Exploring the Evolution of Romanticism: From Nature to Emotions in the “Notebook” Movie

Thinking about romanticism people don't normally think of escaping from women into the wilderness, but that is how romanticism was intended to be portrayed. Now romanticism has evolved to focus more on emotions. It has evolved so much that people hardly recognize true romanticism. Modern movies focus on love and the hardships of a relationship, real romanticism focuses on having a relationship with nature, supernatural abilities, rebelling against society, and putting an individual's emotions before reasoning. Back when romanticism started, people had a real connection with nature.

In the Last of the Mohicans there are many relationships with nature seen throughout the movie. In the beginning, Nathaniel, Uncas, and Chingachgook (Mohicans) were tracking a deer through the forest. It was very clear they were familiar with the forest by the way they ran through it with ease. When the Mohicans killed the deer they thanked and blessed it for giving up its life for them. Another time you see a relationship with nature in the movie is when Nathaniel and Cora Munro are talking one night. Nathaniel shares his belief that we are all a part of the stars and said that the Cameron family became a part of the stars when they died.

Listening to the characters talk about the land makes it apparent that the Indians are more connected to the land and nature than the British or French are. The Indians use nature to their advantage during battles, whereas the British and French rely heavily on their weaponry. When the Indians used the weapons they could do unexplainably amazing things with them.

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Nathaniel was also called Hawkeye because of his outstandingly accurate shot. There were many instances in the movie that he would shoot someone or something from a distance, in the dark, or with quick reaction and would still kill them on the spot. When the Huron Indians decided to burn Duncan Heyward, Nathaniel went into the forest and, from a long distance, put Duncan out of his misery by shooting him in the head. Although Nathaniel worked well with the British, he also had a few conflicts with them at the beginning of the movie.

When Colonel Munro declared that they were to go fight, Nathaniel was against the idea because he didn't want to be a part of the fighting. Even though he was being told to participate, Nathaniel was putting himself before what society told him to do. There are quite a few more instances of this happening. When Duncan asks Cora to marry him because it is the logical thing to do, she says no because she doesn't have feelings for him outside of a friendship.

Also when the Mohicans, Cora, Alice, and the rest of them came upon the Cameron family, dead, they didn't bury them because they didn't want the other Indians to track them by seeing the burial. When the Mohicans and some of the British found a place to rest after traveling, they hid in a burial ground because they thought they heard Indians coming upon them. It was against the Indians beliefs to hide in a burial ground, but to protect themselves; they did what they had to. Most people from this era put their emotions before reasoning in any kind of decision making they had to do make.

Believing that feelings trumped reasoning was a big factor in what people did with their lives. Magua blamed Colonel Munro for the death of his children and that his wife married another man, so Magua wanted revenge so badly that he promised to kill Munro's children in front of Colonel Munro and then he would brutally kill Munro. Later in the movie when Uncas and Cora were talking, Nathaniel made fun of Uncas because he was jealous that he was getting all the attention from Cora. Thinking back to a modern romantic movie, like the Notebook, you can see how much romanticism has changed.

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