This video explains the historical and social context in which Romanticism emerged as a literary and artistic movement. It discusses the origins of the term "romantic," its development in Germany and England before France, and its reaction against classicism and the "dictatorship of reason." The video also touches upon the disillusionment following the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era, leading to the "mal du siècle" and a focus on individualism, emotion, and the fantastical.