Henry David Thoreau And Romanticism

In Henry David Thoreau’s writing, he discusses the obstacles of civil disobedience that he had to overcome within his own life experiences. Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American philosopher, author, poet, abolitionist, and naturalist. He was famous for his essay, “Civil Disobedience”, and his book, Walden. He believed in individual conscience and nonviolent acts of political resistance to protest unfair laws. Moreover, he valued the importance of observing nature, being individual, and living in a simple life by his own values. His writings later influenced the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. In “Civil Disobedience” and Walden, he advocated individual nonviolent resistance to the unjust state and reflected his simple living in the nature.

The extent and nature of Henry David Thoreau’s commitment to social reform has long been a matter of debate among scholars. Drawing on his well-know disdain for organized politics and his focus of self-reform, some have observed that "Thoreau was no social reformer" (Goodwin 157). On the other hand, such major anti-slavery statements as "Civil Disobedience," "Slavery in Massachusetts," and "A Plea for Captain John Brown," have been seen as evidence that Thoreau was deeply engaged in the "most important moral and political issues or his time" (Harding 418). How can Thoreau the solipsistic hermit for whom "the government is best which governs not at all," (Thoreau 1792) be

A significant philosopher of the pre-Civil War era of the United States, Henry David Thoreau appeared to be above the standard with his philosophically driven life style. He wrote detailed accounts of his life in his book titled Walden, in which he expressed his desire to escape the confining pressures of human society. His second chapter lauded the concepts of individualism and self-sufficiency, yet he never took into account the potential harm of his mentality, for it could hurt individuals as well as communities, and modern life simply cannot support his ideals.

The Romantic Movement, or period, was from the year 1828 to about 1865. The main feature of the American Romantic period was the celebration and praise of individualism. This time is also considered to be the first period of genuine American creativity. Emotion, instead of reason, became the largest source of inspiration and creativity during this period. All of this was a reaction to all of the constraints that were forced on people during the era of Realism. At this time in history, America was in a great period of expansion, the writers of the American Romantic period were discovering that could create a new and vastly different voice for this new era in

Henry David Thoreau along with a select group of people propelled the short movement of transcendentalism during the 1830s to the 1850s and was later brought up during the Vietnam War. Many of the transcendentalist ideas came from student who attended Harvard University during this time period. Henry David Thoreau’s individualistic anarchist views on society were developed throughout his early life and later refined in his years of solitude; these views on society and government are directly expressed in much of his work.

The Romantic Period was an explosion of artistic energy from 1790-1820, which began in Germany and quickly spread to the United States, almost all of Europe, and Latin America. It was a period full of emotion, intuition, intense feelings, and the revolt against any authority or order. Those in this time idealized nature and embraced the uncivilized, and imagination was a key component to their writing and way of thinking. Steven Kreis, author for The History Guide writes, “…one power possessed by the Romantic…was imagination…” (Kreis 1).

Holton Westbrook Proff. Hewitt History 102 October 26, 2014 Towards the end of the 18th century the Enlightenment Era was coming to a close and the era of Romanticism was on the rise. Romanticism is defined as; a philosophical, literary, artistic, and musical movement that both clung to the past and reveled in visions of the future.1 With this change in thinking came the change in literature and how it was accepted around the world. The Romanticism era reached its height about 1800 and it lasted until around the year 1850 due to the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial revolution affected much of the Romanticism era.

Henry David Thoreau was a major figure in the transcendentalist movement. He was born in Concord, Massachusetts on July 12, 1817 (“Henry David Thoreau” biography.co). Richard J. Schneider’s article, “Thoreau's Life” reveals that he went to public school in Concord, then attended Concord Academy. Thoreau was somewhat different than other children in Concord. “As a child he rarely followed the rules and was independent and strong-willed” (Brozo, et al. 377). Being independent as a child shows up very clearly in Thoreau’s adult life. Later Schneider states that Thoreau went to Harvard College and graduated in the top of his class. However, he had to graduate early because he was very ill and not financially able to continue. Thoreau worked at many places throughout the years. He taught at a school, worked at his family’s pencil factory, and opened a school with his brother (Schneider). He even worked as a land surveyor (Witherell and Dubrulle). Thoreau was friends with a great transcendentalist writer, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Thoreau spent two years living at a place called Walden Pond, which was property of Emerson (“Henry David Thoreau” biography.com). As stated in the biography, “Henry David Thoreau,” “He experimented with working as little as possible rather than engage in the pattern of six days on with one day off.” This may seem like a lazy way of living, but to Thoreau it was something more. “He felt that this new approach helped him avoid the misery he saw around him” (“Henry David”). The hardship that Thoreau was feeling from the world was the public. The public admired technology and did not appreciate nature like he did. Henry

The Romantic Era began in 1800 and lasted until 1850 and is the embodiment of emotion. Romanticism only cared about one thing, emotion. Romanticism can be separated into three parts French Romanticism, English Romanticism, American Romanticism.

Romanticism (c. 1770-1850) stood as an artistic, political and philosophical movement that sought not only to transform the essence of human experience through challenging the unyielding and judicious constraints of previous eras but also to engage with both societal and individual consciousness through respective influence. The artistic movement rejected the preceding notions of rationality, restraint and institution rather implementing a free spirited temperament, allowing intuition, individuality and artistic emancipation to prevail.

The Romantic Period was a time very different from that of the previous movement, the Enlightenment. It was a time for creativity and it was a time of unity in nature and within themselves. During the Enlightenment, science and reason prevailed. Everything had set rules on how it should be and how people should act in their private and public lives. Truth was static and never changing until the Romantic Movement.

Romanticism was a movement that affected art, literature, philosophy, and nearly every other facet of the cultures of the countries that it affected. It started in Europe around 1750, originating there and pervading virtually every European country until it spread to the United States sometime around 1840 after the French Revolution and then continued on to affect Latin America as well. Major elements of this new worldview were the idea that nature is pure while civilization is corrupt and unnatural, that all of Man is inherently good, and a deep reliance and focus upon emotion as opposed to reason. In the Anthology of American Literature by George McMichael and James S. Leonard in

Imagine a candle-lit dinner on a starry night in Paris, the Eiffel Tower just in view with dazzling lights shining into the night. This image is probably what you think of when you hear the word “romantic,” correct. However, this image is a stumbling block when people think of the “Romanticism Period” in literature. Where “romantic” means having a lovely time with the person you love the most, “Romanticism” is a piece of literature written with key themes in mind. Those themes tend to be a strong emotion, imagery or worship of nature, and individuality and subjectivity. The peak of inspiration for these pieces was in the years 1800-1850, and there are famous poems that are well loved today from this period. Many of the poets that you enjoy reading and know are, in actuality, Romanticism writers, and instill the themes above in our minds.

Romanticism began in 1798 and ended in 1832. Even though the word romance means love does not mean the word romanticism means love. It is actually an international artistic and philosophical way of redefining the fundamental way western people thought about themselves and their world. The three main points in Romanticism are historical consideration, symbolism and myth, and imagination. Historical consideration is one of the three main points. Two places that romanticism was taken very seriously was Germany and England. "The early romantic people thus coincides with what is often called the 'age of revolution' this included the Americans." I choose these Quote that was located on the first page of the Romanticism article because this shows