Compare And Contrast Voltaire, Fyodor Dostoyevsky And Walt Whitman

The Enlightenment was a period of mass introduction of new ideas, high in intellect, for the purpose of social growth. People’s views on issues were greatly influenced by the philosophes of that time. People started believing that all men were equal, and thus deserved equal treatment. Some of the philosophes who greatly influenced this period were Voltaire, Denis Diderot, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. These men were critical thinkers who analyzed how society was run, and proposed better ways in which the world could operate. Though these men were high on intellect, they had similar world changing views, and all believed that man was free and this freedom should not be taken away. They still had some ideas that differed, but never diminished their

Biographical information about the author: Francois-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, was born in 1694 in Paris, France. Though his father wanted him to become a lawyer, Voltaire long held a great passion for writing, and rather than going to law school, spent his time extensively composing poetry, essays, and historical studies. His widespread recognition as an author was established with the publication of the play “Oedipus”, a variation on the original Greek tragedy, in 1718. In 1726, after a fight with a French nobleman, Voltaire was exiled to England. There, he was exposed to a

Over time, Voltaire and his works such as Candide have been revered for their intellectual prowess and ability to entertain the masses. His abilities reflect the greatness of literature in their ability to teach people about life through intriguing characters and plots that stick with audiences for

Walt Whitman was part of the transcendentalism era and was one of the greatest American poet and journalist of his time. He was born on May 31, 1819 in New York. Having a large family his father and mother did not have time to read his starting work or pay much attention to him for that matter. Walt went out of his wat to drop out of school to help his family. He taught in many schools and after teaching, he returned to printing and editing in New York. During this time, he edited many papers such as the daily newspaper. In addition to editing, he also wrote for the Long Island Star. His success story has inspired many and had unfolded the truths of romanticism and transcendentalism.

The suggestions of equality between all people are not blatant and are not abundant in “Song of Myself” but they do exist, showing that Whitman was not as neutral as most readers are led to believe. He believed in equality.

Walt Whitman is considered one of the most important writers in the history of American Literature. The people of his own time called him a radical, a madman, and a pornographer. These days he is greatly appreciated and entitled as a fearless prophet of a new stage of human development. Sometimes Whitman would be in a slump and he felt that he needed to deflect the people who inquired too directly. This even meant using examples of homosexual elements in his work, as well as unbelievable stories of him having affairs with numerous women and fathering many children, unknown to him. Throughout these sorts of times W. Whitman has gone through both resentment and flattery, nevertheless showing us

On this verse, we can see how Whitman tries to connect to mind, body, spirit and nature. In “Song of Myself” Whitman attempted to change the meaning of American poetry. I described identity issues that pertain to him, but that the audience was able to identify with. Whitman, opened the door to

The preacher’s speech from chapter ten of The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and the poem I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman both contain many stylistic devices that convey these American authors’ purposes of revealing the common man. Whitman and Steinbeck both write about occupations and people in the working class to bring these often overlooked citizens to attention. Although Whitman illustrates his purpose through the use of poetry, and Steinbeck through prose, the literary devices they use to bring these ordinary men and women to light are very similar, and cause the reader to consider the lifestyles of people that are often overlooked. Steinbeck and Whitman both convey a glorification of the common man through the use of repetition, tone, and transcendence.

“For what is freedom? That one has the will to assume responsibility for oneself.” (Nietzsche. Twilight of the Idols. Trans. Hollingdale. Sect. 38). Everyone desires freedom but everyone cannot handle the responsibilities of freedom. I will compare J.S. Mill’s views on the social function of freedom with that of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s characters from both, the novel Notes From Underground and the excerpt; The Grand Inquisitor, also drawing supplementary arguments from Friedrich Nietzsche, while expressing my views alongside.

Whitman was able to change people’s views on life and was able to give people something that they wanted and were looking for in his creation of a new writing style. His writing about real life experiences connected him well with the common man, which is another aspect of the Romantic period. Whitman is also thought of as the “father of free verse.” He enjoyed using free verse because it could further distinguish him from other writers of the past, and of his time.

Romanticism took place in the early 1800's, it focused on the evolution and the effects nature has upon the universe. This time period helped grasp imagination, emotions, symbolism, and focus on the individual of one's self. I will be evaluating the authors, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne to demonstrate how their works relate to the time era of the 18th century.

Human nature is something that never seems to change. While humans all seem to be different from one another through physical and emotional attributes, their psychological behaviors are all mostly very similar. In the late 18th century and early 19th century, many authors successfully could explain the characteristics of human nature and the effects that it has on everyone and everything surrounding human beings. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allen Poe all convey the behavior of human nature in separate ways. These three authors show the curiosity, drive for perfection, and fear of human nature throughout their texts in detail. With these characteristics being prominent in human nature itself, it

Walt Whitman, a civil war nurse was a self-taught poet in the 1800s. Whitman is known for using lists, anaphora, free verse, and other literary devices in his poems. In his works, he focuses on American workers, diversity, transcendent approaches to nature, and individualism. “Song of Myself,” a poem written by Whitman, explores themes of nature, sex, democracy, and spirituality. Whitman uses nature to fuel his creativity in using grass as a symbol of comparison to life by using imagery, metaphors, and analogies.

Voltaire had a rough relationship with his father. It is hypothesized that, in order to separate from his family he dropped his name and adopted the name Voltaire in 1718. The meaning of his pen name is unknown, but there are efforts in trying to find the origins. During his sixty year literary career, Voltaire wrote many plays, poems and books including Candide and Letters on The English. “Human beings are not only greedy, treacherous, and unpredictable, but also delightfully foolish, even mad. For they surround themselves with systems of belief to keep the sense of evil at bay. The propensity of human beings to find consolation in even the most tragic circumstances is one of the basic aspects of our nature.” (Mason 11) Even with the heavily enforced censorship laws and harsh penalties during his time, Voltaire used his works to criticize the Catholic Church beliefs and the state of France itself. According to Shaftesbury Zubiri, in Encyclopedia of Philosophy,

Whitman is known for being revolutionary for his use of free form verse in the nineteenth century. This style is evident throughout Song of Myself which aids in his descriptions and devices used to get his meaning across. His grouping of three lines per stanza for this section is common for the entirety of “Song of Myself”, which has variations of three line to occasionally five line stanzas. His freedom in his poem’s style and lack of rhyme scheme allow him to fully showcase his thoughts in a new way for this time period. An overall summary of the poem is Whitman’s pondering of himself and the world in behavior and personality to him being fully confident in himself with no existential crisis. For the first half of section 20, Whitman’s character of himself questions everything beyond the ownership of himself. He questions the integrity of other people’s identities and characters as well as ignoring social norms involving manners and religious behavior. The declaration of a lack of manners and questioning the church would have been scandalous to