Romanticism vs. Transcendentalism — What's the Difference?

Response to the Industrial Revolution's rationality.

Focuses on spirituality and intuition.

Emphasizes emotion and imagination.

Influenced various social reform movements.

Highlights the beauty and power of nature.

Views nature as a means to spiritual growth.

Focuses on personal feelings and experiences.

Originated in early 19th-century America.

Impacted various art forms.

Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s in the eastern United States. A core belief is in the inherent goodness of people and nature, and while society and its institutions have corrupted the purity of the individual, people are at their best when truly "self-reliant" and independent.

Romanticism (also known as the Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850. Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature, preferring the medieval rather than the classical.

Often Transcendentalism A literary and philosophical movement arising in 19th-century New England, associated with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller and asserting the existence of an ideal spiritual reality that transcends empirical and scientific reality and is knowable through intuition.

Often Romanticism An artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 1700s and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions.

The quality or state of being transcendental.

Romantic quality or spirit in thought, expression, or action.

The transcending, or going beyond, empiricism, and ascertaining a priori the fundamental principles of human knowledge.

A romantic quality, spirit or action.

Ambitious and imaginative vagueness in thought, imagery, or diction.

A fondness for romantic characteristics or peculiarities; specifically, in modern literature, an aiming at romantic effects; - applied to the productions of a school of writers who sought to revive certain medi val forms and methods in opposition to the so-called classical style.

A philosophy which holds that reasoning is key to understanding reality (associated with Kant); philosophy which stresses intuition and spirituality (associated with Ralph Waldo Emerson); transcendental character or quality.

Impractical romantic ideals and attitudes

A movement of writers and philosophers in New England in the 19th century who were loosely bound together by adherence to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths.

A movement in literature and art during the late 18th and early 19th centuries that celebrated nature rather than civilization;

The transcending, or going beyond, empiricism, and ascertaining a priori the fundamental principles of human knowledge.

An exciting and mysterious quality (as of a heroic time or adventure)

Ambitious and imaginative vagueness in thought, imagery, or diction.

Any system of philosophy emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual above the empirical and material

Advocates for individual intuition and self-reliance.

Romanticism focuses on emotion, imagination, and individualism.

Transcendentalism saw nature as a means to spiritual and personal growth.

Yes, Romanticism significantly influenced 19th-century music.

It was a reaction to the rationalism of the Industrial Revolution.

It has spiritual elements but is more philosophical than religious.

Absolutely, Romanticism greatly impacted painting and visual arts.

Romanticism originated in Europe, while Transcendentalism was an American movement.

Yes, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are key figures.

Yes, it influenced various social reform movements.

Yes, it had a lasting impact on American literature and thought.

Yes, both value nature and individual experience, though in different ways.

William Wordsworth and Caspar David Friedrich, among others.

No, it encompassed literature, art, music, and philosophy.

Yes, it highly valued creativity and artistic expression.

Yes, they valued intuition and self-reliance over empirical evidence.