Rationalism In The Polar Sea

The nineteenth century Romantic Movement was viewed as a challenge to the Rationalism Movement of the Enlightenment period. Throughout the nineteenth century, Romanticism is seen through the ideas of philosophers, through artists and their works, and through poems and novels of the era. The characteristics of Romanticism include a power of nature and the supernatural world, the emphasis on emotion and intuition, the embracing of the value of the individual, as well as the rejection of the eighteenth century rules of criticism.
The first characteristic of romanticism includes the power of nature and the supernatural world. Many artists throughout this time period expressed their understanding of nature through sublime paintings, paintings that arouse strong emotions. The work of Caspar David Friedrich expresses his understanding of the power of nature through his painting, The Polar Sea. This painting depicts nature’s ability to destroy humankind through the analogy of a ship being crushed in a polar ice field. The Romantic …show more content…
Although this concept is not particularly new to this movement, authors of this period place a strong emphasis on this common idea. The work of both Friedrich Schlegel and Lord Bryon give great examples that affirm the individual value. Schlegel wrote a novel titled Lucinde, which gave insight into the equality of individuals, especially women. In his novel, Schlegel compared the female character, Lucinde as an equal to the male hero. This gives the perspective that each individual, even women, have value outside of their gender specific roles. Lord Bryon places his value of the individual in his idea of personal liberty. Bryon wanted to Greeks to have free will, in a belief that the nation should be self-determining, therefore placing the value on the rule in the individual