Romanticism / Romantic Period

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.

The Sorrows of Young Werther

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Publication year 1774

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Loneliness, Grief, Love, Mental Health, Self Discovery

Tags Classic Fiction, Romanticism, German Literature, Education, Education, World History, Romance

The Sorrows of Young Werther (in German, Die Leiden des jungen Werthers), written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, is a semi-autobiographical epistolary novel published in 1774. The story unfolds through a series of letters penned by the eponymous protagonist, Werther, and mainly chronicles his experiences in the small town of Wahlheim. Werther, a sensitive and idealistic young man, arrives in the town and becomes enamored with Lotte, a local magistrate’s daughter. His unrequited love becomes... Read The Sorrows of Young Werther Summary

The Tell-Tale Heart

by Edgar Allan Poe

Publication year 1843

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Fear, Mental Health, Power & Greed

Tags Horror & Suspense, Classic Fiction, Mental Illness, Gothic Literature, Romanticism, 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

The Tyger

by William Blake

Publication year 1794

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality, Good & Evil

Tags Lyric Poem, Science & Nature, Romanticism, Mythology, Animals, Education, Education, British Literature, World History, Classic Fiction

... Read The Tyger Summary

To Autumn

by John Keats

Publication year 1820

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Death

Tags Science & Nature, Romanticism, Education, Education, British Literature, World History, Classic Fiction

... Read To Autumn Summary

To Helen

by Edgar Allan Poe

Publication year 1831

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Beauty, Art, Love

Tags Mythology, Lyric Poem, Love & Sexuality, Romanticism, Horror & Suspense, American Literature, World History, Fantasy, Romance, Classic Fiction

... Read To Helen Summary

Wieland

by Charles Brockden Brown

Publication year 1798

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Gender Identity, Mental Health, Appearance & Reality

Tags Horror & Suspense, Gothic Literature, Classic Fiction, Romanticism, US History, Education, Education, American Literature, World History

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

Wuthering Heights

by Emily Brontë

Publication year 1847

Genre Novel, Fiction

Tags British Literature, Victorian Period, Romanticism, Romance, Education, Education, Gothic Literature, World History, 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 widely appreciated as an exemplary work 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 Brontë’s sister Charlotte Brontë, who wrote Jane Eyre under the pen name Currer Bell, was... Read Wuthering Heights Summary