The Transcendentalist Movement Of Ralph Waldo Emerson

“There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil” -Ralph Waldo Emerson in Self Reliance. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a transcendentalist. Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that originated in the 19th century and was primarily influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalists’ main beliefs are: self-reliance is essential to one’s life, nature is divine, every person should have an optimistic outlook, and humanity needs to adhere to their personal morals and beliefs. In today’s world we still see a multitude of the beliefs of transcendentalism.

Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, central figures of Transcendentalism, expressed their beliefs through works such as “American Scholar” and “Into the Woods” in the nineteenth century. They believed that one must be in simplicity, solitude, and away from technology to appreciate the beauty of nature, which is essential for a better spiritual understanding of oneself. Transcendentalism, which focuses on spiritual interactions with nature, is relevant in today’s hectic life with temptations of materialistic goods and burdens of technology. The retreat that Webb offers every year is a good example of how Transcendentalism shapes students to have spiritual richness and mental strength. On retreats, students go off campus with bare necessities for three days to camp sites in nature to reflect and appreciate the beauty of the outdoors. Viewed through the lens of Transcendentalism, retreats allow students to prepare for a new and busy school year to come by helping them to realize their own goals, to get rid of distractions of technology, to get inspired by nature for a better understanding of themselves, and to enjoy a moment of solitude to truly reflect on the deeper meanings of life.

Transcendentalists believe that using their principles, humanity can inch closer and closer to utopia, the perfect society. Transcendentalism, the flawed doctrine, instead leads its adherents on the road to nowhere, and many of the principles fail spectacularly when applied in real life. Transcendentalism is too idealistic to be realistic. Simply put, transcendentalism is wrong. Their ideals are not just incorrect, they are potentially dangerous.

Transcendentalism was what Emerson and Thoreau touched most with their writings. They took their words, and created something new that many people would later follow. Transcendentalism is the nature of being one with yourself, and learning to better yourself through nature, and self knowledge. The quote from above is an example of what the two figures preached. Emerson believed that consistency of thought was foolished, and he highlighted the fact that having a consistent mind was mindless. He believed people should have an open mind, and be able to look at things in different perspectives.

Ralph Waldo Emerson is considered one of the greatest authors of the nineteenth century. He was born a son of a Unitarian minister, and his mother kept boardinghouses. Emerson’s mother was determined to send as many of her children as possible to Harvard to be ministers. Emerson’s aunt became his educator, pushing him to challenge his ideas. Emerson went to and graduated from Harvard, to become a schoolteacher. After studying theology, Emerson began to preach as a Unitarian pastor. Ralph Waldo Emerson then began to believe more in the individual and intuition rather than the church. During this time, 1832,

Transcendentalism relates to freedom in several ways. Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are two transcendentalists that have different views on freedom. Our project, representing freedom, shows a person how to live his or her life in a way of freedom shown by Emerson and Thoreau.

Transcendentalism, a powerful intellectual and philosophical movement founded by Ralph Waldo Emerson in the early nineteenth century, was guided by the principle that individuals are inherently good and function at their best when they are independent and self-reliant. Striving to produce a philosophy that would serve a new nation, transcendentalists believed that religious institutions and political parties would eventually corrupt the natural pure goodness of man. Transcendentalist ideology further asserts that by conforming to the standards set by society, man would not only lose the ability to follow his own instincts, but also become incapable of freely expressing himself. In his essay Self Reliance, Emerson writes, “Be yourself; no base imitator of another, but your best self. There is something, which you can do better than another. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that. Do the things at which you are great, not what you were never made for” (Emerson). Other writers and intellectuals such as Frederick Douglass, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson have adopted Emerson’s views on individuality and have expressed these ideals through their work. The spirit of individuality and self-reliance, key principles of Transcendentalism, are noted in Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Walt Whitman’s poem “Song of Myself” and Emily Dickinson’s poem “Nature (790).” Through their literary work, Douglass, Whitman, and Dickinson share

Emerson was born in Boston in the early 1800s. After studying at Harvard, Emerson joined the ministry. He spent much time reading about eastern philosophies like Hinduism and Buddhism which began to alter his originally Christian views. In 1832, Emerson resigned from the ministry just after his wife, Ellen, died of Tuberculosis. He spent some time traveling then returned to Massachusetts where he began to write and publish essays and poems about his philosophies, which had shifted from protestant to more eastern views. These philosophies were known as transcendentalism or, transcending into nature and ourselves to find meaning. Emerson wrote his first transcendental piece, “Nature”, in 1836. Nature focused on the idea that one could find peace and understanding through connection with the natural world. One of his next famous works was “Self- Reliance” which he wrote in 1841, “Self-Reliance”. The essay’s focal point was trusting and following your own mind and thoughts. Emerson continued to spread transcendental ideas until his death in

Society is always changing beliefs and bringing new ideas in. Now millions of people believe in different things, and some of those many beliefs revolve around the idea of transcendentalism. For the people who don’t know what Transcendentalism is, it was introduced by Ralph Waldo Emerson in the 1800s. Another person who believed in Transcendentalism is Henry David Thoreau, who wrote the essay, “Civil Disobedience.” Which consisted ideas of standing up and protesting peacefully. Some of the ideas consist of self-reliance, which is relying on oneself and not trusting others. The other ideas are individualism, being yourself, not living simply, and having a close relationship to nature. These ideas will always be incorporated in modern day society. There’s many programs around and ideas with people saying that others should be themselves, and not act like other people. An idea that branches out from being yourself would be peer-pressure. Peer-pressure basically pressures others into doing things they’ll regret because they’re usually pressured to make bad decisions. This is one of the many examples of why society still revolves around transcendentalist ideas. Even though the Transcendentalist era was in the early-to-mid 1800s, the beliefs such as being different from others, expressing one's feelings to others, and other ideas are still incorporated into modern society.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote “The Poet” in order to explore the role of a poet in modern day society. Educated at Harvard University, Emerson was a transcendentalist, meaning that he believed a higher truth beyond the physical reality experienced in everyday life. This carries on in his writing, as he frequently speaks of the connecting physical and metaphysical world. He describes the modern poet as a voice box for the people, who connect the physical and metaphysical aspects of life into prose for the common man. The modern poet is providing a service to the layman by translating symbols and spreading the transcendentalism movement. These actions in many ways mirror the role of the media currently, as they seek the truth for the people. The media today is a collective means of informing citizens of the state of the world in real time. This service has become especially vital as the general public have gotten more involved in politics and social issues with the spread of technology. The media is the last line of defense for holding public figures accountable and has recently become far more effective due to the ease of distribution of news with technology. The media now has the power to swing an election or turn an entire country against one person. In doing this, they overlay their bias on any information passed on, much the same as Emerson does throughout this essay. In Emerson’s essay “The Poet”, he describes the role of a poet in society as someone who can explain nature

In direct disagreement to Henry James’s statement, Ralph Waldo Emerson indeed knew of the evil that exists in the world and thus used transcendentalism as a means of coping mechanisms for aforementioned wickedness. Within the ideas of transcendentalism, there is nothing that explicitly states that there is an extreme lack of darkness or threat in the world. Instead, the movement promoted more effective ways to make oneself happier and successful in life, despite the hardships. These methods include: trusting yourself, self-reliance, non-conformity to society, appreciation of nature, and simplicity. Emerson publically advertised these ideas after experiencing his own tragedy which, most would agree, was a worldly evil in of itself. To relieve

Transcendentalism was an early philosophical, intellectual, and literary movement that thrived in New England in the nineteenth century. Transcendentalism was a collection of new ideas about literature, religion, and philosophy. It began as a squabble in the Unitarian church when intellectuals began questioning and reacting against many of the church’s orthodoxy ways regarding all of the aforementioned subjects: religion, culture, literature, social reform, and philosophy. They in turn developed their own faith focusing on the divinity of humanity and the innate world. Many of the Transcendentalists ideas were expressed heavily by Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essays such as “Nature”, “Self Reliance”, and also in his poems such as “The

Born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 25, 1803 as the fourth child in a family of eight, Ralph Waldo Emerson was

In "Nature", Ralph Waldo Emerson's point of view is transcendental. This means that he puts a strong emphasis on "emotion, individual freedom, a close relationship with nature, and spiritual understanding" (Unit 4 Key Term: Transcendentalism). Emerson believes that nature is not inferior to humans; rather, nature and humans are related to one another through their "organic and spiritual relationship" (Emerson's "Nature" (1836)). Furthermore, a transcendental point of view means that Emerson wants the people to be who they are in order to make the society a better place.

     Transcendentalism was a literary movement that began in the beginning of the 1800’s and lasted up until the Civil War. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a man whose views on life and the universe were intriguing and influential. Emerson, along with other great men, helped to mold what Transcendentalism was and what it was to become. Without these men, Transcendentalism would not have been anything. Nor would these men have been anything without this concept. So what is Transcendentalism anyway and how have men’s thoughts and outlooks been able make it what it is remembered as?