Why Is Romanticism Still Important Today?

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Romanticism – A word that many people know, but most don’t know the true meaning. Many people believe that romanticism is defined as being romantic, but this is false. This leads to the question; what is Romanticism? Romanticism is clearly shown by the quote “A true romantic will break the rules for the right reasons”.
Romanticism spans from the late 1700’s to the mid 1800’s and was centred in Europe. The time was called the ‘spirit of the age’. The Romantic time period was the people reacting to the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. Romanticism focuses on emotion and nature over reason and industry. The question is, why is romanticism still important today? Although the romantic period happened around 200 years ago, the period raised many issues that are still around today. Some key features in Romanticism include; the individual, nature, the …show more content…

Romantic themes that are shown in The Lily include purity and ideal love. The lily has no flaws. The theme of ideal love conveys true, pure and innocent love. In The Lily, Blake contrasts the lily to the rose and the sheep saying that the rose “puts forth a thorn” and the sheep “a threat’ning horn”, while the lily “shall in love delight. Blake has also used personification. He talks about the rose putting forth a thorn and the lily loving in delight.

The Lily has a strong theme of nature and emotion running throughout it. Was romanticism all about this though? Was it just focusing on leaving the enlightenment and the industrial revolution and emphasizing nature and emotion? NO! It was about not conforming to society and perusing and obtaining your heart’s yearning. Nicole Bonomi, who is a modern poet, said, “A true romantic will break the rules for the right reasons. He will not conform to the ideals bestowed upon him by society. Instead he will fight for a climate of freedom that allows him to peruse and obtain his hearts true