Romanticism FRQ

       The era of Romanticism in Europe was a dramatic shift from what had come to be expected. The Romantic period focussed more on the importance of the powers of the mind than other periods had. The Romantics believed that within each and every person there existed a great power that had to be unlocked. Many artists, poets, and musicians seemed to have unlocked this power and produced works that were revered by the populous. The Romantic period was a bit more morose and tragic, but some believed that this is what it took to unlock the great power from within. Romanticism provided a contrast to many Enlightenment ideals and focussed on  the powers of the human mind and the interconnectedness of all people to their world.
       Many Romanticism ideas challenged what was previously thought to be fact during the Enlightenment. During the Enlightenment, everything was thought to be a gift bestowed upon humanity by God. During the Romantic age, God became little more than a name with hardly any connotation associated with it. Everything created in the world was said to come from within the human body. The Romantics believed that every person was connected to each other and everyone was connected to the world around them in some way or another. Great ideas were no longer given to people as if from a sign of God, rather they were hidden deep in the recesses of the human mind and unlocked only through certain criteria. One Romantic thinker took opium to cure migraines and "unlocked" spectacular poetry from deep within his mind. Romantic thinkers all but abolished the idea of a greater spiritual being.
      The Romantic period was darker than the Enlightenment in many of its foundations and ideas. The people living in the Romantic period enjoyed seeing paintings of dark seas or natural disasters. This darkness culminated in two main people: Lord Byron and John Keats. John Keats witnessed the death of his family and became a famous poet in the Romantic period. Lord Byron was the first celebrity in the entire world and he was a dark and mysterious man. Lord Byron wanted to live his life in public. This was opposite from Enlightenment ideals that wanted security and promises of equality. The Romantic period and the Enlightenment were opposites in the area of what is socially acceptable.
       Romantic art and Enlightenment art were also very different. One famous Romantic painting The Raft of the Medusa portrayed a shipwreck scene caused by an unfit captain. This type of idea was not nearly as acceptable in the Enlightenment age as it was during the Romantic age. Music also changed from the Enlightenment to Romanticism. Beethoven provided a nice bridge between the melodies and harmonies present in the Enlightenment and the sharp notes that surrounded Romanticism. The arts changed dramatically in Romanticism from what they had been in the Enlightenment.
       The Romantic age and the Enlightenment were very different in many of their ideas and thoughts.Romanticism promoted thinkers and people who had mastery over their mind rather than things that had entire basis in fact. People sought after unlocking the deep power that was hidden within themselves. The romantics believed less in God than Enlightenment thinkers had previously. There were many contrasting ideals in the Romanticism and Enlightenment eras.