Title: 06 - Romanticism: It might not be what you think it is...
Course: English 4A SU15 > Section: Unit: It's Greek to Me

...Unless what you think it is has to do with the following. In that case then, it is exactly what you think it is…

Often when you hear the word Romantic you think of something that you might elicit feelings of love or devotion to a significant other. In the context of this class it has to do with a specific period that was marked by intense emotions. This period focused not on the scientific explanations of nature or events but on the intense feelings and connections that humans experience in their surroundings. The Romantic era lasted somewhere around 1170s to the 1850 or so; general enough for you? That's what you get when you base things on feelings and not hard facts.

William Blake one of the writers/artists of this time period wrote in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell about Reason and Energy being the driving forces in human behavior, not necessarily Good and Evil. Reason is from the soul and Energy is from the body. Too much of one or the other is not good but we must find a way to live in balance. It is worth having a larger discussion about in class. Do you think that this is a good way to look at the world. What are Good and Evil anyway? How do you know?

Without Contraries is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence. - William Blake

While you are discussing the concepts of Good vs. Evil and Reason vs. Energy, consider this:

Opposition is true Friendship.

What does that mean? Can you explain it by using examples from your own life? In what way could this possibly be true?

Image Source: Thomas Phillips [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons