Blackwell Reference Online

This Companion describes the way in which the Romantic Movement swept across Europe in the early nineteenth century, transforming literature, music, painting, religion, philosophy, politics, and personal relationships. It is the first book of its kind to focus on the whole of European Romanticism, moving between the national literatures of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, and Spain on the one hand, and common themes, subjects, forms, and sources on the other. Subjects addressed range from Orientalism, capitalism, and nature, to the revival of the lyric and the influence of the French Revolution. The volume also includes cross-disciplinary contributions on literature and music, literature and painting, and the general system of Romantic arts. There are over 30 essays in all, written by leading Romanticism scholars from America, Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland.