Jillian Ramirez -Paper #5 - Artistic Movement

Jillian Ramirez
April 3, 2010
Professor Hammond
MWF 10-11:10 a.m.
Paper #5 - Artistic Movement


Romanticism / Pride and Prejudice


Romanticism is defined as an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th century and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual’s expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions.1

Changes in society, beginning in the 18th century and have continuing into our own time, underling the Romantic Movement. It started as a reaction against the conceptualism of Enlightenment; reasoning is the principle of life. Social structures, protecting privilege, and materialism became questioned. It was a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment. “Unlike classicism or the baroque, romanticism has no definable standards. Indeed rejection of rules is almost a touchstone of the romantic temperament,” from the website History World.2

As a result, a mood that spread through much of western life. The romantic nature responded to emotions rather than reason. People were more excited by mystery instead of influenced by intelligibility. They started to listen more intently to their consciences than to the demands of society. The people started to rebel rather then to accept and conform. The movement established strong emotions as an authentic source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as apprehension, terror, fear and awe.

By the mid-19th century, "Romanticism" has been used to refer to certain artists, poets, writers, musicians, as well as political, philosophical and social thinkers of the late 18th and early to mid 19th centuries. It has also most commonly been associated been various artistic, intellectual, and social trends of the romanticism movement.

A movie, but foremost a novel, that embodies the romanticism movement is Pride and Prejudice, directed by Joe Wright and written by Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice particularly identifies and highlights the romantic qualities of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. The movie focuses on their personalities and role within the movie, mainly in terms of their relationships as individuals to the social worlds they live and function in. Joe Wright uses the natural settings of the countryside landscape to help enhance the viewer’s vision of Elizabeth’s character to the conflict between personal desire and the social order in terms of Romanticism.3

“Wright’s film focuses on Elizabeth and Darcy’s mutual struggles to achieve self-fulfillment through the pursuit of individual desire within an oppressive patriarchal social order. Dramatized using Romantic natural settings and landscapes, the journey of Elizabeth and Darcy is presented in Wright’s film as the struggle of two Romantic heroes to achieve self-realization independent of the social world they inhabit.”4

Pride & Prejudice reflects the conflict between individual self-realization and the demands of society. The movie’s characterization of Elizabeth and Darcy accurately reflects the time period of romanticism’s concern with the complicating factor of gender in the pursuit of Romantic individualism.

Elizabeth, an intellectually independent heroine who needs to find a path for herself, faces the real possibility of social isolation because of her declaration about marriage for love and not for financial security. Her search for personal happiness eventually leads her to the most eligible man in the novel. Elizabeth is eventually not forced to pursue her individual desire despite the social and economic obstacles. Her claims about the right of individual, at the expense of social cohesion, go untested.

Elizabeth’s life would have been the epitome of the Romanticism movement, breaking away from social order and having her own mind, but she and Mr. Darcy ultimately end up together, not saying they did not disrupt order in higher society. Darcy was “promised” or engaged to another woman due to his social class status and arranged marriages during the time period. But yet again another example of the Romanticism movement appears because he finds he own mind and disregards the arranged marriage, against his families and societies wishes, to be with Elizabeth.
I never really realized how much of the romanticism movement was interpreted and imbedded into movies. I keep picking it out more and more when I watch movies and catch on to it quicker after learning about romanticism. I would definitely have to say that this is one of my favorite movements because it has change. A movie, and time period, would be boring if there was no significant change going on. It just goes to show how far society has come and how far we can go; meaning if Elizabeth and Darcy can disregard social norms, why can’t gay’s and lesbian’s get married too? (Just a though that came up while writing).


Work Cited:
1 "Romanticism." The Free Dictionary. Farlex, 2009. Web. 6 Apr 2010. .

2 Gascoigne, Bamber. “History of the Romantic Movement” HistoryWorld. From 2001, ongoing.
3 Ailwood, Sarah. "“What Are Men to Rocks and Mountains?” Romanticism in Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice." PERSUASIONS ON-LINE. The Jane Austen Society of North America, 2007. Web. 12 Apr. 2010. .
4 Ailwood, Sarah. "“What Are Men to Rocks and Mountains?” Romanticism in Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice." PERSUASIONS ON-LINE. The Jane Austen Society of North America, 2007. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.