American Romanticism emerged as a reaction against Puritanism and the Age of Reason. Characteristics of Romanticism included an emphasis on emotion over reason, the imagination, and the individual human experience. Romantic works often featured improbable plots, remote settings, elements of terror, and Gothic themes like old castles and gloomy landscapes. The Romantic hero was typically a brooding, dark figure who was at odds with society, indulged in their own feelings, and pursued unattainable beauty or perfection.
