Romanticism also is known as the Romantic era was an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward 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 the glorification of all the past and nature. It was partly a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, the aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment. It was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature, but had a major impact on historiography, education, the social sciences, and the natural sciences. It had a significant and complex effect on politics, with romantic thinkers influencing liberalism, radicalism, conservatism, and nationalism.
The movement emphasized intense emotion placing new emphasis on such emotions as horror and terror. It elevated folk art and ancient custom to something noble. In contrast to the Rationalism and Classicism of the Enlightenment, Romanticism revived medievalism and elements of art and narrative perceived as authentically medieval in an attempt to escape population growth, early urban sprawl, and industrialism.
In literature, Romanticism found recurrent themes in the evocation or criticism of the past, the cult of "sensibility" with its center on women and children, the isolation of the artist or narrator, and respect for nature. Furthermore, several romantic authors, such as Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, based their writings on the supernatural/occult and human psychology. The romantic movement in literature was preceded by the Enlightenment and succeeded by Realism.
Some authors cite 16th century poet Isabella di Morra as an early precursor of Romantic literature. Her lyrics covering themes of isolation and loneliness, which reflected the tragic events of her life, are considered "an impressive prefigurement of Romanticism".
