Four major literary movements can lay claim to some aspects of the Awakening, for in this "little compass... [is illustrated] virtually all the major intellectuals and literary trends of the nineteenth century" (Skaggs, 80). The Romantic movement marked a profound shift in sensibility from the Enlightenment. It was inspired by the reaction to the concepts of clarity, order and balance of that period and by the revolutions in America, France, Poland and Greece. It expressed self-affirmation, the power of the individual, the sense of the infinite and the transcendental nature of the universe. Major themes included the sublime, terror and passion. The writing extolled the primordial power of nature and the spiritual bond between nature and man, and was often emotional, marked by a sense of freedom, full of dreamy interior contemplations, exotic settings, childhood memories, scenes of unreal love. requited and heroes in exile. In America, Romanticism coalesced into a distinctly "American" ideal: achieving success from failure, the immensity of the American landscape, the power of man to conquer the land, and "Yankee" individualism. The writing was also marked by a sort of xenophobia. Protestant America faced an influx of Catholic refugees from the Napoleonic Wars, Asian workers who built railroads, and the lingering Native American question. An insular attitude developed, the "us and them" in Whitman. The major writers of the period were Irving, Cooper, Emerson, Poe, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Whitman, Dickinson, and Melville. There are various romantic elements in The Awakening. Perhaps the most obvious and basic are the exotic location, the use of color and the strong emphasis on nature (cl...... center of paper... causing Robert to leave). Works cited and consulted Chopin, Kate, The Awakening; A lonely soul. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1992 Delbanco, Andrew "The Half-Life of Edna Pontellier." -106.Koloski, Bernard, ed. Preface. Approaches to Teaching Chopin Awakening By Koloski New York: MLA, 1988.Martin, Wendy, ed R. “Local Color in Awakening.” Culley, 189-95.Seyersted, Per. Kate Chopin: A Critical Biography: Louisiana State UP, 1969.- - -. "Kate Chopin and the American Realists". 180-6.Skaggs, Peggy. "Three Tragic Figures in Kate Chopin's The Awakening". 4 (1974): 345-64.