Dark Romanticism

"Fallen man's inability fully to comprehend haunting reminders of another, supernatural realm that yet seemed not to exist, the constant perplexity of inexplicable and vastly metaphysical phenomena, a propensity for seemingly perverse or evil moral choices that had no firm or fixed measure or rule, and a sense of nameless guilt combined with a suspicion the external world was a delusive projection of the mind - these were major elements in the vision of man the Dark Romantics opposed to the mainstream of Romantic thought." - G.R. Thompson

It can be quite difficult to understand the literary sub genre known as dark Romanticism. This becomes an even more difficult task because there is no proper definition for the genre from which it emerges; Romanticism. While according to some experts, Romanticism was a period where authors spent a majority of their literary talent praising the Almighty, others believe that the literary period was more influenced by the economy of the market. There are many people who believe that in order to understand Romanticism completely and fully, it is important that you feel the poetry and novels that make up the literary period. While Romanticism was defined in a myriad of ways, to define dark Romanticism, people generally pointed their finger towards the Gothic literature that was published in the 1700s.

Dark Romanticism: An Overview

What is dark Romanticism? If you look out for a definition, you will be hard pressed to find one, that suits your purpose. It is generally defined as a phenomenon or a literary and historical movement, wherein authors and poets revolted against the classical ways of writing and expression. In stark contrast to the Age of Enlightenment, during which there was a blind faith in reason and materialism, proponents of this genre talked about feeling, and imagination. Many historians and experts believe that the reason this genre sprung to fame was because of a reaction to a society that was fast becoming industrialized and mechanical. Authors often preferred writing tales of horror and terror. They reveled in describing the tragedies that often befell human lives. Some of the most famous authors of this genre were William Blake, Bram Stoker, and most importantly, Edgar Allan Poe.

In order to understand the literary genre, it is important to understand the various characteristics of dark Romanticism. Most authors who wrote in this style had a tendency to write about subjects that were not only gloomy and morose, but had elements of the morbid and grotesque. Dark Romanticism is widely considered to be the most popular sub genres of American literature due to the degree of illogical elements that so seamlessly blended into the genre. While the characteristics of romanticism will tell you more about the belief that real life was quite dreary in comparison to imagination, dark Romanticism characteristics suggest that authors believed otherwise. They believe that human beings were equally capable of evil and good. While Romantics tried and ignored the evil and sociopath behavior of man, the dark Romantics, took it as a duty to remind the world of the evil doings of man.

One of the characteristics that they had in common with the Romantics was the belief that emotions, and intuitions meant for a lot, and accounted for more than logical reasoning. They paid a lot of attention to the many mysteries of life that were impossible to explain by reasoning. Despite their focus on the morbid and tragic, they never were cynical, nor did they emphasize on the same. Their showcase of the evil of human beings was a tribute to the struggles that human beings overcame in their life.

While dark Romanticism was a literary genre that was most popular in America, there were some British authors who also contributed greatly to this genre of literature. This included authors like Samuel Coleridge and Mary Shelley. This article is just an overview of the genre but hopefully, it has helped you understand the genre.