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Romanticism began in Europe in the eighteenth century as an artistic and intellectual movement. It was characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individuals expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions. This changed the way people thought and expressed themselves and the way they lived, both socially and politically. Romanticism was a movement by many strong-willed people who changed Europe with their works; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe with his literature; Richard Wagner, his music; and Friedrich Nietzsche with his philosophy. There were many components of Romanticism. Nationalism was very important, and many composers used this to emphasize national identity.
The Brothers Grimm developed folklore, collected German tales, and published books. Art during the Romantic Period was given an aesthetic value, instead of just a price. Romanticism is a reaction against Classicism, Rationalism, and Deism of the eighteenth century. Romanticism became popular from the years 1800 to 1850. The first phase of the Romantic Movement was in Germany with the innovations in content and literary style and by obsession with the supernatural. The Germans rebelled against Napoleonic rule, French civilization, and the philosophy of the Age of Enlightenment.
Germany became the most romantic of all countries, and German influence spread throughout Europe. The works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe were examples of Romantic Period literature. He was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany and studied law at Leipzig University. Goethe was a German novelist, dramatist, poet, humanist, scientist, philosopher, and chief minister of state at Weimer. Goethe's first play was inspired by a love affair and he later published his first novel, The Sorrows of Young Weather, in 1774. This novel, written in a series of letters, started the model of the Romantic hero.
Goethe helped fight against France in the Napoleonic wars. Faust is Goethe's masterwork, which he worked on for most of his life. He started writing Faust at the age of twenty-three and finished in the year 1832, just before he died. The first part of Faust was published in 1808, and was about an innocent girl who is condemned to death for murdering her illegitimate child by Faust. In the philosophical second part, Faust marries Helen of Troy and begins to create a perfect community. Faust is satisfied in the end and taken to Heaven.
Goethe was director of the court theatres from 1791 to 1817. Goethe believed Theory of Colours was his most important contribution to science, and placed it above all his literary work. He believed that darkness was more than the absence of light. He thought: "That I am the only person in this century who has the right insight into the difficult science of colours, that is what I am rather proud of, and that is what gives me the feeling that I have outstripped many. " In the last portion of Goethe's life, he wrote more novels and his autobiography.
Goethe was an irreplaceable piece of the Romantic Movement. His poetry, essays, criticism, and scientific work were a stepping-stone for Romanticism. Hegel, Nietzsche, and Steiner added upon many of Goethe's philosophic ideas. Many famous German composers set some of his poetry.
Goethe's many different writing styles helped him captivate listeners and earn the respect of many. Richard Wagner was born in the middle of the Romantic Period. He wrote his first play at the age of fifteen and his first composition at sixteen. Wagner studied music under C.
T. Weinlig at Leipzig University in 1831. He became chorus master at the Wurzburg theatre and wrote his first opera in 1833. He married the singer from one of his operas, Minna Planer, in 1836, and moved to Konigsberg where he was musical director at the theatre. The couple moved around and Wagner ended up as joint Kapellmeister at the Dresden court. Wagner left Germany and was unable to reenter for eleven years.
Minna and Wagner grew apart and tension rose between them. In 1862, they separated and Wagner was allowed back in the country. The next year, King Ludwig paid off Wagner's debt and invited him to Bavaria. Again, Wagner only stayed for a short period of time. A year later he left due to opposition in Ludwig's court, and his affair with Cosimo, the wife of the conductor Hans von Below. He wrote two contrasting operas; Tristan, an erotic story about sexual love, and The Mastersingers of Nuremberg, a comedy set in the sixteenth century.
Costa and Wagner had two children and were married in 1870. Wagner spent most of 1880 in Italy working on a new opera, Parsifal. In 1882, he traveled to Venice where he died in February due to heart trouble. Wagner's different music and works caused viewers to either love them or hate them, but also respect them. His chromatic musical language later influenced European classical music, including atonality. Wagner was also known for his anti-Semitic views.
Wagner left his mark on the world with his controversial plays, operas, essays, and songs. His contentious style was the epitome of music from the Romantic Movement. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, considered to be one of the first existentialist philosophers, was born in the town of Rock bei Lutzen in 1844. After the death of his father and brother, he and his family moved to Naumburg an der Sale. Nietzsche graduated from boarding school and entered the University of Bonn in 1864 as a theology and philology student. He entered the military but suffered a serious chest injury and was put on sick leave.
Nietzsche and Richard Wagner met in 1868 after Nietzsche went back to the University of Leipzig. Nietzsche admired Wagner for his musical genius and personality. At the age of twenty-four, Nietzsche began teaching classical philology. The Unfashionable Observations was a series of four studies on contemporary German culture and was finished in 1876.
Human, All-Too-Human was a turning point in Nietzsche's philosophical style and indicated the end of his friendship with Wagner. Nietzsche left the university due to poor health from his previous accident. Nietzsche moved around from place to place until his mental breakdown in 1889. On August 25, 1900, Nietzsche died apparently of pneumonia in combination with a stroke. Nietzsche was a philosopher who challenged the foundations of traditional morality and Christianity.
Life-affirmation is Nietzsche's philosophy, which involves questioning all documents that take away from life, no matter how socially acceptable those views may be. Thus Spoke Zarathustra was considered by Nietzsche to be one of his most important works. As a professed atheist, his views were anti Judeo-Christian and he stressed the nature related aspects of life such as animals, fire, and water. Despite his almost lifelong illness, Nietzsche's works were able to influence people from the arts community to German soldiers. The German government ordered 150, 000 copies of Thus Spoke Zarathustra along with the Bible to be passed out to German soldiers during World War I. He believed in life, creativity, health, and the realities of the world.
The Romantic Movement provided a bridge between Classicism of the seventeenth and eighteenth century and the technological advances of the twentieth century. There were many key figures during this time period who changed the way people thought with their literature, music, philosophy, and art. Laws of science predominated along with human reason. The Romantic era enabled people to focus on themselves and nature, and countries to emphasize their national identity.
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Research essay sample on Wolfgang Von Goethe Age Of Twenty
