Frederick Douglass And American Romanticism Essay

Romanticism is the movement of literature and arts that took place during the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and American Slave is an essential text of this time period. The narrative presents many of the characteristics that are reflective of the time period, such as the religion of nature, the under-conscious underdogs concept, the subjective “I” ideals, and not thought, but feeling. These Romanticisms characteristics can be seen as Frederick Douglass illustrates intellectual, historical and cultural/social situations, throughout this narrative.
Education, an intellectual entity is which many whites during the time period, are trying to refrain from slaves. However, the desire for education and furthering knowledge is very prevalent amongst the slaves. …show more content…
Douglass who is a former slaves, tells many horrific depictions taking place during his entrapment in slavery. The Romanticism ideal of the under-conscious underdogs is shown in many of the things that are taking place. Douglass first give us a glimpse into the life and treatment of women, with his mother Harriet Bailey, whom is forced to separate from her family just shortly after giving birth to Douglass. We see this commonality again early in Douglass’s life, when he recounts the story of his aunt being continuously whipped, and his elderly grandmother being sent to the woods, to fend for herself. From that time one, we see the continuously harsh treatment of women throughout the narrative, from them being murdered for not waking up to take care of the master children, to being raped, and also being starved and whipped because of a disability. Although women are not spoken of often in this narrative, when they are we able to see the suffering they endured, even more so than many of the men