Romanticism It was a reaction against the Enlightenment and yet akin in that they both assumed life was designed for human happiness. However the Enlightenment placed reason at the center of human acheivement. Romanticismm distrusted the human intellect and placed its value on the emotions and intutive qualities. The natural and spontaneous was deemed good. The highest truths would be derived from the instantaneous of the individual. It gloried in the unlimited potential of the individual. There was an overall feeling of optimism and belief of a utopia. Romanticism reinforced the emotionalism of the period and its philosophies influenced the Transcendental move