Romanticism+vs.+Realism+(and+The+World+Is+Too+Much+With+Us+Late+and+Soon)

Romanticism vs. Realism Romanticism (1800-1860) -Gothism as submovement (supernatural) Realism (1860-1914 then modernism) -Naturalism as sub (nature is indifferent towards us) =The World is Too Much With Us= by William Wordsworth The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers, For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be A pagan suckled in a creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.
 * ROMANTICISM VERSUS REALISM ||
 * **Contrastive analysis, adapted from John Mersereau.** ||
 * Romanticism || Realism ||
 * 1. Dominance of plot (intrigue) (Charactersserve plot, dramatic events) || 1. Dominance of character (plot serves characterization; events reveal character) ||
 * 2. Story is largely "told." || 2. Story is largely "shown." ||
 * 3. Representation by metaphoric means (comparison between unlike levels) || 3. Representation by metonymic means (by contiguity) ||
 * 4. Metaphoric significance (triumph of good over evil) || 4. Pragmatic significance (good guys get ahead) ||
 * 5. Idealization || 5. No idealization (life as it is) ||
 * 6. Hyperbolization (exaggeration to depict ideal) || 6. Objectivity (show it as it is) ||
 * 7. Story material from supernatural and/or phenomenal world || 7. Story material only from phenomenal world ||
 * 8. Events range from impossible to probable (mysterious causes to some events) || 8. Events range from possible to probable(all events "naturally" motivated) ||
 * 9. Disturbed chronology (events reordered to exploit suspense) || 9. Normal chronology (events presented in order of occurrence insofar as possible) ||
 * 10. Limited disclosure (some information deniedto reader) || 10. Full disclosure of facts (all facts revealed to reader) ||
 * 11. Heterogeneous narrational means (variety of "voices") || 11. Homogenous narrational means (one "voice" neutral exposition) ||
 * 12. Intrusive author (=narrator) Addresses to reader, digressions, apostrophes to personages. || 12. Absence of author as narrator. No author-reader play; author remains invisible to enhance illusion of reality. ||
 * 13. Capricious author (play with reader. Romantic irony in Tieck's definition -- deliberate destruction of illusion of reality) || 13. Disciplined author (no author-reader play; author remains invisible to enhance illusion of reality) ||
 * 14. Unusual personages (bandits, homicides, gypsies, avengers, devils) || 14. Ordinary personages (typical people in mundane situations; daily routine, marriage) ||
 * 15. Personages arbitrary and static (dominatedby single passions; limited attitudes, no or un- motivated changes) || 15. Personages motivated, evolving (complex personalities, events change personages, inconsistent behavior is motivated) ||
 * 16. Personages' speech is stylized(enhances predetermined types and passions: vengeful artist, offended officer, heroic bandit, etc.) || 16. Personages' speech individualized (language of their class, gender, education, emotions, profession, etc., is reflected) ||
 * 17. Personages' psychic states are revealed through tirades, confessions, harangues || 17. Personages' psychic states revealed through dialogue, inner monologue, dreams. ||
 * 18. Personages' names metaphoric ("tag names reveal basic inner quality) || 18. Personages' names motivated by "real" life customs ||
 * 19. Personages have special physical properties (unusually ugly or handsome; magnetic eyes, incredible strength) || 19. Personages are like everyone else (mousey -looking, ordinary) ||
 * 20. Settings are exotic (distant lands, Transylvania, Caucasus, South Seas, fairy land, hell, Venus) || 20. Settings prosaic (Petersburg, an estate, Moscow) ||
 * 21. Local color used for exotic effect (gypsy dress, food, songs, Indian customs) || 21. Local color to enhance verisimilitude (to make personages credible) ||
 * 22. Description of the unusual for effect || 22. Description of the typical for verisimilitude ||
 * 23. Choice of detail for effect (this aspect of setting creates atmosphere, suspense) || 23. Choice of detail for illusion of reality (dirty window, stained teeth, smells) ||
 * 24. No "inessential" details (all details serve story line, plot) || 24. Peripheral, apparently inessential detail (walk-on characters, the nitty-gritty in the environment, etc.) to give impression of fullness & variety of life ||
 * 25. Temporal setting: past, present, or future, but usually the first or last are used to enhance exoticism || 25. Usually contemporary setting ||
 * 26. Setting is at the service of plot (exotic people in exotic settings, doing strange things) || 26. Setting is at the service of characterization (typical people in typical situations ||
 * 27. (In some Russian historical tales the setting became dominant: plot and personages are simply justifications for creating detailed setting: Medieval Reval, for instance) ||  ||
 * 28. Framed tale very common (shows how storycame about & justifies its telling; removes author from position of responsibility, author only reports what he heard) || 28. Framed tale uncommon ||

The speaker is angry at modern society. He believes society has neglected nature: "Little we see in Nature that is ours." He wishes to go back to the times with a pagan, for pagans were worshiped based on their specific role in nature, i.e. "Proteus" and "Triton." Wordsworth claims that even when the "Sea bares her bosom to the moon," even during a beautiful storm, we are "out of tune," we do not fully appreciate all that is nature. This poem focuses on nature, which goes to show that this poem falls under the "romantic" category.

http://www.macalester.edu/~hammarberg/russ251/romreal.html http://webs.anokaramsey.edu/stankey/eng2230/docs2230/romantic/romretbl.htm **ROMANTICISM vs. REALISM** || Romanticism 1820-1865 1865 - 1914 ||
 * Realism
 * Characters may be “larger than life” -- e.g. Rip Van Winkle, Ichabod Crane, Brom Bones, Natty Bumppo, Ralph Hepdurn, Bartleby || Characters resemble ordinary people -- e.g. Huck Finn, Editha, Frederick Winterbourne, Daisy Miller, Sylvia, Louisa, Edna Pontellier ||
 * Plot contains unusual events, mystery, or high adventure -- e.g. Poe's stories, Melville’s //Typee// || Plot is developed with ordinary events and circumstances ||
 * Ending is often happy || Ending might be unhappy ||
 * The language is often “literary”(inflated, formal, etc.) || Writer uses ordinary speech and dialect -- common vernacular (the everyday language spoken by a people) ||
 * Settings often made up; if actual settings are used, the focus is on the exotic, strange, mysterious -- e.g. Melville’s Marquesas islands (S. Pacific), Cooper’s woods and frontier, Poe's gothic chambers || Settings actually exist or have actual prototypes ||
 * Writer is interested in history or legend -- e.g. Irving, Poe || Writer is interested in recent or contemporary life ||