Frankenstein Romanticism

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The nineteenth century was a period of time between 1828-1880 in it’s narrowest and 1789-1914 in its broadest sense. During this changing time a new expressionistic style, Romanticism, began to emerge that reflected a more humanistic approach to music dwelling on emotions and feelings rather than mirroring the formalization of the world. Romanticism is seen, in opposition to Classicism, as a phenomenon that re-occurs throughout artistic and intellectual history. Romanticism encouraged the worth of individual thought and expression, this new freedom eventually introduced the form of program music that replaced the “Sonata Form” that was previously popular.(H. Hitchcock, 1988 pg 3) Romanticism influenced not only music but art and literature during its popularity (N.E Mourer 1998, pg 45), Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a perfect example. Shelley’s protagonist Victor Frankenstein is a reflection of a ‘romantic’ through his belief that personal and collaborative imagination will lead to a deeper understanding of the world and a better version of human beings (N. Smith 2001, para 3). Romanticism started to become recognizable in art works such as Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ which isn’t a literal representation but a
Romantic composers favored program music as it allowed them as “Romantics” to delve into a more humanistic and emotional approach to composition. Compositions such as Cesar Franck’s ‘Le Chasseur Maudit’ and Richard Strauss’ ‘Don Quixote’ are examples of how music can be influenced by literature and the values of Romanticism. Through manipulating tempo and note values to fit the personality of a character or to create imagery of a landscape or group, to framing the form around the plotline of the story these compositions create a deeper emotional experience for the audience which is why the composers of the 19th century preferred to write program