Theatre Heritage- 19Th Century Romanticism

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LaShanté Churchwell Theatre Heritage II 19th Century Romanticism ( Melodrama Elements of romantic theatre arose from a reaction against the rationalism of the enlightenment, which sparked sentiment in the emotions of the people. This was in stark contrast to the scientific methods of investigation in civilization and culture that the enlightenment of the late eighteenth and nineteenth century represented. The main idea of the enlightenment was to bring the light of reason to areas of darkness in human understanding (Arts and Humanities through the era, 2005, Philosophy of the enlightenment pg 304) and in relation to the enlightenment of theatre, it translated to the inner life and emotional aspects of its characters. As romanticism evolved, emotion became the core of theaters aesthetic experience in its reaction to the central focus of scientific reason and human will. The enlightenment seemed to disregard emotion- which is central to human life, and theatrical romanticism elevated folk art, language and emotion because emotion runs stronger and deeper than the intellect or will of a human being. Woyzeck Emphasis on Natural expression of emotion, imagination, and the individual consciousness was seen as an intellectual analysis of human personality through the processes of observation and logic. Woyzeck is an archetypal play of romanticism's reaction against the fact that purposes and values could be scientifically determined. Buchner used theatrical observation, where the examination of the Woyzeck’s perception of reality is focused on in terms of effects created by the Dr’s experimentations as a means to knowing something because it is scientifically proven. The Dr.’s observation and hypothesis lead the study not to focus on the cause of Woyzeck’s symptoms- like traditional scientific approaches- but on the cause(s) of them due to his altered
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