During the !9th Century, there were a select few of individuals who were solely interested in transcendentalism. Specifically, Ralph Waldo Emerson, a leader in the transcendentalist movement, wrote a book focused on the main principles of transcendentalism. Nature, Emerson's book, has been recognized as a major document in American Romanticism and Transcendentalism. Nature is one of the most well-known works of the 1800s and gives a deep insight of Emerson's beliefs and how nature effects one's soul. Because the chapter which I am going to focus on is very long, I chose to select just a couple paragraphs of the chapter to mainly focus on. The first chapter is called "Nature" which is one of the main tenets of transcendentalism. Below, I have provided an annotation of the few paragraphs and a photo of Emerson's writing as well.
As Emerson was a leader of the transcendentalist movement, it is clear that he believed that the movement was a positive one and he wanted people to break away from society and be in touch with the natural world around them. Emerson explains that if an individual were to retire from all an any distractions, then he would be able to be more in touch with himself and would be more in harmony with nature. In these first few paragraphs of the chapter, Emerson explains his views on how nature is a beautiful thing and should never be taken for granted. After reading Emerson's essay, it is clear that he wants others to consider his transcendentalist thoughts and become more appreciative of the wild, rather than focusing only on material things. Seeing as this excerpt from is from Emerson's book, it is evident that these are his own thoughts and that he is simply explaining what he personally believes. Therefore, the excerpt is trustworthy in that sense, however transcendentalism is such a philosophical movement that everyone will and does have different opinions regarding Emerson's beliefs. In some cases, Emerson's book is controversial to some. Nature was published in the fall of 1836 (anonymously) and gives an insight of the foundation of transcendentalism. The 19th century was the height of literary and romanticism in Europe and America. Transcendentalism, inspired by English and European Romantic authors, was a form of American Romanticism. Through reading this document, it is clear that transcendentalism was an interesting and different way to view the world. Instead of viewing nature in its literal sense, Emerson dives deeper into how nature, man, and god all connect. The paragraphs which are shown below give a good picture of transcendentalism and are a good introduction into Emerson's thoughts and teachings. However, these few paragraphs don't necessarily give a complete picture of the event. Along with transcendentalism, there are many topics that Emerson touches upon. This includes, Nature, Commodity, Beauty, Language, and Discipline. So, although this small portion gives a lot of insight, there is much more to the transcendentalism movement. In the first chapter, Ralph Waldo Emerson says, "To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society." In Emerson's opinion, an individuals must break away from society in order to really known themselves and have a relationship with nature on a more spiritual level. Emerson describes true solitude as going out into nature and leaving behind all activities as well as society. This is merely just Emerson's opinion, and not everyone necessarily believes it. Also, Emerson explains, "Nature never wears a mean appearance". In his opinion, Nature is always beautiful and he goes on to say that society tends to take the beauty of the world/nature for granted. Every night the stars come out and many people don't even think twice about them. But, in reality , stars are one of the most beautiful parts of nature. As Emerson says, "If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which has been shown!" If the stars were shown just once, people would be utterly amazed. In the introduction, Emerson also explains, "Undoubtedly we have no questions to ask which are unanswerable." He believes that everything has an answer, even if that answer will never be found. Emerson's writing and thoughts really gets the reader thinking and asking themselves questions that they wouldn't normally ask. Emerson is trying to convince the reader that god, man, and nature all connect to each other. Nature and the soul are in harmony and nature is often taken for granted by society. Studying nature and the natural world around the, can bring people to find answers to their questions. Nature is a beautiful thing and once an individual can break away from all distractions, they will be able to appreciate it fully.
Source Citation:
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Ralph Waldo Emerson-Texts.” Emerson Central. http://www.emersoncentral.com/introduc.htm (accessed January 11, 2015).
Below are the paragraphs from which I based this annotation on:
No comments:
Post a Comment