Romantic Period Fiction - American Literature

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Updated on November 19, 2017

While writers like Wordsworth and Coleridge emerged as famous writers during the Romantic Period in England, America also had an abundance of great new literature. Famous writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, and Nathaniel Hawthorne created fiction during the Romantic Period in the United States. Here are 5 novels in American fiction from the Romantic Period.

01

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Moby Dick

by Herman Melville. "Moby Dick" is the famous seafaring tale of Captain Ahab and his obsessed search for a white whale. Read the full text of Herman Melville's "Moby Dick," along with footnotes, biographical details, engravings, a bibliography, and other critical materials.

02

of 05

The Scarlet Letter

by Nathaniel Hawthorne. "The Scarlet Letter" (1850) tells the tale of Hester and her daughter, Pearl. Adultery is represented by the beautifully sewn scarlet letter and by the impish Pearl. Discover "The Scarlet Letter," one of the greatest works of American literature in Romantic period.

03

of 05

Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym

by Edgar Allan Poe. "Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym" (1837) was based on a newspaper account of a shipwreck. Poe's sea novel influenced the works of Herman Melville and Jules Verne. Of course, Edgar Allan Poe is also well known for his short stories, like "A Tell-Tale Heart," and poems like "The Raven." Read Poe's "Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym."

04

of 05

The Last of the Mohicans

by James Fenimore Cooper. "The Last of the Mohicans" (1826) depicts Hawkeye and the Mohicans, against the backdrop of the French and Indian War. Although popular at the time of its publication, the novel has been criticized in more recent years for overly romanticizing and stereotyping the Native American experience.

05

of 05

Uncle Tom's Cabin

by Harriet Beecher Stowe. "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852) was an antislavery novel that became an instant bestseller. The novel tells about three enslaved people: Tom, Eliza, and George. Langston Hughes called "Uncle Tom's Cabin" America's "first protest novel." She published the novel as an outcry against enslavement after the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850.

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Lombardi, Esther. "Romantic Period Fiction - American Literature." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/romantic-period-fiction-american-literature-738527. Lombardi, Esther. (2023, April 5). Romantic Period Fiction - American Literature. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/romantic-period-fiction-american-literature-738527 Lombardi, Esther. "Romantic Period Fiction - American Literature." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/romantic-period-fiction-american-literature-738527 (accessed March 30, 2025).