The definition of the Romanticism period is to be 'in touch' with one's self. People went more with their gut feeling and their emotions than with their scientific educations. They believed that nature was superior to civilization. The writer personified innocence and imagination in their characters at this time. "After that, the sound of the inquisitorial voices seemed merged in one dreamy indeterminate hum. It conveyed to my soul the idea of revolution..." (Poe 263). This is a quote from the short story written by Edgar Allen Poe that goes by that name of "The Pit and Pendulum". This quote speaks of 'voices merging' and a 'dreamy' hum. It 'conveys' things to the characters 'soul'. These things all represent the Romanticism period because of it's very laid back and in-touch-with-your-soul way of being told. This is just one quote from this story that conveys its time period. "The Pit and Pendulum" emulates the Romanticism period in that it is very innocent, soulful, doesn't speak of science, and represents love and imagination.
"He who has never swooned, is not he who finds strange palaces and wildly familiar faces in coals that glow; is not he who beholds floating in midair the sad visions that the many may not view; is not he who ponders over the perfume of some novel flower-is not he whose brain grows bewildered with the meaning of some musical cadence which has never before arrested his attention." (Poe 265). A prominent characteristic in the Romanticism period is that of imagination. A lot of writers turned from their scientific and structured ways and found that writing of what could not be was much more their style. For example Poe speaks of "is not he who beholds floating in midair the sad visions that the many may not view". Floating in midair is physically impossible due to our little friend called gravity, but during the Romanticism period people began to entertain the simple thought of what-if. During the Rationalism period, people never thought about what-if. They only contemplated about their scientific findings and what those could lead to. Once the Romanticism period came about, people began to wonder and imagine what-if the impossible were possible.
One of the characteristics that is very noticeable about "The Pit and Pendulum" is not what is there, but actually what is not. Something very important about the Romanticism period when it first came about was it' lack of science and religion and, frankly, rules. People began to think more about getting in touch with their soul and their 'purpose'. They became much less concerned with reality and making sure what they were doing and writing was emulating God and much more worried about nature, innocence, and the 'higher truth'. "...that seems to "stand for" a metaphysical situation in an ambiguous way that suggests its "dreamy," "indeterminate" nature. In this story we find the most explicit statement in Poe's fiction of his sense of the blurry line between dream and reality." (May) This quote explains mainly how Poe is very good at conveying that his character is not really sure where the line of reality and dream falls. He is in a limbo state where he is very in touch with his soul. He doesn't put this in religious terms, however, it's more of an inner-self soul, then a God-gave-me-this-and-I-will-praise-him soul.
The Romanticism Period was very imaginative, nature-oriented, dreamy, and non-scientific; these characteristics all describe "The Pit and Pendulum" very well. Edgar Allen Poe gives his character a very dreamy aura. From his cell, he determines a lot of things, such as that he must orient himself as to attempt to get himself out of where ever he is, but, unlike a character from a possible Rationalist writer, this character uses no scientific method to make these decision or religious back up. Rather he uses his dreamy and imaginative intuitions. He uses his gut-feelings. Does following his gut feelings get him very far? Not necessarily, but that is irrelevant as of now. Poe is very imaginative through out the short story and it is emulated through his character in multiple instances. He is not scientific, speaks never of religion, but of his fuzzy-feelings, imagination, and his soul.
May, Charlie E. "Dreams and Reality in the Story." Infobase Learning - Login. Bloom's Literary Reference, 1991. Web. 02 Nov. 2012. <http://www.fofweb.com/Lit/default.asp>.
Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., Douglas Fisher, Beverly Ann. Chin, and Jacqueline Jones. Royster. "The Pit and Pendulum." Glencoe Literature. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009. 120-24. Print.
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