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The cover of Daniel DeFoe's novel, Robinson Crusoe.

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In 1719, Daniel DeFoe published Robinson Crusoe, considered the first novel in the history of English literature. In it, he described the daily life of the protagonist (the title’s namesake). As time progressed, more novelists emerged and took after this work, creating a realistic tone and something more relatable to the common public. Early novels didn’t have much of a “plot”, but rather followed a character or scene over time.

"With the novel, English prose fiction became more realistic and addressed a wider, middle-class audience.”

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Image of German philosopher Immanuel Kant.

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In 1781, German philosopher Immanuel Kant published a work called Critique of Pure Reason, and it laid the foundation for Transcendentalist themes. Aside from this work, Transcendentalist roots may have also originated from Neoplatonic philosophy. Later, it stemmed from a belief that reason was paramount to the physical world. Reality gives people the power to see and touch and experience, but reason, or the spiritual world, gives people knowledge and truth. Transcendentalism was not very widespread, but had a panoramic effect on society and literature. The movement lasted from the late 1700s to the 1800s.

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Caspar David Friedrich's famous Romantic painting, Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog.

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A quick overview of Romanticism before we begin:

Romanticism as a movement tended to be more emotion-based than the intellect of other eras. Romantics were often also revolutionaries who rejected society’s tight restrictions in favor of freedom (creativity over restriction). They believed in the power of nature in humans and in the world, and that society being stiff has ruined peoples’ innate goodness. Authors wrote stories in ethereal settings with strange characters in contrast to the mundane world around them. Artists painted with dramatic, emphasized lighting and implications towards another, unseen force. Composers started to spin their works around well-known folk songs to bring a sense of unity to them. In Europe, Romanticism originated from an allure to the natural world and opposition to industrialization. This spread to North America, and they adopted it as a way to reflect the natural beauty of their land, save it from industrialization, and establish their patriotism.

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The cover of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge's join poem collection, Lyrical ballads.

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William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge were the two leading English Romantic poets. Together in 1798, they published a collection of poems called Lyrical Ballads. Wordsworth used ordinary words in his poetry because he felt that it would be easier interpreted by more people, rather than using complex, poetic language. Both poets lived among nature for a period in their lives, and often wrote about its wonders and the inspiration it offers.

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An image of William Cowper, English poet.

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In the late 1700s, a group of poets were named the Pre-Romantics for the Romantic themes reflected in their poetry. They were the first poets to hint at elements of loving nature, acknowledging current issues, and an allure to the mystical in their works. Among these were Robert Burns, who wrote with rustic settings, and William Cowper, who wrote realistically about ordinary life. Arguably the “leading” Pre-Romantic poet was William Blake, the author of long and personal poems.

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The cover of Horace Walpole's Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto.

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Gothic fiction novels first became popular in the late 1700s and early 1800s. These novels were  made to scare the reader using devices like supernatural beings, eerie and isolated settings, and characters who obviously have something critically irrational under their consciousness. They often also have two different “planes”—one that the character can see, and one that they cannot see but most likely has the answers to their dilemma. The first Gothic novel was The Castle of Otranto, written by Horace Walpole and published in 1764.

“...the Gothic story leads to an exposure of what was once hidden, breaking down the barrier between the surface reality and the reality beneath the surface.”

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The cover of Mary Wollstonecraft's work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

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In the 1790s, many Romantic works were written reflecting the author’s thoughts and feelings on the French Revolution (in which France’s monarchy was overthrown). Among these was one of the earliest feminist works, written by Mary Wollstonecraft and titled A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. It was published in 1792 and argued for women’s right to education and autonomy.

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An image of the Hudson River Valley sometime in the 1700s or 1800s.

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Romanticism’s roots are in Europe, but in the early 1800s, it began to show itself more prominently in American culture. Americans used Romanticism as a way to promote patriotism and the act of nature preservation. Writers in different forms (editors, authors, e.t.c.) informed the public of the wonders of nature, focusing especially on the Hudson valley. As a result, a surge in tourism started around 1825 because Americans were becoming more aware of their organic surroundings.

“...Albert Brisbane wrote that Americans needed to look to nature for intellectual growth and inspiration that was being stifled in factories…”

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In the early 1800s, a new group of Romantic poets emerged. This was the next generation of Romantics, among them Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats. They rejected Wordsworth and Coleridge’s (hopefully you’ve read of them earlier) ideas, and instead weaved “classical subject matter” into their writing. Shelley strived to create a more ideal society, and Keats’ poems often described nature’s glamor and how quickly it passes by.

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The cover of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Romantic short story, "The Wives of the Dead".

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"The Wives of the Dead" was published in 1832 and written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In it, two women despair over the deaths of their husbands, who were brothers. In the middle of the night, a visitor comes to inform the first woman that her husband is actually alive. This first woman, named Margaret, is overjoyed, but doesn't want to wake her companion for fear of her mood dimming further. After Margaret returns to bed, the same thing happens to Mary, her sister-in-law. Mary goes to tell Margaret the good news, but doesn't (for the same reasons Margaret didn't tell her).

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Image of American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson.

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From 1836 to the late 1840s, certain Transcendentalists gained popularity. Among them was Ralph Waldo Emerson, who led the American Transcendentalist movement (the 1840s was also the decade when the American Transcendentalist movement peaked). He laid the roadmap for Transcendentalism, teaching that “the physical world is secondary to the spiritual world.”

“Emerson believed that people should learn as much as possible through observation and science. But he insisted that they should adjust their lives primarily to the truths seen through reason.”

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The cover of Edgar Allan Poe's Dark Romantic short story, "The Fall of the House of Usher".

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"The Fall of the House of Usher" was published in 1839 and written by Edgar Allan Poe. It follows the unnamed narrator as he goes to visit his sickly, ill friend Roderick Usher in his gloomy mansion. His sister, Lady Madeline, suffers from a mysterious illness as well, and dies while the narrator is in the Usher home. He and Roderick seal her in a vault hidden in one of the walls, but when the narrator reads aloud a story one night, he realizes that the sounds described on the pages are happening in real life. These sounds are the efforts of Madeline, escaping her coffin and coming upstairs.

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The cover of Robert Louis Stevenson's Gothic short story, "The Body Snatcher".

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"The Body Snatcher" was published in 1877 and written by Robert Louis Stevenson. It starts with a visiting doctor and the narrator's friend's extreme reaction to his presence, and then switches to a flashback of the friend's past with the doctor. A long time ago, they were both dissecting students and prepared dead—sometimes freshly killed—bodies for the other students. When they go to retrieve an old woman's body from a grave and take it into town, they find the body has been swapped with that of an already-long-dead victim.