Tuesday, November 28, 2017

How did Puritanism influence the movement of Dark Romanticism?

The link between Puritanism and Dark Romanticism is an indirect one.  Dark Romanticism really arose as a response to Transcendentalism.  Whereas the Transcendentalists focused on the goodness in human nature, all the wonderful things of which we are capable, the Dark Romantics were far more interested in the darker side of human nature and all of the awful things of which we are capable. 


The Puritans, who predated the Transcendentalists by some 150-200 years, were...

The link between Puritanism and Dark Romanticism is an indirect one.  Dark Romanticism really arose as a response to Transcendentalism.  Whereas the Transcendentalists focused on the goodness in human nature, all the wonderful things of which we are capable, the Dark Romantics were far more interested in the darker side of human nature and all of the awful things of which we are capable. 


The Puritans, who predated the Transcendentalists by some 150-200 years, were keenly aware of humanity's propensity toward extreme sinfulness.  They were an austere people, and they definitely believed in the depravity of human nature.  They felt that, before they were born, God determined whether or not they would be a member of the elect -- those who went to heaven -- and so they would spend their entire lives questioning everything.  Does my illness indicate God's displeasure with me, and thus that means I'm not a member of the elect?  Or maybe my illness indicates that God is testing me because I am one of the elect?  They were constantly trying to read signs to find out God's will, and they could never be certain.  Therefore, they tended to fixate more on our ability to do bad.  In a sense, then, Dark Romanticism duplicates this fixation.  Dark Romantics were certainly more fascinated and titillated by the darkness within us, and, many, like Hawthorne connected this darkness to the Puritans as well.

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