1789–1850
Romanticism
Feeling overthrows reason. The inner life, the sublime, the uncanny, and the outsider become literature's great subjects, from Gothic castles to Faustian bargains.
Reading path
Romanticism
The inner life, the sublime, and the outsider take over: Gothic castles to Faustian bargains, feeling wins every round.
8 stepsMovements of this era
Authors of this era
1717–1797Horace WalpoleEngland1749–1832Johann Wolfgang von GoetheGermany1764–1823Ann RadcliffeEngland1771–1832Walter ScottScotland1775–1817Jane AustenEngland1776–1822E. T. A. HoffmannGermany1777–1811Heinrich von KleistGermany1797–1851Mary ShelleyEngland1802–1885Victor HugoFrance1804–1864Nathaniel HawthorneUnited States1809–1849Edgar Allan PoeUnited States1811–1896Harriet Beecher StoweUnited States1818–1848Emily BrontëEngland1819–1891Herman MelvilleUSA1847–1912Bram StokerIreland1850–1894Robert Louis StevensonScotland