Why Romanticism is not romantic?

There is a huge misconception when talking about Romanticism and, to be honest I was part of big group of people that when thinking about Romanticism immediately used to related this concept to “Love” or “Feelings between people”. The truth is that there is a higher complexity in the word Romanticism, reaching a definition that includes a unique perspective like the following: “To be Romantic is to react to previous generations, to react against artificiality, to react against a Neo-Classical model. To be Romantic is to get in contact with Nature.”

The Romantic Age is the result of several reactions against History, Religion, Economy, Politics, Social issues, etc; it changes the established way of see things in life. The “Enlightenment” is one social consequence that appeared because of the Industrial Revolution and affected economy as well as people’s lives: injustice, poverty, emigration, lack of prosperity, those were some of the factors that made people think and want a new life but also made people create new ideas that influenced the change.

Within the change, we can appreciate the new role of Nature: the idea of return to the roots and be connected with nature is present in the Romantic Literature; on the contrary, industry and to be civilized is a synonym of artificiality. In this way, nature represents simplicity, originality, transcendentalism, authenticity and goodness.

One of my favorite romantic poems is “Volverán las oscuras golondrinas” written by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer.

RIMA LIII

Volverán las oscuras golondrinas 

en tu balcón sus nidos a colgar, 

y otra vez con el ala a sus cristales 

jugando llamarán. 

Pero aquellas que el vuelo refrenaban 

tu hermosura y mi dicha a contemplar, 

aquellas que aprendieron nuestros nombres... 

¡esas... no volverán!. 

Volverán las tupidas madreselvas 

de tu jardín las tapias a escalar, 

y otra vez a la tarde aún más hermosas 

sus flores se abrirán. 

Pero aquellas, cuajadas de rocío 

cuyas gotas mirábamos temblar 

y caer como lágrimas del día... 

¡esas... no volverán! 

Volverán del amor en tus oídos 

las palabras ardientes a sonar; 

tu corazón de su profundo sueño 

tal vez despertará. 

Pero mudo y absorto y de rodillas 

como se adora a Dios ante su altar, 

como yo te he querido...; desengáñate, 

¡así... no te querrán!

Although it is a poem of the Late Romanticism, we can identify all the main Romantic features and also it reflects the characteristics of the Romantic Poet: Solitary, Passion, Imagination, Wild Nature, and Rebellion. Here, we can think of Romanticism as the wrong idea of love but even though the writer shows the desolation caused in his heart by a love that has abandon him, it can also be identified the idealization of the lover and the feelings they had, until the point that the perfect love has made nature part of the relation. Furthermore divinity and religion are present to emphasize that he knows the reality: he can’t bring back the days of happiness and true love; this it can be noticed through the entire poem. It is important to mention that nature also transcends as the time passes, which is why the honeysuckles grow again and the swallows return. 

Romantic poets wanted to break the superficiality and exaggeration of the modern concepts of romance and love, they look for simplicity and they use simple but meaningful words showing the beauty of life and nature.

Romanticism as the myth of Prometheus is the change in life’s vision: Prometheus are all the great men and women that thought about a humankind in contact with nature, simplicity, spirituality, etc. that wanted to make a change, that wanted to illuminate other people’s mind giving them the fire that will help to transmit the knowledge and make people unique individuals: fire will give them the same power Gods used to have, it can be interpreted as the power and capacity that businessmen and landowners had.

Romanticism is not romantic, but can romantic love be an expression of Romanticism? What do you think?

References:

Baase, S. (n.d.). Prometheus myth: A Gift of Fire. Retrieved August 24, 2014, from https://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/giftfire/prometheus.html

Brians, P. (2004). Romanticism. Retrieved August 24, 2014, from http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/romanticism.html

Graves, R. (1960). The greek myths. Retrieved August 24, 2014, from http://www.24grammata.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Robert-Graves-The-Greek-Myths-24grammata.com_.pdf

Jehle, F. (2000). Volveran las oscuras golondrinas, por Gustavo Adolfo Becquer. Retrieved August 23, 2014, from http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/poesia/volveran.htm