Romanticism was a movement in literature and the arts which emphasized the importance of emotion and intuition over reason and placed great value on the beauty of nature and wilderness. It arose in Europe in the mid-18th century but was strongest in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Romantic art and literature offered an alternative to the emphasis on reason and civilization which were features of the Industrial Revolution and the late 18th-century Enlightenment. There are no specific beginning and ending dates for the Romantic period, and it is not always clear whether a particular artist should be included in this category. For example, some 19th-century writers identified Mozart as a Romantic composer, but he is not usually thought of as Romantic by modern scholars.

Romanticism influenced every aspect of the arts, including literature, painting, poetry, theater and music. Romantic thinkers prized individual genius and respected the sensitive, passionate artistic temperament. Romantic art and literature alike emphasized the importance of intuition and imagination. Themes of wild nature occur frequently in Romantic art, as does a feeling of nostalgia for a bygone past. Romantic art often glorified the medieval period and folk culture.

In literature, Romanticism developed from the works of authors such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whose novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther" featured a moody, sensitive artist as its protagonist. Romantic works in English include the poems of Wordsworth and Coleridge, who explored the themes of nature and emotion in a poetic language that was simpler than the highly formal poetry of the 18th century. Other famous English Romantic writers include Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley and John Keats. Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein" features both a passionate outcast as a protagonist and descriptions of a wild and untamed nature which mirrors the character's internal torment. American writers influenced by English romanticism include James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe.

Romanticism in art was characterized by a focus on the expression of mood. Looser, more expressive brush strokes were common, and artists often chose Gothic, macabre or nostalgic subjects. Important Romantic painters include Francisco Goya, Theodore Gericault, Eugene Delacroix, and J.M.W. Turner.

In music, Romanticism was expressed through an increased use of folk melodies. The public persona of the artist was also important. Composers and performers were expected to act out their creative struggles and indulge their passionate, artistic temperaments. Wolfgang von Beethoven is widely seen as the first great Romantic composer. Other major Romantic composers included Frederic Chopin, Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt and Pyotr Tchaikovsky.

One consequence of Romanticism's focus on folk culture was an increase in nationalism. Romantic interest in folk culture became tied to a sense of national identity. This was particularly the case in Germany, where Romantic writers urged unity between the many small German states, both as an expression of shared German culture and as a means to resist French military expansion. Romantic folklorists such as the brothers Grimm collected and published folk tales, while this period also saw a renewed interest in the pre-Christian mythology of Germany, Scandinavia and Finland.