Sturm und Drang

Goethe wrote in modern-day Germany in the eighteenth century, a literary period known as “Sturm und Drang” (literally “Storm and Stress”). Knowing only the name of the period, one can easily guess the tone of his works. This applies to The Sorrows perhaps more than any of his other works. The protagonist falls in love with an already engaged woman, realizes he can never have her, and decides to kill himself. It’s no wonder why Frankenstein’s Creature has such a negative worldview! He says himself that he learned “despondency and gloom” from reading Goethe’s work. An alternative to this might be Voltaire’s Candide; or, Optimism. Candide travels all over the world making friends and being persecuted for everything under the sun. Ultimately, he ends up on a small farm in the Ottoman Empire, working with the people he met in his adventures and…

his attachment as well as the agonizing suffering. The lines convey that Othello is prepared to end his marriage, thereby augment the dramatic purpose by building the plot and exposing the thematically significant matter. Convinced of being hoodwinked Othello searches for all the reasons to corroborate it. The lines “Haply for I am black / And have not those soft parts of conversation / That chamberers have,”(262–64) reveal Othello’s insecurities and bring out a sharp contrast of his…

American history is filled with ups and downs. First you have the settlement era where very clueless and scared individuals move across the world to live in a very unfamiliar place. Then you have the enlightenment era were people change up their philosophies and start to take more about nature and science. It continues all the way to the era we are currently in, postmodern era where we write more freely. American literate styles changes as time goes on. These styles change because of historical…

The periods between the 17th and the 19th century were a time of great change in which individuals pushed for reformation in particular aspects of society such as in politics, arts, literature, and ways of thinking. The development of these ideas originated in Europe but then progressed to other areas of the world like America. The 17th century marked the beginning of an era called the Enlightenment which paved the road for an era later known as Romanticism. During this time frame, writers such…

With the origins of Romanticism being what they are, it is no surprise that nature has such an immense influence in most romantic works. Nature has the undeniable effect of provoking emotions, whether they are good or bad. On the one hand, the natural world can be experienced as a calming spring day or breathtaking mountain view. On the other hand, it can also be an unstoppable avalanche or a destructive wildfire. It would definitely appeal to romantic writers that wanted to critique scientific…

Tragic love stories have fascinated humans since ancient times. They conquered the hearts of many and opened the ways for more love stories. Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – to October 1400) is one of the most famous English authors of the middle ages. Chaucer is considered the father of English literature and thrilled the mass with his literary works. His most famous works include the Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde. Yet, again a tragic love story that is still widely popular in the 21st…

Regarding Romanticism and Transcendentalism within human nature, it’s ways of thinking, feeling, and acting are bound to have positive and negative aspects. Combining knowledge from each spiritual movement, one can compare the differences and practicalities. To begin, Romanticism’s outlook on ways of thinking is to follow the heart. This can mean knowing what’s better for one’s being, but ultimately choosing the hearts thoughts. Though the idea of listening to the heart protrudes images of…

Throughout history, society has influenced the way humanity thinks about and understands the world around them. Few people search to find the truth for themselves and merely end up following the way of life seen all around them. A new movement sprung up in the late 1700s called Romanticism, celebrating creativity and imagination over logic, reason, and the limitations society placed on thought. Romanticism began around the end of the Enlightenment period, a time that focused heavily on science…

The Romantic Age followed a period called the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment period focused on action over contemplation and truth over speculation. Romantic belief emphasized the importance of the individual and his or her coinciding emotions, as well as the use of Nature as a means of symbolism and a place of refuge. In his book, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne adheres to these ideals by creating a novel that is full of Romantic characteristics. Hawthorne effectively depicts Nature as a place…

I. RESEARCH Dylan Marlais Thomas was born on October 27, 1914, in the city of Swansea, South Wales. Growing up, he tended to skip out of school to read on his own due to his neurosis. He was introduced to poetry by his father, David John Thomas, an English professor. At a young age, he read all of D.H. Lawrence 's work. Poets such as Gerard Manley Hopkins, W.B. Yeats, and Edgar Allen Poe inspired him to use rhythmic ballads like theirs in his own work. At 16, Thomas dropped out of school to…