¶ … Romanticism
No other period in English literature displays more variety in style, theme, and content than the Romantic Movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Furthermore, no period has been the topic of so much disagreement and confusion over its defining principles and aesthetics. Romanticism is often described as a large network of sometimes competing philosophies, agendas, and points of interest. These philosophies are often very contentious and controversial, as is the case with Walt Whitman. In England, Romanticism had its greatest influence from the end of the eighteenth century up through about 1870. Its primary vehicle of expression was in poetry, although novelists adopted many of the same themes. In America, the Romantic Movement was slightly delayed and modulated. Contrary to the English example, American literature championed the novel as the most fitting genre for Romanticism's exposition. Walt Whitman however, extensively used poetry to express sexual themes and controversial notions. Such notions as homosexuality and prostitution frequently made it into Whitman's works. Through Leaves of Grass Whitman extensively used pornographic or obscene imagery. In a broader sense however, Romanticism can be conceived a broad concept which can be applied to almost any time period. In spite of such general disagreements over usage, there are some definitive and universal statements one can make regarding the nature of the Romantic Movement in America (Reynolds, 1995)
Whitman and the Romanticism Movement
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