Definition for Romanticism
From Biology Forums Dictionary
Romantic (19th century) architecture borrowed styles from other eras and produced a vast array of buildings that received Gothic motifs and reflected fantasy. This style has come to be known as “picturesque.” It exhibits eastern influence and whimsy. As part of the “Age of Industry,” Romantic architecture experimented with new, modern materials such as glass and steel. It also, in seeking an “escape to the past” mentality, just as readily employed the common in Greek and Roman classicism—thus establishing the term Romantic Classicism, a seeming oxymoron. The Romantic style in painting has an emotional appeal. Its subjects tend toward the picturesque, including nature, Gothic images, and often the macabre. In seeking to break the geometrical principles of classical composition, Romantic compositions move toward fragmentation of images, with the intention of dramatizing, personalizing, and escaping into imagination. Such painting strives to subordinate formal content to expressive intent, and to express an intense introversion. As the writer Zola maintained, art in the Romantic style is “part of the universe as seen through a temperament.” Romanticism in theatre resulted in dazzling scenery, revivals, and productions geared to a mass audience. Reflecting the Romantic philosophy of the other arts, theatre of this style sought new forms of freedom from all classical restraints. Intuition rather than reason reigns. The plays of this style are rife with phony emotionalism, melodrama, and stage gimmickry. Stereotypical characters, sentimental plots, and exaggerated action form the backbone of Romantic theatre’s predominant genre, melodrama. In an era of Romantic subjectivity, music provided the medium in which many found unrivaled opportunity to express emotion. As in painting, spontaneity replaced control, but the primary emphasis of music in this style was beautiful, lyrical, and expressive melody. Phrases became longer, more irregular, and more complex than in classical style. Romantic composers emphasized colorful harmonies and instrumentation. Composers sought to disrupt the listener’s expectations with more and more dissonance, often exploring it for its own sake. Exploration of musical color to elicit feeling is an important aspect of Romanticism in music. It is a style of great diversity in vocal and instrumental performance and a tremendous increase in the size and diversity of the orchestra. Romantic ballet comprises what we understand to be ballet itself. Romantic ballet is classical ballet. Its fundamental characteristic is exhibition of “beautiful forms in graceful attitudes.” It is a living painting or sculpture replete with “physical pleasure and feminine beauty,” according to its principal aesthetician, Théophile Gautier (1811-72). Choreographers of Romantic ballet sought magic and escape in fantasies and legends, of “moonbeams and gossamer.” The classical or Romantic ballet repertoire still consists of the ballets La Sylphide (1832), Giselle (1841), Swan Lake (1877), and The Nutcracker (1892).