ROMANTICISM
Romanticism, also known as the Romantic era, was an artistic and intellectual movement which took place in Europe between the late eighteenth century and mid nineteenth century. The Romantic era is broadly understood as a break from the guiding principles of the Enlightenment which established reason as the foundation of all knowledge, and from the eighteenth century rationalism. This Romantic Movement emphasized the importance of emotional sensitivity and individual subjectivity. For the Romantics- the people who fell under the Romantic Movement- imagination was key to life rather than reason. Among the characteristic attitudes of Romanticism were a deepened appreciation of the beauties of nature; a general exaltation of emotion over reason, and of the senses over intellect; a heightened examination of human personality and its moods and mental potentialities; a preoccupation with the hero, the exceptional figure, a focus on his passions and inner struggles; and an emphasis upon imagination as a gateway to transcendent experience and spiritual truth. Romanticism proper can be derived from the mid-eighteenth century developments that can be termed as Pre-Romanticism. Among such trends was appreciation for the medieval romance, where Romanticism obtains its name. This romance was a tale whose emphasis on individual heroism and on the mysterious was in clear contrast to the prevailing Classical forms of literature, thus leaving this new interest in unsophisticated, emotional literary expressions of the past a dominant note in Romanticism.