Howard Goodall spoke in one of his lessons how in the 20th century, music discovered teenagers. I think it is compelling how in the romantic period literature also discovered romance novels. In the prior periods literature contained politics, religion and government occurrences, but the romantic period brought us, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and many more love novels from writers such as the Bronte Sisters. Romance was not written in novels and poems as it was in this era. Today’s society has really developed this genre but this era laid the foundation (artofmanliness.com).

Compelling Details…

Romanticism “was plainly a revolt against the enforcement of the rules which had been framed in the golden age of French literature as representing the best practice of the best writers” (theatrehistory.com). This statement is captivating to me because the revolt against the rules of society turned into a very popular era that influenced many of our arts today. The artists, composers and writers did not follow rules any longer and instead presented to the population exciting, exotic and interesting artwork that captivated not just myself, but also many millions of people (theatrehistory.com). Basically a large group of men rebelled like teenagers would today and created masterpieces.

The third compelling thing that I learned that was significant in the development of the romantic period is the affect their childhood had on the development of the art, music and literature. Many of the artists grew up around death of a parent or both parents, losing their siblings to childhood diseases, living with relatives and many had psychological problems in their families. In addition, the way art or music was instantly a part of their life and by their teen years they were enrolled in lessons or schooling to enhance their skills. These life experiences influenced the techniques they were able to build on and this is something that is not common today (artofmanliness.com).