Theodore Dreiser's encounters with American romanticism

This study is intended to explore the relationship between Theodore Dreiser, an author traditionally considered an exemplar of American literary realism, and the nineteenth century American literary romanticism which came to play an increasingly prominent role in his writing. Admittedly, Dreiser deserves his long-established classification as both a literary realist and a naturalist, yet the literary romanticism that infuses his work presents a dominant, if often overlooked, characteristic. This romantic aspect allows us to read Dreiser's work from a new perspective and to reevaluate his place in the American literary canon. Textual evidence from each phase of Dreiser's career illustrates the effect romanticism had upon his writing and reveals a transition from the naturalism of his early works to the more philosophical and less religious spirituality that emerges in his final novel, The Bulwark.; Dreiser's romanticism departs from that of his literary predecessors: his is a philosophy lacking the gothic ancestral guilt of Hawthorne, the optimism of Thoreau, the exuberance of Whitman, and the transcendentalism of Emerson. In many ways, Dreiser's romantic impulse can be seen as resulting from the cultural changes that had occurred in the intervening years. The Civil War and the ensuing Reconstruction, the industrialization of America and its subsequent exploitation of the immigrant and working classes all play a part in tempering his romantic leanings. Essentially, Dreiser's writing encapsulates a new, arguably less naive and more practical, American vision.; Through intertextuality and interauthoriality, this study establishes Dreiser as a vital link between romanticism and realism, as his writings invariably incorporate essential elements of both movements. The study also includes a discussion of his 1890s freelance journalism as a crucial indicator of his knowledge of, and admiration for, the romantics who preceded him. Through examining his early discussions of both the major American romantic figures, such as Hawthorne and Emerson, and the minor romantics, including Bayard Taylor and William Cullen Bryant, a direct connection emerges establishing Dreiser as the twentieth century literary conduit for the romantic tradition.