The concept of "romanticism" is often used as a synonym for the concept of "romance". This implies a tendency to look at the world through pink glasses and an active life position. Or they connect this concept with love and any actions for the sake of their loved one. But romanticism has several meanings. The article will talk about a narrower understanding, which is used for the literary term, and about the basic character traits of a romantic hero.
Characteristic features of the style
Romanticism is a trend in literature that arose in Russia in the late 18th and first half of the 19th century. This style proclaims the cult of nature and the natural feelings of man. The new characteristic features of romantic literature are freedom of expression, the value of individualism and the original character traits of the protagonist. Representatives of the trend abandoned rationalism and the primacy of the mind, which were characteristic of the Enlightenment, and put the emotional and spiritual aspects of man at the forefront.
In their works, the authors do not reflect the real world, which was too vulgar and base for them, but the character’s inner universe. And through the prism of his feelings and emotions, the outlines of the real world are visible, the laws and thoughts of which he refuses to obey.
Main conflict
The central conflict of all works written in the era of romanticism is the conflict between the individual and society as a whole. Here, the main character goes against the established rules in his environment. At the same time, the motives for such behavior can be different - actions can both go to the good of society and have a selfish purpose. In this case, as a rule, the hero loses this struggle, and the work ends with his death.
The main features of a romantic hero
A romantic is a special and in most cases a very mysterious person who is trying to resist the power of nature or society. In this case, the conflict develops into an internal struggle of contradictions, which occurs in the soul of the main character. In other words, the central character is built on antitheses.
Although the personality of the protagonist is valued in this literary genre, nevertheless literary critics have identified which features of romantic heroes are the main ones. But, despite the similarities, each character is unique in his own way, since they are only general criteria for distinguishing a style.
The ideals of society
The main feature of the romantic hero is that he does not accept the well-known ideals of society. The main character has his own ideas about the values ​​of life, which he is trying to uphold. It seems to challenge the entire world around him, and not an individual person or group of people. Here we are talking about the ideological opposition of one person against the whole world.
At the same time, in his rebellion, the main character chooses one of two extremes. Or it’s unattainable highly spiritual goals, and the character is trying to catch up with the Creator himself. In another case, the hero indulges in all kinds of sins, not feeling the measure of his moral fall into the abyss.
Bright personality
If one person is able to withstand the whole world, then it is as large and complex as the whole world. The main character of romantic literature always stands out in society both externally and internally. In the character’s soul there is a constant conflict between the stereotypes already inherent in society and his own views and ideas.
Loneliness
One of the saddest features of a romantic hero is his tragic loneliness. Since the character is opposed to the whole world, he remains completely alone. There is no such person who would understand him. Therefore, he either escapes from a society he hates, or he himself becomes an exile. Otherwise, a romantic hero would not be like that anymore. Therefore, romantic writers focus all their attention on the psychological portrait of the central character.
Either the past or the future
The features of a romantic hero do not allow him to live in the present. The character is trying to find his ideals in the past, when a religious feeling was strong in the hearts of people. Or it consoles itself with happy utopias that supposedly await it in the future. But in any case, the protagonist is not happy with the era of dull bourgeois reality.
Individualism
As already mentioned, a distinctive feature of a romantic hero is his individualism. But this is not easy "dissimilarity to others." This is a fundamental difference from all the people who surround the protagonist. Moreover, if a character chooses the sinful path, then he realizes that he is different from others. And this difference is brought to the extreme - the cult of the personality of the protagonist, where all actions have an exclusively selfish motive.
The era of romanticism in Russia
The founder of Russian romanticism is considered the poet Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky. He creates several ballads and poems (Ondine, The Sleeping Princess, and so on), in which there is a deep philosophical meaning and desire for moral ideals. His works are saturated with his own feelings and thoughts.
Then, Zhukovsky was replaced by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol and Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov. They impose on the public consciousness, which is impressed by the failure of the Decembrist uprising, the imprint of an ideological crisis. For this reason, the creativity of these people is described as a disappointment in real life and an attempt to escape into their fictional world, filled with beauty and harmony. The main characters of their works lose interest in earthly life and come into conflict with the outside world.
One of the features of romanticism is the appeal to the history of the people and its folklore. This is most clearly seen in the work "Song of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, a young oprichnik and the daring merchant Kalashnikov" and a series of poems and poems dedicated to the Caucasus. Lermontov perceived it as the homeland of free and proud people. They opposed the slave country, which was under the rule of Nicholas I.
The early works of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin are also imbued with the idea of ​​romanticism. An example is Eugene Onegin or The Queen of Spades.