During the Romantic Age a new form of American literature began to emerge. Many writers of this time period incorporated ideas of the supernatural, great use of imagination, an emphasis on the individual person rather than God, and many other elements. Writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Washington Irving are representatives of their literary age because their works exhibit these Romantic ideals. In the short story "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe, many romantic characteristics including supernatural events and enthusiasm for life are very prominent throughout the story. Prince Prospero shows his enthusiasm for life by inviting one thousand of the towns wealthiest people to his abbey in order to seal them …show more content…
Heidegger's Experiment" Nathaniel Hawthorne shows characteristics of the Romantic Age such as the emphasis on the individuals life rather than God and his vivid descriptions and awe of nature. Hawthorne expresses his awe of nature by bringing a rose and a butterfly back to life. In the short story, Dr. Heidegger places an old rose given to him by his former love, Sylvia Ward, in a vase with water in it from the Fountain of Youth. The rose begins to come back to life and regains its beauty right in front of the eyes of the doctors four guests. During a struggle between three of the guests, the vase containing the magical water is knocked over, and the liquid spills onto a dying butterfly. The butterfly is revived, and it flies onto Dr. Heidegger's head. Hawthorne also shows a strong sense of emotions and feelings in his story. This is displayed by three men fighting over a widow whom they have all once loved. In this work, Dr. Heidegger offers Colonel Killigrew, Mr. Medbourne, Mr. Gascoigne, and the Widow Wycherly a champagne class filled with liquid from the Fountain of Youth. After drinking the liquid, the four guests become young again, and the three men lose all sense of logic and reasoning. The three men let the feeling they once had for the Widow Wycherly overwhelm them, and they start to fight over the widow. The Romantic Age characteristics of strong emotions and awe of nature are shown throughout this short