The transcendental period was a very important part of modern American literature. Transcendentalism can be thought of as a philosophy that puts spirituality over materialism, that believes that people are born good and that a person can only discover God through nature. This philosophy is responsible for such authors as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson is a perfect representative of the era - he writes about nature, exploration of the inner-self and individualism. He is very open about it, and carries these ideas throughout his works. Hawthorne on the other hand shares the same ideas as Emerson, but the way he presents them is different. While the ideas of individuality, self – reliance, and identity are all present in the works of both authors, the way they write about it and the way they describe the external factors like society and nature are completely different. Emerson writes a lot about wholeness with nature. Emerson strongly believes that nature should be observed but never disturbed. He implies, that - by observing nature we learn more about ourselves. A great example of this can be found in his essay with corresponding name - “Nature”. In there he writes that “I become a transparent eye-ball. I am nothing. I see all. The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.” (511). What he means is that we are meant to observe everything around us - the nature around us, without interfering with it. Being a “transparent eye-ball” helps him to watch and learn as much as possible about nature, while still being unnoticed, and doing no damage or harm to the nature. Emerson also talks a lot about ‘human nature’. Most prominent work about it – is “Self-reliance”. In it, Emerson tries to describe the human nature and the nature of a ‘self’.
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"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" (554) he writes. In this quote, as in entire "Self-Reliance," Emerson emphasizes and stresses the importance and the need for individuals to reject fake consistency and day-to-day conformity; and instead pursue their personal believes and ideas. This will probably result in the individual being misunderstood, but as Emerson states, all great and famous people were once misunderstood: “Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.” (554).
Hawthorne, on the other hand, has a very distinct and different view on nature. In his works - nature, specifically woods, are more of an evil place – a place where horrible and dreadful things can happen. Exactly that happens in “Young Goodman Brown”. It is a place where Goodman Brown encounters the Devil himself: "’The devil!’ screamed the pious old lady.” (622). There are also descriptions of the woods by Goodman Brown, in which he depicts them as “haunted” (625) and portrays the road he had to take as “darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest” (620). Hawthorne also uses personification of Nature to show how wickedly powerful it can be - “The whole forest was peopled with frightful sounds; the creaking of the trees, the howling of wild beasts, and the yell of Indians; … as if all Nature were laughing him to scorn.” (625). He clearly shows a different perspective on nature. The key words like “haunted” and “gloomiest” help the reader easily distinguish the works of Hawthorne from the works of Emerson. Hawthorne illustrates the nature as being dangerous and often mysterious. In another work - “The Birth Mark”, Hawthorne puts nature against science. Aylmer – main antagonist of the story represents science, while his assistant Aminidab, although indirectly, represents nature. That can be inferred from the description of Aminidab, where it’s said that he has …show more content…
These alterations on such big ideas like self – reliance, human nature, and others make the writing of both authors very recognizable. And that is the best thing about literature. The reader has an opportunity to look at and then consider the same idea from two different perspectives. He then forms unique, completely new vision on the given topic. This is really useful in developing creativity and is hugely important in understanding the topic effectively and
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" (554) he writes. In this quote, as in entire "Self-Reliance," Emerson emphasizes and stresses the importance and the need for individuals to reject fake consistency and day-to-day conformity; and instead pursue their personal believes and ideas. This will probably result in the individual being misunderstood, but as Emerson states, all great and famous people were once misunderstood: “Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.” (554).
Hawthorne, on the other hand, has a very distinct and different view on nature. In his works - nature, specifically woods, are more of an evil place – a place where horrible and dreadful things can happen. Exactly that happens in “Young Goodman Brown”. It is a place where Goodman Brown encounters the Devil himself: "’The devil!’ screamed the pious old lady.” (622). There are also descriptions of the woods by Goodman Brown, in which he depicts them as “haunted” (625) and portrays the road he had to take as “darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest” (620). Hawthorne also uses personification of Nature to show how wickedly powerful it can be - “The whole forest was peopled with frightful sounds; the creaking of the trees, the howling of wild beasts, and the yell of Indians; … as if all Nature were laughing him to scorn.” (625). He clearly shows a different perspective on nature. The key words like “haunted” and “gloomiest” help the reader easily distinguish the works of Hawthorne from the works of Emerson. Hawthorne illustrates the nature as being dangerous and often mysterious. In another work - “The Birth Mark”, Hawthorne puts nature against science. Aylmer – main antagonist of the story represents science, while his assistant Aminidab, although indirectly, represents nature. That can be inferred from the description of Aminidab, where it’s said that he has …show more content…
These alterations on such big ideas like self – reliance, human nature, and others make the writing of both authors very recognizable. And that is the best thing about literature. The reader has an opportunity to look at and then consider the same idea from two different perspectives. He then forms unique, completely new vision on the given topic. This is really useful in developing creativity and is hugely important in understanding the topic effectively and