Why is realism said to be a reaction to romanticism?

Romanticism was a reaction to the sterility of Neo Classicism and the Baroque before it. Realism was spurred by the failed revolutionary movements of 1848. There was a sharp change in social views. It is shown in the harsh light and subject matter of Realistic art work.

i believe it is the first option, having taken lessons

henry david thoreau and ralph warren emerson earned the name transcendentalists.you could assume that transcendentalists come from a well educated background from people that were alive before the american civil war.these people, mostly new englanders, mostly around boston, were attempting to create a uniquely american body of literature. it was already decades since the americans had won independence from england. and so they deliberately went about creating literature, essays, novels, philosophy, poetry, and other writing that were clearly different from anything from england, france, germany, or any other european nation.another way to look at the transcendentalists is to see them as a generation of people struggling to define spirituality and religion in a way that took into account the new understandings their age made available.