Romanticism in Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness"

Essay from the year 2017 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, , language: English, abstract: Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" is first and foremost a modern text, taken by many to be a deeply psychoanalytical piece of work, but the novella also carries a deeper subtext that brushes against romantic, metaphysical and absurdist notions and leaves them all justifiable.
Although there is no precise definition of the term 'romanticism', it is taken as an artistic and literary movement that peaked in the earlier half of the nineteenth century. The characteristics are loosely defined as a movement in which art - particularly poetry and criticism - focused on a fascination with the exotic, unseen mystical world.
This era in liberal arts, blooming mostly as a reaction to the French revolution, responded to the restrained style of classical forms of art, which was driven chiefly by an obedience to classical parameters and intellectualism rather than emotions and imagination as it was in Romantic era works. Common concepts related to romanticism are imagination, sensitivity, nature, adventure, feeling and instincts.

The author is elected President of the Kinnaird College Debating Fraternity and also the President of the Youth Development Corporations-Kinnaird Chapter. She writes in the leading newspapers of Pakistan: The Nation and The News. On occasion, she features the happenings in Lahore related to Arts and Literature. In the past, she has worked as an Assistant-Editorialist to the Editor-in-Chief at the News on Sunday. She has also been an active member of the Children's Museum for Peace and Human Rights, Karachi.