The Romanticism Collection highlights exemplary works from the Romantic period of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The selections in this Collection include poetry, early novels, and philosophical treatises that exemplify the movement's focus on emotions, beauty, and an appreciation of the natural world, as well as freedom and individualism.
Publication year 1843
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Identity: Mental Health, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Classic Fiction, Mental Illness, Gothic Literature, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Education, Education, Mystery / Crime Fiction
“The Tell-Tale Heart” is one of Edgar Allan Poe’s best-known short stories, first published in The Pioneer in January 1843. It is a work of Gothic horror written from the first-person point of view; like other Poe stories that employ the same narrative style (e.g., "The Black Cat," also published in 1843, or "Berenice," published in 1835), "The Tell-Tale Heart" uses an unreliable narrator to explore obsession, guilt, violence, and the supernatural. It has been... Read The Tell-Tale Heart Summary
Publication year 1824
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Life/Time: Mortality & Death
Tags Lyric Poem, Allegory / Fable / Parable, Romanticism / Romantic Period
Publication year 1794
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil
Tags Lyric Poem, Science / Nature, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Mythology, Animals, Education, Education, British Literature, History: World, Classic Fiction
Publication year 1807
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Society: Community
Tags Lyric Poem, Religion / Spirituality, Industrial Revolution, Romanticism / Romantic Period
Publication year 1862
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Natural World: Appearance & Reality
Tags Lyric Poem, American Literature, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Religion / Spirituality
Publication year 1820
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death
Tags Science / Nature, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Education, Education, British Literature, History: World, Classic Fiction
Publication year 1831
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Art, Emotions/Behavior: Love
Tags Mythology, Lyric Poem, Love / Sexuality, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, American Literature, History: World, Fantasy, Romance, Classic Fiction
Publication year 1849
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Mothers, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Grief
Tags Lyric Poem, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Classic Fiction
Publication year 1896
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Objects, Natural World: Place, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger
Tags Lyric Poem, American Literature, Romanticism / Romantic Period
Publication year 1798
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Identity: Mental Health, Natural World: Appearance & Reality
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Gothic Literature, Classic Fiction, Romanticism / Romantic Period, History: U.S., Education, Education, American Literature, History: World
Weiland (1798), by Charles Brockden Brown, is one of the first Gothic horror novels printed in America and one of the earliest works in American literature to be influenced by European Romanticism. The narrative appears to have been based on newspaper accounts of the James Yates murders, in which a New York native murdered his wife and four children, claiming that the Holy Spirit told him to do so. Brown often fused history and fiction... Read Wieland Summary
Publication year 1847
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags British Literature, Victorian Period, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Romance, Education, Education, Gothic Literature, History: World, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction
Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights was published in December 1847 under the pen name Ellis Bell. This literary classic is Emily Brontë’s only novel, and the book is currently widely appreciated as an exemplary sample of British Romantic literature. At the time of publication, most critical reviews of Wuthering Heights were disapproving at best and scathing at worst, so much so that her sister Charlotte Brontë, who wrote Jane Eyre under the pen name Currer Bell... Read Wuthering Heights Summary