This paper examines Walt Whitman's place within the American Romantic Movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It begins by outlining the defining characteristics of Romanticism — its focus on individual consciousness, nature, mysticism, and reaction against Enlightenment rationalism — before tracing how these principles manifested differently in America than in England. The paper then explores how Whitman embodied and extended the Romantic tradition through his pioneering use of free verse, his celebration of democracy and the body in Leaves of Grass, and his willingness to address controversial subjects such as sexuality and death. Drawing on biographical context and critical reception, the paper argues that Whitman's singular American voice made him one of the nineteenth century's most consequential and provocative poets.
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 subject 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 contentious and controversial, as is the case with Walt Whitman.
In England, Romanticism had its greatest influence from the end of the eighteenth century through about 1870. Its primary vehicle of expression was 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, made extensive use of poetry to express sexual themes and controversial notions. Such subjects as homosexuality and prostitution frequently appeared in his works. Through Leaves of Grass, Whitman employed provocative and transgressive imagery. In a broader sense, Romanticism can be conceived as a concept applicable 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).
First and foremost, Romanticism is concerned with the individual more than with society. The individual consciousness and especially the individual imagination are of particular fascination to the Romantics. During this period, many authors appeared to neglect the importance and power of reason — a reaction, perhaps, against the Enlightenment movement that preceded the Romantic one. Nevertheless, writers became gradually more invested in social causes as the period progressed. Walt Whitman, for instance, was in agreement with the temperance movement and rarely drank alcohol. One of his earliest fictional works, the novel Franklin Evans, was a temperance novel.
Thanks largely to the Industrial Revolution, English society was undergoing severe paradigm shifts. The response of many early Romantics was to yearn for an idealized, simpler past. In particular, English Romantic poets had a strong connection with medievalism and mythology; the tales of King Arthur were especially resonant to their imaginations. Beyond this, there was a clearly mystical quality to Romantic writing that sets it apart from other literary periods.
Walt Whitman exemplified the Romantic period with a style distinctly his own relative to that of his English counterparts. He has been claimed to be the first poet to write in a singularly American character. Whitman's work broke the boundaries of poetic form with its generally prose-like style. He also used unusual images and symbols in his poetry, including rotting leaves, tufts of straw, and debris. He openly wrote about death and sexuality, including prostitution — subjects that, at the time, were very controversial and unusual. He is often labeled as the father of free verse (Kaplan, 1979).
Along with Emily Dickinson, Whitman is regarded as one of America's most significant nineteenth-century poets. Born on Long Island, he grew up in Brooklyn and received limited formal education. His occupations during his lifetime included printer, schoolteacher, reporter, and editor. Whitman's self-published Leaves of Grass was inspired in part by his travels through the American frontier and by his admiration for Ralph Waldo Emerson. This important publication underwent eight subsequent editions during his lifetime as Whitman expanded and revised the poetry and added to the original collection of twelve poems. Emerson himself declared the first edition "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed."
In Leaves of Grass, Whitman celebrated democracy, nature, love, and friendship. This monumental work praised both the body and the soul, and found beauty and reassurance even in death. The work's scope and ambition were without precedent in American poetry, and its influence on subsequent generations of writers has been immense.
"Critical reception in America and England"
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.