A more romantic view of wilderness was developing in response to the technological and industrialized transformation of Britain and Europe. Based on the works of Erasmus Darwin, Wordsworth, Coleridge and Carlyle, Romanticism developed from the more regressive view that society had declined from the past, more harmonious times.
Romanticism embodied a deeper spirituality and awareness that a simpler life on earth was attainable without the complications of a society blemished by materialism, and could be accomplished under the following conditions
(1) Untouched spaces had the greatest significance
(2) These species had a purity which human contact degrades
(3) Wilderness was a place of deep spiritual significance
(4) The conquest of nature was a fall from grace
The first proponent of the Romantic philosophy within the North American society was Ralph Waldo Emerson, who had met and been inspired by the romantic poets of Britain in the early 1830s. The main doctrine of Emerson’s interpretation of romanticism revolved round the belief that although mankind was firmly rooted to the physical world, people had the ability to ‘transcend’ this condition (spirituality) in searching for and achieving deeper philosophical truths. Emerson’s transcendentalism was a spiritual doctrine on mankind and nature.
Even though the poets and their works do not have a prominent role in increasing the popularity of a tourist destination, many of the visitors to Kerala has been influenced what the poets had to say about nature. In
munnar tour packages have been mostly availed by those people that were much influenced by the natural beauty of this place.
