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Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism. The movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson, & Henry David Thoreau. What is the movement?. Takes place during the early-mid 1800s. The belief that truths about life & death can be reached by going outside the world of the senses. Focus on the relationship between man & nature.

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Transcendentalism

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  1. Transcendentalism The movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson, & Henry David Thoreau

  2. What is the movement? • Takes place during the early-mid 1800s. • The belief that truths about life & death can be reached by going outside the world of the senses. • Focus on the relationship between man & nature. • Feelings are priority over reason.

  3. What caused the movement? • Rise of cities • Class systems • War • Greed

  4. Characteristics - Nature • Nature was divine. • Nature held the truths. • To communicate & be one with nature was the epitome of “goodness.” • Nature was innocence & an escape from the evils of society.

  5. Characteristics - Individualism • Rejection of standard beliefs of society. • Inner truth is what matters most. • Fulfillment comes from knowing one’s self, not wealth, gender, or education. • Transcendentalism stressed individual choice and instinct above all other human impulses.

  6. Characteristics – The Oversoul • The soul is something equally available to all people. • Transcendentalism viewed all aspects of life, including human life, as small and inter-related parts of God, or the Universal Mind.

  7. Characteristics – Moral Enthusiasm • Anti-Aristocracy • Anti-Slavery • Pro-Women’s Rights • Quest for Utopia

  8. Literary Focus • Literature was an important medium used during this movement. • Major authors: • Emily Dickinson • Edgar Allan Poe • Ralph Waldo Emerson • Henry David Thoreau

  9. Ralph Waldo Emerson • 1803 – 1882 • Born in Boston • Entered Harvard at age 14 • Became a minister in 1829

  10. Emerson vs. Harvard • 1838 – Invited to speak at Harvard’s graduation • His remarks outraged the audience. • Said that Jesus was not God, which offended the Protestant community.

  11. Friendship with Thoreau • Emerson owned the land which Thoreau built his cabin on (Walden Pond). • Provided food to Thoreau, & hired him to work odd jobs. • Had a falling out when Emerson told Thoreau to publish his first book. • Buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (MA).

  12. Henry David Thoreau • Born in 1817 (Concord, Mass.) • Attended Harvard • Various occupations: • Pencil maker • Farmer • Handyman

  13. Thoreau, cont. • Did not fit in with other young men of his time • Spent time wandering the fields surrounding Concord • Began his “Walden Pond experiment” on July 4, 1845 (lasted 26 months) • Lived on only bare essentials • Arrested for not paying taxes during this experiment (protesting against Mexican/American War) • Wrote Civil Disobedience • The source for all of Henry David Thoreau's books was the journal he kept from 1832 until his death in 1862.

  14. Thoreau’s Later Life • After Walden Pond, he continued his examination of nature • Died in 1862 (age 45) after contracting a bad cold

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