History Main / RomanticismVersusEnlightenment

** On the flipside, anyone who has read ANY of Tolkien's Book will know he really, really, really, likes the past. And Trees. And he can go on....and on...about the Past. And Trees. Did I mention the Past? There's times where you think there's more Backstory then ACTUAL Plot! Hell, there probably IS more Backstory then actual plot! Speaking of which, did I mention the Past?
*** It's quite possible that Lewis became more romantic because of influence from his close friend, Tolkien. That wouldn't be the ONLY major influence he's had on him anyway...

* The ''WorldOfDarkness'', especially the original Gothic-Punk setting, is heavily Romantic. Civilization is essentially decadent and corrupt and just a tool for this or that AncientConspiracy of supernatural beings to manipulate or feed upon ApatheticCitizens. Elder vampires use their awesome power to maintain their autocratic authority against their rebellious younger childer. Brutal NobleSavage werewolves rage against evil corporations in league with CosmicHorror trying to pollute and destroy Mother Earth. Mages engage in a centuries old battle of MagicVersusScience with the heroic player characters losing against the ScienceIsBad villains. Changelings long to return to {{Arcadia}} but never can and must face dying out from the [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve lack of belief in the supernatural]] among the [[Muggles humans]].

The general differences between them:
* Enlightenment believes that science is the main source of truth, and that technology improves our lives; Romanticism believes that science is not a good source of essential truth, and that technology must be carefully controlled to prevent it damaging nature or making people's lives worse.
* Enlightenment believes that social and scientific advances will move us towards a utopian future; Romanticism believes that traditional lifestyles were idyllic, and that modern society is corrupting the old ways.
* Romanticism is much more comfortable with religion, spirituality, and mysticism (not necessarily organized religion, though); Enlightenment tends to be more rationalistic (though not necessarily atheistic: deism is a good example of an Enlightened take on religion).
* Romanticism's imagery tends to be pastoral, mystical, or nationalistic; Enlightenment favors Classical and urban imagery, and is more likely to depict man united by ideology than by nation.

** On the flipside, anyone who has real ANY of Tolkien's Book will know he really, really, really, likes the past. And Trees. And he can go on....and on...about the Past. And Trees. Did I mention the Past? There's times where you think there's more Backstory then ACTUAL Plot! Hell, there probably IS more Backstory then actual plot! Speaking of which, did I mention the Past?

* ''{{Dune}}'' is a peculiar take on this, viewing a society that is decidedly Romanticist from a lens that could be either Romantic or Enlightened depending on how one chooses to see FrankHerbert. On one hand, Herbert [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructs]] the RobotWar in the series' {{backstory}} (the Butlerian Jihad), treating its effects realistically, but he doesn't seem to criticize the (Romanticist) premise of the trope. On the other hand, although he used--nay, [[TropeMaker made]] and [[TropeCodifier codified]]--the (Romanticist) FeudalFuture trope (which he presents as the logical conclusion of the changes wrought by a realistic RobotWar), he does not present it as [[TheKingdom a particularly nice place to live for most people]] (regardless of whether a [[DeadlyDecadentCourt Corrino]] or [[GodEmperor Atreides]] is on the Golden Lion Throne), and [[WordOfGod is said to have commented]] that (KevinJAnderson's [[DisContinuity so-called prequels]] notwithstanding) the series is supposed to end with the establishment of a real democracy (in other words, GoodRepublicEvilEmpire=Enlightened). On the whole, Herbert tended to warn against the ''excesses'' of science, but on the other hand, he never rejected it as a force for good; being that his fundamental philosophy was "environmentalism," which seeks to protect nature (Romanticism) from the excesses of industry (Enlightenment) but often uses rationalistic justifications (Enlightenment) and the tools of science (Enlightenment) to do so. The only character in his oeuvre who might be seen as an AuthorAvatar is Liet-Kynes (and his father Pardot), who are decidedly Enlightened in outlook (their dream is to terraform Arrakis from a desert planet into a verdant, more ordinary planet, with oceans and plants and everything).

* ''{{Dune}}'' is a peculiar take on this, viewing a society that is decidedly Romanticist from a lens that could be either Romantic or Enlightened depending on how one chooses to see FrankHerbert. On one hand, Herbert [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructs]] the RobotWar in the series' {{backstory}} (the Butlerian Jihad), treating its effects realistically, but he doesn't seem to criticize the (Romanticist) premise of the trope. On the other hand, although he used--nay, [[TropeMaker made]] and [[TropeCodifier codified]]--the (Romanticist) FeudalFuture trope (which he presents as the logical conclusion of the changes wrought by a realistic RobotWar), he does not present it as a particularly nice place to live for most people (regardless of whether a [[DeadlyDecadentCourt Corrino]] or [[GodEmperor Atreides]] is on the Golden Lion Throne), and [[WordOfGod is said to have commented]] that (KevinJAnderson's [[DisContinuity so-called prequels]] notwithstanding) the series is supposed to end with the establishment of a real democracy (in other words, GoodRepublicEvilEmpire=Enlightened). On the whole, Herbert tended to warn against the ''excesses'' of science, but on the other hand, he never rejected it as a force for good; being that his fundamental philosophy was "environmentalism," which seeks to protect nature (Romanticism) from the excesses of industry (Enlightenment) but often uses rationalistic justifications (Enlightenment) and the tools of science (Enlightenment) to do so. The only character in his oeuvre who might be seen as an AuthorAvatar is Liet-Kynes (and his father Pardot), who are decidedly Enlightened in outlook (their dream is to terraform Arrakis from a desert planet into a verdant, more ordinary planet, with oceans and plants and everything).

* ''{{Dune}}'' is a peculiar take on this, viewing a society that is decidedly Romanticist from a lens that could be either Romantic or Enlightened depending on how one chooses to see FrankHerbert. On the whole, Herbert tended to warn against the ''excesses'' of science, but on the other hand, he never rejected it as a force for good (indeed, as an environmentalist, he more or less had to accept that ''some'' technology could change life for the better). The only character in his oeuvre who might be seen as an AuthorAvatar is Liet-Kynes (and his father Pardot), who are decidedly Enlightened in outlook.

* InherentInTheSystem

* SocietyIsToBlame

* HumansAreGood

* DontThinkFeel

** Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (actually straddles the line, somehow)

* {{Firefly}} is a deconstruction of this entire trope, with Enlightenment being the major driving force of the 'verse, but Romanticism being an ever present part of the less developed worlds, like the ones the main characters find themselves on. Overall, the works of JossWhedon strike a happy medium between the two.
** Though the episode ''Safe'' is almost a TakeThat to romanticism. One of Simon's insults to the crowd that wanted to BurnTheWitch was "ignorance".

* MadScientist

* In ''PrincessMononoke'', the forest gods and animals are Romanticist, and the humans living in Iron Town are Enlightened (especially in their industrial ambitions and egalitarian treatment of downtrodden types like lepers and ex-prostitutes). The main character attempts to bring peace between the two sides, but it's pretty clearly a peace on Romanticist terms.

* {{Traveller}} hit both, depending. But it was probably more enlightenment. The ForeverWar between the Sword Worlders and the Darrians is a {{PlanetOfHats}} of Romanticism versus Enlightenment, as the Sword Worlders are a ProudWarriorRace and the Darrians are ForScience.

* In ''PrincessMononoke'', the forest gods and animals are Romanticist, and the humans living in Iron Town are Enlightened (especially in their industrial ambitions and egalitarian treatment of downtrodden types like lepers and ex-prostitutes). The main character attempts to bring peace between the two sides, but it's pretty clearly a peace on Romanticist terms, But in the end there are almost none of the Romaticist forest beasts left, leading to the Enlightenment having the only survivors.

* ThoseWackyNazis

* {{Darwinist}}
* DirtyCommunists

* EvilutionaryBiologist

* DirtyCommunists
* EvilutionaryBiologist

* MadScientist
* ThePowerOfFriendship

* VisionaryVillain

* In ''PrincessMononoke'', the forest gods and animals are Romanticist, and the humans living in Iron Town are Enlightened (especially in their industrial ambitions and egalitarian treatment of downtrodden types like lepers and ex-prostitutes). The main character attempts to bring peace between the two sides, but it's pretty clearly a peace on Romanticist terms.