Transcendentalism By Jeanne Brock. It’s Famous! "We will walk on our own feet; we will work with...
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Transcript of Transcendentalism By Jeanne Brock. It’s Famous! "We will walk on our own feet; we will work with...
Transcendentalism
By Jeanne Brock
It’s Famous!
• "We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds...A nation of men will for the first time exist, because each believes himself inspired by the Divine Soul which also inspires all men."
• This quote was the very basis of Emerson’s view on Transcendentalism.
• Transcendentalism is an American literary, political, and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century, centered around Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Emerson was an American lecturer, philosopher, essayist, and poet, best remembered for leading the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century.
• He lived form 1803 to 1882, and married Lidian Jackson with whom he had 1 son.
• Emerson was mostly known for his individualism and essays such as Self-Reliance, The Over-Soul, Circles, The Poet and Experience.
• He is considered to be one of the greatest lectureurs of his time, and was well respected by many people.
• Other important transcendentalists were Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Amos Bronson Alcott, Frederic Henry Hedge, and Theodore Parker.
• Henry David Thoreau is most well known for his essay, “Civil Disobedience.”
• "It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.“
• This is how Ralph Waldo Emerson described people in society.
• Transcendentalism was inspired by American romanticism and the dark European romanticism.
• Based on ideas of unity with nature and of individualism from society.
• Henry David Thoreau was a student of Emerson’s and was more radical in his beliefs than Emerson was.
• Thoreau was arrested several times for refusal to pay taxes. He felt that taxes were one of the most deliberate forms of conformity.
Society
• Society at this time criticized Emerson and his colleagues, saying that it was irresponsible and crazy.
Society continued..
• Many transcendentalist were viewed by society as atheists and trouble-makers.
• Some, like Henry David Thoreau, were arrested for their rebellion.
Art
• The artists of this time period were just as individualistic as the writers of Transcendentalism.
• Their pieces involve nature and the beauty and power of natural elements.
Beliefs
• Established principally by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his book Nature (1836) Principles of Transcendentalism:
• all objects are miniature versions of the universe • intuition and conscience "transcend" experience
and reason • man is one with nature • God is everywhere, in nature and in man • extension of Romanticism
Efficiency
• The impact of Transcendentalism on society was effective and permanent.
• It created this spirit of individualism that still exists today.
Influence
• Writers and poets after this literary period were inspired by the will of these men.
• The will to be true to nature and to themselves,
• Also the quality of writing and style of literature has influenced many.
Walden
Thoreau is an icon for rebellion.
All the major transcendentalists of the time.