include the influence of evil, psychological turmoil, and supernatural elements, like ghosts and vampires, which serve as metaphors for humanity's darker instincts.
Prominent writers in this genre include Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, and Lord Byron, who introduced complex characters such as the tormented hero-villain. Notable works, like Shelley’s "Frankenstein" and Poe’s "The Raven," exemplify these themes, delving into human despair and existential dread. Dark romanticism also intersects with gothic literature, amplifying its exploration of macabre and haunting themes. The movement significantly influenced later literary developments, embedding itself in contemporary horror and fantasy genres, thus continuing to resonate with modern audiences.
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Dark romanticism
Dark romanticism is a subgenre of romanticism, an artistic and literary movement that emphasizes emotions and individualism. Originating during the eighteenth century, romanticism celebrates the beauty of nature and love and the power of feeling. Dark romanticism emerged as the inverse of romanticism's idealisms, which often revolve around the idea of a natural goodness in the universe. Dark romanticism questions the inherent goodness of humankind and prefers to glorify the less-noble aspects of humanity such as sorrow, insanity, and corruption. Many dark romantics include supernatural aspects in their works such as ghosts, vampires, and demons—malevolent entities meant to stand in for the darker facets of human nature. Notable dark romantic writers include Edgar Allan Poe, Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, Herman Melville, Samuel Coleridge, and John William Polidori. Dark romanticism is often identified in conjunction with the gothic literature and art, because many gothic works also emphasize darkly romantic themes.
Background
Dark romanticism is rooted in the romantic movement, which was established in Europe in the eighteenth century in reaction to the Age of Enlightenment's emphasis on rationalism and societal structure. Poets such as William Wordsworth, Percy Shelley, and John Keats accounted for the earliest of the English romantics. The genre also emerged in other regions of Europe such as France, where Victor Hugo led the surge in romantic writings with his Hunchback of Notre Dame. Romanticism also made headway in Germany with writers such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whose tragic novel The Sorrows of Young Werther inspired many young writers to join the romantic movement.
Romanticism favors an adoration of beauty, nature, and passion and evolved from medieval ideas of romance. Romantics stressed feeling over reason, suggesting that reason is incapable of explaining all aspects of humanity. Many early romantic writers believed an innate goodness is present in all matter throughout the universe, and adhering to the moral nature of the world will lead to eternal reward. Such a position eventually gave rise to an opposing viewpoint within the movement, leading to the birth of dark romanticism. Dark romantics took a gloomier stance on humankind, underlining the darker instincts of the human condition. While the romantics wrote optimistically of the mysticism of nature, the dark romantics viewed those same aspects with pessimistic suspicion. Dark romantics believed evil could easily overcome good given the right set of circumstances. Dark romantics also incorporated horrific themes into their writings that often deal with the psychological stress of guilt and shame.
The earliest examples of dark romanticism are found in the works of English writers such as Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, Samuel Coleridge, and John Polidori. Byron, who was already a distinguished poet within romantic circles, is credited with popularizing the tormented hero-villain figure of dark romantic literature. This character is an individual tortured by and remorseful of his inherent evil. Byron's darkly romantic content inspired many of his contemporaries. Byron prompted a writing challenge to his companions in the summer of 1816 that led to the creation of Shelley's novel Frankenstein (1816). The story details the gradual corruption of a man-made human referred to as the Monster, a creature that is born pure and driven to become evil by the nature of humanity. In 1819, Byron and Shelley's friend Polidori conceived The Vampyre, which tells the horrifying story of a young man whose life is ruined after becoming acquainted with a handsome, deceitful vampire.
The romantic period peaked during the first half of the nineteenth century. By the 1840s, dark romanticism had migrated west to become part of the American Renaissance. Dark romanticism in America was typified by writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Poe's works cover distinctly dark subject matter. His stories and poetry regularly involve madness, revenge, murder, and ghosts. Poe's poem "The Raven," which tells the story of a man who goes mad from the incessant pecking of a raven at his door, is arguably the most recognizable work of American dark romanticism. By the 1850s, the romantic trend had begun to die off. The themes of dark romanticism persisted into modern literature, however, inspiring a number of contemporary horror and fantasy fiction authors.
Overview
Dark romanticism contains a number of common themes and symbols. Dark romantic writers often use their narrative as a study of human nature, examining the forces of good and evil and their influence over people. Many dark romantic authors are eager to explore the effects of evil on the world and how such an influence can lead to a person's self-destruction. In the view of dark romantics, human nature is not inherently good, which means anyone is capable of doing bad things. Writers often design their narratives to make their readers question the certainty and safety of their surroundings.
Dark romances often feature plots revolving around acts of revenge, descents into madness, and scheming criminals and murderers. Supernatural entities such as ghosts, ghouls, vampires, and demons are a common inclusion; these elements often symbolize an unruly aspect of human nature.
Dark romantic writers regularly include symbolism in their works. An example is the bird in Poe's poem "The Raven." As the narrator sits and watches the raven at his door harassing him, the bird's presence slowly drives him insane. Poe intentionally chose the raven as the subject of his poem because the bird was known to peck at corpses such as those strewn across battlefields, and the reader would be aware of this image. The bird's presence in the poem symbolizes death. The narrator recognizes this presence and grows more hopeless with each verse as he experiences the raven's presence. Symbolism in works of dark romanticism reinforce the horrific elements of the story, reminding readers that sin and evil can be pervasive influences in the world.
Bibliography
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