Transcendentalism in America: The Philosophical and Literary Movement

“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.

To transcendentalists there was not necessarily a supreme godlike being, but a connection with the nature that they were birthed from and that they would return to at the end of their life. In Nature, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, he explains that "The currents of the Universal Being circulate through [him]; [he is] part or particle of God" (242). He is discussing how when someone is in touch with nature, they become one with nature, and that everyone is a part of nature. Emerson emphasizes that people should break away from reliance and that each individual should develop a personal and meaningful relationship with the universe in order to understand it. He also speculates that, “it is certain that the power to produce this delight, does not reside in nature, but in man, or in a harmony of both” (242). Emerson's words reflect back to transcendentalist views of spirituality by describing the amount of happiness that can result from connecting to nature on a spiritual

Nature itself is very important in the world and as for self-reliance it was seen as being something you should be. Along with social reforms being something that is going against what society deems right. Transcendentalist believed that nature was a main aspect of life and that it was

Transcendentalists saw each human soul as being from the oversoul; essentially, everyone had a section of the divinity. Nature played a role because it was an expression of the oversoul. Humanity has the universe within itself, but nature also contains the universe within it. In order to transcend, one must study nature. They believed there was inherent goodness in people and nature because they have a part of the oversoul. They believed there was no force of evil; it was people abandoning nature for materialistic reasons. Transcendentalism came from Unitarianism and Universalism because they have undertones of an oversoul/divinity in everyone. Also, Transcendentalism comes from romanticism; it stressed the beauty and awe of nature. Nature was the expression of the

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

During the 19th century, the philosophy of transcendentalism was revolved around nature, self reliance, and self determination. Nature was believed to be the foundation of the universe and the human person. Artists involved in the movement believed in self actualization, self reliance, and self-determination, where the mind of one person is greater than that of an entire society. Transcendentalism also stresses the philosophy of imagination, where imagination should be used to understand the world and unexplainable phenomenons.

Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau expressed similar transcendentalists thoughts about individualism and nonconformity throughout their works. With the influence of Emerson’s belief that a meaningful relationship with Nature will help one discover an understanding of the universe, lead to the creation of Thoreau’s book, from Walden. The main idea of transcendentalists were to understand the meaning of life’s relationships. In Emerson’s essay “Chapter I Nature”, he expresses this idea by creating a metaphor using a ‘transparent eyeball’. The meaning behind the ‘transparent eyeball’ is that to understand the universal being one is the transcend from the physical world to recognize one’s place.

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

Nature has always been a controversial subject ever since the 1800’s when the artistic movement of Transcendentalism flourished. Transcendentalism refers to the intellectual movement that was developed in the 19th century, which declares that truth cannot be sought through plain observation, but is found through the “heightened consciousness” that allows an individual to reach the truth (Robinson 125). The “heightened consciousness” portrays spiritual guiding, letting the body dictate its own path to life. Eventually, key figures such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau emphasized the movement, discussing the relation between man, nature ,and transcendentalism. Over the course of the 19th century, transcendentalism links the value

There have been numerous religious rebellions throughout history, but none quite like that of Transcendentalism. This movement embodies the idea that spiritual growth can be achieved through personal journey instead of conflicting with organized religion. By the time of the movement’s onset, newly gained religious freedom in the United States allowed for new ideas and beliefs to prosper freely. At the heart of this movement was Transcendentalism philosophy famous ambassadors, Ralph Waldo Emerson and apprentice Henry David Thoreau. These men believed nature is what forces us not to depend on other ideas but to develop our own.

From the scholarly journal “Contextual American Transcedentalism” author Alireza Manzari talks about the context of Transcendentalism and how the romantic movement came about. Manzari analyzed Ralph Waldo Emerson and also the time period when authors like Whitman, Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe arose and took a different direction with literature . He also acknowledges Emerson’s essay “Nature” and says that the essay was a symbol for spirit, which was shown through the connection between the world and not following the social norm. Manzari continued to talk about people who were none transcendentalist, like Hawthorne and Poe, who typically carried out Dark Romantics in their writings. Specifically, Alireza Manzari said, “They believed that

By 1836, Emerson had published his most detailed statement of belief in his first published book, Nature. He starts the book discussing the currents of the Universal Being that circulate through him making him part God or a piece of God. This is what transcendentalism is mostly about, the belief in the divinity of the human and nature. Through the universal being everything in nature is linked, including humans. Nature’s spirit expresses itself through us and creates a unity between God, spirit and humanity. Nature rewards the noble and those

The American Renaissance was a revolution for literature and writers in America itself that emphasized cultural authority. The American Renaissance took place throughout the nineteenth century, primarily in the early segment of this era. According to, The Norton Anthology of American Literature, “the idea of American Renaissance has been so influential in part of the literature of this time period, and was crucial to the development of American literary traditions” (4). This created a diverse movement apart of the American Renaissance reform called, Transcendentalism. The Transcendentalism period which outlined majority of the Renaissance, was led by writer, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Transcendentalism is largely defined by the ideals of, religion, self reliance, civil disobedience, individualism, idealism, nonconformity, and nature. Emerson outlined the reform and countless parts of these Transcendentalism ideals, for writers soon to follow this movement. The Norton Anthology of American Literature, presents Emerson’s language as, “…no American writer who placed greater importance on the reader’s active interpretive role in generating new meanings and new ways of seeing the world” (214). Ralph Waldo Emerson’s language was a formation composed of idealism and a philosophical literary movement. Founding father Ralph Emerson, contributed to Transcendentalism by the primary ideals of Nature, and Individualism. These ideals are all exhibited in Emerson’s essays, “Nature”,

This paper discusses four literary elements in Ralph Waldo Emerson 's work, entitled "Nature". It is an essay that attempts to make people establish a deeper bond with nature and accept it for what it is. Men continually becomes busy with daily lives because of modern advancements and increasing number of endeavors. In the process, they tend to ignore nature and forget giving back to it by being ungrateful of its generosity. Various perspectives were discussed in the essay. Through the literature 's view, Emerson have founded the ideas of transcendentalism, which is a systematic belief that appreciates the beauty of nature through divinity. Its status is emphasized as being merged with the creator. Transcendentalism stresses that concepts of reality can only be understood through deep studies and reflection in relation to nature. Through the key ideas mentioned and explained in the essay "Nature", this paper aims to analyze Emerson 's work by analyzing four literary elements in the literature, which includes setting, tone, style and point of view.

Excerpts from nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1849), a text in which Ralph Waldo Emerson talks about the relationship of humanity with nature; most importantly understanding the word “Nature”. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Born in 1803 in Boston, being a Unitarian Minister, he embraced all the four main ideas of Unitarianism. He lived and wrote during the days of Westward expansion, a religious sudden change, domestic and political change. His generation and him grew up during the war of 1812. This lead them to develop a new patriotism when Boston was in fear of British invasion. Emerson’s writing reflects the nature struggle to develop an American identity throughout this time and this is why it was considered very “Unique”. By mid