The Romantic Movement

Romanticism is a new intellectual and artistic movement that involved Europe in the 18th century. The word Romantic was first used around the middle of the 17th century to mean the fantastic events told by old romances. During the Augustan Age which highlighted order, balance and correctness, the term romantic was used in a derogatory way. However “romantic” got a positive meaning again, mirroring the change in sensibility. In fact it started being used to mean an expression of feelings and emotions shaded with melancholy and sadness. This word was used also by Jacques Rousseau and Friedrich Schlegel. Rousseau used “Romantic” to describe a landscape; Schlegel used this term to describe the creative process led by the emotion and imagination. In England the authors never used this term to define the qualities of their poetry. The romantic movement got to his apogee thanks to the debate developed in Europe during the latter part of the 18th century.