Anti-Transcendentalism

1. Anti-Transcendentalism 19th century (approx. 1840-1860) literary movement that focused on the dark side of humanity and the evilness and guilt of sin

2. Deviation • Some writers would intentionally take their direction away from transcendentalism, toward "anti-transcendentalism” (“negative Romanticism”) and then toward realism; Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville found extraordinarily creative ways to object to many aspects of their transcendental contemporaries, even as they incorporated others.

3. Reasons / Causes • Opposed the optimism and naïve idealism of the transcendentalists • Dwelt on guilt and remorse over past sins • Discontented with current circumstances in America (poverty/unjust and cruel treatment of factory workers, poor educational system, lack of women’s rights, slavery…) so they focused on moral dilemmas and society’s ills

4. Literary Works • Prose (short stories and novels) • Allegories

5. Key ideas / Philosophies • Belief in the potential destructiveness of the human spirit • Belief in individual truths, but no universal truths, and the truths of existence are deceitful and disturbing • Human nature is inherently sinful (original sin), and evil is an active force in the universe • Focus on man’s uncertainty and limitations in the universe

6. View of Nature • Nature is vast and incomprehensible, a reflection of the struggle between good and evil • Nature is the creation and possession of God, and it cannot be understood by human beings

7. Writing Style • Man vs. Nature conflicts bring out the evil in humanity • Raw and morbid diction • Focus on the protagonist’s inner struggles • Typical protagonists are haunted outsiders who are alienated from society • Prevalent use of symbolism

8. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) • A master of symbolism and allegory, Hawthorne wrote throughout his life reaching “critical acclaim coupled with monetary failure.” • Because of his belief that evil was a dominant world force, his fiction depicts a gloomy vision of human affairs. • In 1850 Hawthorne published his masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter, which earned him international recognition.

9. Nathaniel Hawthorne • “As the moral gloom of the world overpowers all systematic gaiety, even so was their home of wild mirth made desolate amid the sad forest.” • “The Maypole of Merrymount” (1836)

10. Herman Melville (1819-1891) • His father’s death resulted in Melville being forced to drop out of school • At 19, he became a sailor on whaling ships in the South Pacific • He returned to the U.S. in 1844 after a short stint in the navy and began his writing career using his appreciated salary; disillusioned and bitter, he turned to his South Sea adventures for fictional material. • In 1851, Melville published his masterpiece, Moby-Dick under the title The Whale, but it failed to attract a wide audience. • His work was never fully appreciated during his life; he moved away from fictional writing during the latter part of his bitter and disillusioned life.

11. Herman Melville • “All men live enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but it is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life.” --Moby Dick

12. Melville passionately empathized with and focused on the … “… classes of men who bear the same relation to society at large that the wheels do to a coach.”

13. Comparative Overview Revolutionary Period • 1750 - 1800 • Influenced by Age of Reason • Political writing (speeches, pamphlets, broadsides) • Benjamin Franklin • Thomas Jefferson • Patrick Henry • Belief in the power of reason and science to further human progress Romanticism • 1800 – 1855 Transcendentalism • Man has free will and may shape his own destiny. - Unity of God, man, and nature • Nature is a source of inspiration and comfort. - Saw human nature as essentially good • Emphasis is on imagination - Ralph Waldo Emerson & Henry David Thoreau • Characters react with emotion not logic. Anti-Transcendentalism • Good is rewarded; evil is punished. - Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville • Washington Irving - Obsession with hidden sin • William Cullen Bryant - Concerned with origin and nature of evil • Edgar Allan Poe - Dark view of human nature and fate

14. Sources consulted and modified for Teaching Purposes • http://www.cathedralcatholic.org/academics/homework/harmaning/antitranscendentalism.ppt • http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/roots/legacy/leg-lit.html • http://www.northmont.k12.oh.us/hs/english/Leet/Revolutionary%20Period.doc • Prentice Hall Literature,Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes, The Americn Experience, Vol. I, 2004 edition.