Romanticism and its discontents cover

Romanticism and its discontents

by Anita Brookner

"Anita Brookner traces how French Romanticism followed the political turmoil of the late eighteenth century and the defeat at Waterloo in 1815, and replaced the agnosticism of the Enlightenment and the Revolution with a new heroism. Examining the works of Delacroix, Ingres and Gros, the Brothers Goncourt, Baudelaire, Zola, Alfred de Musset and Huysmans, she argues that the Romantics in France made the heroism of modern life their creed and transferred their idealism to the domain of art, either as practitioners or as critics." "At the same time, Anita Brookner takes the reader on a tour of these artists and writers, bringing vividly to life unfamiliar works, and casting a brillant new light on more familiar ones."--BOOK JACKET.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?