Transcendentalism (1830-1840)
"The New England Renaissance"
There is a time in every man's education when he
arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that
imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for
better, for worse, as his portion . . .
Ralph Waldo Emerson
How Transcendentalism Started
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Transcendentalism was an intellectual movement founded by Emerson that affected most of the
writers of his day.
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It was influenced heavily by German philosopher Immanuel Kant's philosophy that defined
spiritual enlightenment as the understanding a person gains intuitively.
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During the 1830's and 1840's, Ralph Waldo Emerson and a small group of like-minded intellectual
friends gathered regularly in his study to discuss philosophy, religion, and literature. The group,
known as the Transcendental Club, developed a philosophical system that stressed intuition,
individuality, and self-reliance.
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In 1836, Emerson published "Nature," a lengthy essay that became the Club's unofficial
statement of belief. The Club also published a quarterly journal, The Dial, in search of a wider
audience for their ideas.
What Transcendentalists Believed
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The Transcendentalists believed that the human senses could know only physical reality.
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To the Transcendentalists, the fundamental truths of existence lay outside the reach of the sense
and could be grasped only through intuition.
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As a result, the Transcendentalists focused their attention on the human spirit and it’s
relationship to nature.
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Through the careful observation of nature, they believed that the human spirit is reflected in the
natural world.
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This led them to the conclusion that formed the heart of their beliefs: All forms of being - God,
nature, and humanity - are spiritually united through a shared universal soul, or Over-Soul.
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from Nature
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nature is a setting that fits equally well a comic or a mourning piece. In good health, the air is a cordial of
incredible virtue. Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having
in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the
brink of fear. In the woods too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of
life, is always a child. In the woods, is perpetual youth. Within these plantations of God, a decorum and
sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand
years. In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, — no
disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, — my
head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, — all mean egotism vanishes. 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. The name of the nearest friend sounds then foreign and accidental: to be brothers, to
be acquaintances, — master or servant, is then a trifle and a disturbance. I am the lover of uncontained and
immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in streets or villages. In the
tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his
own nature.
The greatest delight which the fields and woods minister, is the suggestion of an occult relation between man
and the vegetable. I am not alone and unacknowledged. They nod to me, and I to them. The waving of the
boughs in the storm, is new to me and old. It takes me by surprise, and yet is not unknown. Its effect is like
that of a higher thought or a better emotion coming over me, when I deemed I was thinking justly or doing
right.
Yet it is certain that the power to produce this delight, does not reside in nature, but in man, or in a harmony
of both. It is necessary to use these pleasures with great temperance. For, nature is not always tricked in
holiday attire, but the same scene which yesterday breathed perfume and glittered as for the frolic of the
nymphs, is overspread with melancholy today. Nature always wears the colors of the spirit. To a man laboring
under calamity, the heat of his own fire hath sadness in it. Then, there is a kind of contempt of the landscape
felt by him who has just lost by death a dear friend. The sky is less grand as it shuts down over less worth in
the population.
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Emerson’s “Nature”
Answer the questions as thoroughly as possible to study from later.
1. What major metaphor does Emerson use to describe journeying into nature? What do you think
he means by this?
2. What happens to Emerson when he stands with his head “uplifted into infinite space?” What does
this mean?
3. What is the “greatest delight which the fields and woods minister?”
4. Where does the power to “produce these delights” come from? What does he mean by this? What
does Emerson say about the spirit of nature?
5. What does Emerson mean when he describes himself as a “transparent eyeball?”
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from Self-Reliance
Ralph Waldo Emerson
There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that
imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide
universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that
plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he
knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried. Not for nothing one face, one
character, one fact, makes much impression on him, and another none. This sculpture in the memory is not
without preestablished harmony. The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that
particular ray. We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents.
It may be safely trusted as proportionate and of good issues, so it be faithfully imparted, but God will not have
his work made manifest by cowards. A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and
done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give him no peace. It is a deliverance which does
not deliver. In the attempt his genius deserts him; no muse befriends; no invention, no hope.
Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for
you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and
confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely
trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we
are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not minors and invalids
in a protected corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but guides, redeemers, and benefactors,
obeying the Almighty effort, and advancing on Chaos and the Dark. . . .
Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered
by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your
own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. . . .
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.
With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on
the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard
words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be
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.
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Emerson’s “Self-Reliance”
After reading Self-Reliance by Emerson, answer the following questions in complete sentences.
1. According to the first paragraph, what conviction does every person eventually adopt? What
does this mean in your own words?
2. According to Emerson, how do we only “half express” ourselves?
3. What metaphor does Emerson use to describe a heartbeat? What does this mean?
4. Emerson thinks that, to be a man (or woman) in society, is to be a what? What does Emerson think
about consistency?
5. How does Emerson support his claim that “to be great is to be misunderstood”?
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Walden Guide
During his stay at Walden, Thoreau expressed his life philosophy. As you read, note his main ideas and
the evidence he uses to support them. Then evaluate his ideas and evidence by comparing them with
your own life experiences.
Thoreau’s Idea
Thoreau’s Example
My Experience
My Thinking
Other Notes
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Build Your Own Social Experiment
Thoreau went to the woods for many reasons, but most of all, he went to the woods to find a “higher
truth” by honing his intuition and connecting to the Over-Soul. In that same way, you must create your
own experiment where you try to find out something about yourself, or humanity.
1. Thoreau decided to leave society completely in his experiment, what will you do in yours? This
could be something you remove from your life, something you add, a way you act, etc…
2. By living in nature, Thoreau removed distractions from his life and therefore was able to focus on
what he though was most important in his life. How will your experiment work to prove your
point about life, society, or yourself?
3. Thoreau was thought of as crazy because of his seclusion from society, but this may have proved
his point about society. What will your experiment attempt to prove about yourself or others
around you?
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Civil Disobedience
Answer the following questions to study for the test.
1. Why did Thoreau spend a night in jail?
2. What was his reasoning for doing what he did (or didn’t) do?
Explain the truth in each of these paradoxes:
3. “I saw that, if there was a wall of stone between me and my townsmen, there was a still more
difficult one to climb or break through, before they could get to be as free as I was.”
4. “I felt as if I alone of all my townsmen had paid my tax.”
5. How are Thoreau’s perceptions of his fellow citizens changed by his night in jail?
6. What idea is Thoreau stressing in telling us about getting his shoe fixed and leading the
huckleberry party on the day he was released?
7. From what you know about Romanticism, what about Thoreau’s assumptions seem Romantic to
you?
8. What influences of Emerson’s thoughts can you find in “Resistance to Civil Government?”
9. Comment on how Thoreau’s main points in this essay relate to the points of Martin Luther King.
What influences of Thoreau can you find in Dr. King’s writing?
10. What is civil disobedience?
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The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail Reading Guide
Act I
1. What complaint does Henry’s mother have about her son? Why is Harvard a bad word?
2. What is Henry’s stance on education? Why doesn’t he buy a diploma?
3. What is the Universial Mind? How is Aunt Louisa involved in it?
4. What does Henry want to do with his education? How is this ironic because of the conversation?
5. What are Henry’s thoughts on the Mexican War?
6. Who is Bailey? What is his story?
7. Where are the footsteps of the man going outside their cell? Explain.
8. Why are there no textbooks in Henry’s classroom? What is Henry’s view of education? What
about Deacon Ball?
9. Describe huckleberrying. Why does Henry quit the school system?
10. Describe Henry and John’s school. What are the rules?
11. What is ironic about taking notes in Henry’s new school?
12. What is the problem with Edmund?
13. How does Henry try to explain the concept of transcendentalism to Ellen? What does he
command her to do?
14. What does Henry mean when he says that we are “polluted” by advice?
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15. Why does Henry think that he is freer than others? Despite his current situation…
16. What happens to John? How does Ellen comfort Henry in this time?
17. What is the arrangement Henry has with the Emerson’s? Why is he a bad businessman? What
does he ask for instead?
18. Why isn’t Henry scared in the nighttime at Walden pond?
19. What does Henry go to town for? Why is he arrested?
20. Why does Henry allude to Concord bridge? What is his point?
21. Why does Henry not want to give Sam an occupation?
22. Why does he ask Waldo what he was doing out of jail?
Act 2
23. What does Henry believe about his thoughts? How does this relate to freedom once again?
24. How does Henry use nature to console Edward after he spills his huckleberries?
25. What is Henry’s view on love?
26. What does Henry call “voodoo” on the previous page? What does he make for the chickens? Why?
27. Who is Williams? Describe his introduction.
28. What does Henry warn Williams about in the North?
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29. Why is Henry frustrated with Waldo? What does he want Waldo to do?
30. What is Waldo’s reaction? How does he argue back against Henry?
31. What happens to Henry Williams?
32. What is Thoreau's opinion of war in general?
33. In the nightmare, who becomes the "president"? What happens to "Edward" and to "John"?
34. In Henry's nightmare, who is the lone congressman who speaks up against the war?
35. What happens at the end of the play? (How is Aunt Louisa involved?)
36. Why won't Henry go back to Walden pond? What message is suggested in this "new course"?
37. Why does the play end with Henry marching to the sound of an "eccentric, non-military"
drummer?
Other Notes from Mr. Randon
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Honk if you like “Self Reliance” Emerson Bumper Stickers
As an expert on Emerson’s Self Reliance, you feel obligated to share some of Emerson’s aphorisms with
the rest of society. And what better way to share your brilliance than with a bumper sticker! Yes, those
annoying and sometimes insightful stickers that we put on our cars.
Requirements:
Format
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Measure approximately 3.5” x 12”
Be on cardboard, poster board, or construction paper
Be eye-catching and appealing
Letters should be large and legible
Information
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Choose one aphorism from Emerson’s Self Reliance that you think is most true for YOU.
Neatly print (or use block letters or stickers, etc.) the aphorism on the bumper sticker.
Explanation (you didn’t think you’d get out of this without writing, did you?)
On a separate sheet of paper, answer the following two questions. Write one paragraph for each
question. Remember that paragraphs must contain an assertion (topic sentence), evidence, and
commentary.
1. What does this aphorism mean?
2. How does the phrase apply to your life? (Be specific! Use examples!)
Assessment
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Format (5 points)
Information (5 points)
Explanation (15 points)
Any other Mr. Randon Tips & Tricks
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Transcendentalism & Dead Poet’s Society
Directions: Complete an entry in each column for the designated subject area. You should list the
belief of the Transcendentalists in the first column and an example from the movie that displays or
supports that belief in the second column.
Transcendentalism
Dead Poet’s Society
Society
Society
Life
Life
Simplicity
Simplicity
Education
Education
Government
Government
Nature
Nature
Over-soul
Over-soul
Love
Love
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