Compare and contrast 2 main features of the Enlightenment, a prominent 18th Century social movement,

The ideals of these two intellectual movements were very different from one another.

The Enlightenment thinkers believed very strongly in rationality and science.  They believed that the natural world and even human behavior could be explained scientifically.  They even felt that they could use the scientific method to improve human society.

By contrast, the Romantics rejected the whole idea of reason and science.  They felt that a scientific worldview was cold and sterile.  They felt that science and material progress would rob people of their humanity (this is, for example, one of the major themes of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley).  In place of reason, the Romantics exalted feelings and emotions.  They felt that intuition and emotions were important sources of knowledge.

Thus, the ideals of the Romantics and the thinkers of the Enlightenment were very much opposed to one another.

Romanticism was a movement that stressed human emotions and beauty of nature, while Enlightenment was quite an opposite movement.

While Enlightenment's belief about the material world is that it is the reflection of the ideal world, Romanticism's belief about the material world is that it is the manifestation of divinity or God's self-expression.

The Enlightenment movement was characterized by moderation and order, while Romanticism admired spontaneity and disorder.

While the Enlightenment believed that objectivity and realism can be possible, Romanticism believed that subjectivity and relativity cannot be avoided.

The Enlightenment's literary forms kept and applied traditional forms, while Romanticism's literary forms revealed stylistic autonomy. Enlightenment's art had to be educational and it had to prove its utility, while  Romanticism's art appealed mainly to emotions.

Scientific revolution and Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th century shattered the role of tradition, superstition and clergy in the society and hailed reason as the sole means for addressing human issues. The ideals of enlightenment influenced many in France and led to the revolution in 1789 which was followed by instability and chaos, first in France and later in the rest of Europe.  Reign of terror and Napoleonic wars, which emanated during French revolution, disenchanted many from enlightenment. A new wave of intellectuals and thinkers condemned views upheld during enlightenment and denounced reason which led to their plight and misery. This movement, called Romanticism, stressed on the virtues of imagination, expression of human personality, intuition and tradition.

While the philosophes of enlightenment era had criticized faith as the distorting agent to reason, the romantic thinkers denounced reason and scientific rationalism, as they crush emotion. The mechanical conception of human life as envisioned by philosophes during enlightenment was severely criticized by the romantic era poets, philosophers, and writers etc. who considered such a role below human dignity. Thinkers of Romantic Movement emphasized the importance of imagination, intuition and tradition. They urged to liberate human imagination and creativity so as to unleash the true potential of individuals. Here lies another difference between the two movements. Enlightenment saw society as a collection of human beings and argued to apply rules and theories on people. In contrast, romanticism embellished human uniqueness and recognized the significance of diversity in a society. It renounced any cap on human imagination and encouraged its followers to express their vision, their point of views and their shades of personalities. Another major conflict between the two schools was human feelings. While the philosophes argued that human feelings impede clear thinking, romantic thinkers celebrated feelings as unique feature of individuals. Romantics believed that the complex nature of human nature is beyond the grasp of reason and rational thinking. They considered that imaginative and intuitive thinkers had a better insight into life and human nature. The poets, writers, musicians and other thinkers of romantic era shattered the rules and techniques emphasized and established during enlightenment and considered them as impediment to imagination. Another significant difference is religion and the role of God. In contrast to the non-interactive God as envisioned by enlightenment thinkers, romantic intellectuals recognized God as a spiritual force and appreciated the moral standards preached by religion. Middle ages which were considered as dark ages by philosophes because of superstition and fanaticism, was appreciated by romantic thinkers because of cultural uniformity and religious harmony. While the philosophes regarded history as mere evidences of human ignorance, romantics viewed history as unique entity and valued native cultures and local traditions. There are some similarities between the two movements as well. Both the movements endeavored to shatter the established norms and authority. Both the movements encouraged society to take a different perspective.

The era of romanticism produced some of the greatest poets, authors, philosophers and artists such as Shelley, Wordsworth, Keats, Victor Hugo, Beethoven, Schubert etc.

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