Are the American realist & naturalist writers breaking away from Essay - 1

Are the American realist & naturalist writers breaking away from Romantic literary tradition, or are these later writers still infusing the Romantic spirit - Essay Example Both Lowell and Hawthorne came from a rich cultural ancestry. Both wanted to respect their ancestors, yet both writers also felt their ancestors had committed crimes which Hawthorne and Lowell were being held responsible for. Just as Hawthorne’s fiction expresses his dichotomous feelings towards his ancestral legacy, as is seen in the first chapter of The Scarlet Letter, so, too, does Robert Lowell’s poetry exemplify his controversial feelings towards his ancestral legacy, as is shown in the poem â€Å"At the Indian Killer’s Grave.† The romantic period in American literature may be said to have started with the independence of United States from the European colonialism. Europe’s literary styles and forms continued to influence many American writers during the early romantic period. During this period most of the American writers magnificently praised the beauty of American countrysides and American literature generally symbolized the optimism of an emerging nation. The puritan traditions and upbringing that had influenced Hawthorne in his early years is clearly visible in his work, which explains and often dictates the ‘appropriate’ behavior of his characters. We often see that his characters wear a make-believe image that can be seldom expected from the real world that the modern world is exposed to. In particular, Hawthorne’s feminine characters are influenced by puritan beliefs that mandate them to behave in a particular fashion that is appropriate in the society. Hawthorne’s female characters are ideally stifled and restrained and Hawthorne is not happy about women asserting themselves in public life. Many critics believe that the efforts of Hawthorne have been to provide America with its own genuine romantic literary traditions. We can see that his obsessions with romanticism and his ardent need to provide a literary culture to America that can be