The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail Henry David Thoreau expresses Transcendentalism in almost every aspect of his life. He lives actively in the way that is justifiable to his own conscience, and he relentlessly expresses his own opinions. In the play The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail Thoreau is known for his distaste of conformity. This is represented in many ways most obviously in the style of how the play was written.…
Transcendentalism can be described as the desire to do what your conscience tells you is right instead of what the society does. In the film The Dead Poets Society, Romanticism is an emotion which has dominated logic and intellect; bring out the theme of transcendentalism in the film. This essay will discuss romanticism and transcendentalism portrayed in the film and Nature, Self-reliance, Walden and Resistance to Civil Government. The boys in the film are encouraged to look at things in their own perspective.…
Song of Myself is a poem by Walt Whitman’s. This poem introduces a constant stream of human awareness, where he attempts to dissect death as common and transformative process, which should strike everyone. Walt Whitman was an American artist conceived in 1819 and passed on 26th March 1892. The artist was conceived around the local area of Huntington, Long Island, New York, U.S.In one of the sections from the poem, “Song of Myself” Walt Whitman starts out with a child asking a question, “What is the grass?” Grass is a symbol of life.…
Transcendentalism was an intellectual movement that encouraged eight moral ideals. These ideals were intended to give structure to everyday life and improve the moral character of those who lived according to them. Although the transcendental movement has mostly subsided there are still many people who live following transcendental principles. A modern day example of living for transcendentalism is the life of Chris McCandless. The life, journey, and death of Chris McCandless is told in the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.…
The movie Into the Wild, compares McCandless intentions when travelling into the wilderness with transcendental ideas, while the consequences and results displayed naturalist thoughts. McCandless, who was a brilliant minded boy, was troubled and struggled to agree with his family. He despised the society's expectations and abhorred materialism which was one of the reasons he struggled to get along with his father. McCandless was a strong perpetrator of transcendental ideas, which one can understand as the reasoning process behind an experience. Changing his name to Alexander Supertramp, destroying all ID and burning the money which was supposed to be saved for Harvard law, began his journey out of society and into the wild.…
I most relate to the transcendental literature because of what it inspires within me. It is all too easy to get wrapped up in what society expects of you. The transcendentalists writers like Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman suggest we listen to our inner voice. In “Self Reliance” Emerson advocated for this throughout the essay with statements such as, “ Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” Your conformity explains nothing.”…
Transcendentalism is an idealistic approach to identity, nature, humanity, and divinity. The themes derived from Emerson and Thoreau center on this transcendental view of self-reliance and nature. In Thoreau’s Walden, he uses key points Emerson shows in Self-Reliance. The two men carry a great influential impact on society showing ideas of non-conformity, infancy, identity, the meaning of self-reliance, and an overall connection to nature. Emerson and Thoreau teach what purpose nature has to several aspects widely known in society.…
While reading the stories by Henry David Thoreau , some reasons have been found to believe in his words and what he has said. These stories often talked about and related to six main subjects of what The Transcendentalist believed. Their main ideas and beliefs were to simplify life, the appreciation of nature, being self-reliant, gaining the truth through the experience of life, social protesting, and the belief in the spiritual world through nature. These subjects have opened the eyes of several people and have made a large impact on todays society. However, while these stories have impacted the lives of several individuals, they requested you to break the laws and go against the government in certain ways.…
Transcendentalism was a movement in mid-nineteenth century America that focused on an individual obtaining personal freedom from the constrictions of their surrounding society. Thus, it can be said that they pushed for social and political change to be achieved so that individualism would be prized over collectivism. Two writers, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, are at the frontline of these Transcendentalist views. These authors introduce a similar twist to the concept of personal freedom, claiming that a person can achieve it by encompassing oneself into nature.…
Oftentimes, people read their favorite books or watch popular movies and they are completely oblivious to the origin of the theme(s). In fact, a collection of recent movies, books and paintings include themes tracing back to the mid-19th century transcendentalist. Frequently, transcendentalist themes are used because they reflect in the American identity. Transcendentalist themes present the American desire to stand out. In order to stand out, Americans always have to improve themselves to prove they are better than their competition.…
Transcendental philosophy has impacted our modern society because we can still see it in today’s world. We can see it in those well educated, liberal, and nature-centered individuals. Transcendentalists are just like environmentalists, who see the importance of nature and protecting her. The idea of determination, independence, and nonconformity can all still be seen greatly in the philosophies of today. Transcendentalists believed that nature is everything and anything, therefore the protection of nature is essential.…
I have talked about how, because of the fortune teller’s spotless record, the people receiving her fortunes would live their lives exactly the way they were always meant to. By this, I mean that in world with a fixed construct of existence everything a person does is exactly what they were meant to, including going and seeing the mythical fortune teller. But how then would that affect the individual? Would they be able to continue living their lives authentically and in what Sartre would call “good faith”? Sartre says, “Transcendental consciousness is an impersonal spontaneity.…
Writings by authors of both types seem to tie nature into many of their works. For example, in Walt Whitman’s piece “A child said What is the grass?” he…
“A Noiseless Patient Spider” by Walt Whitman depicts a man watching a spider spin its web, then realizing that he himself, can relate to the spider because he is shooting aimlessly into space, much like the webs of the spider. “The Loveliest of Trees” by A. E. Housman depicts a man looking at a beautiful cherry tree, then realizing that he will not live forever, and therefore he needs to make the most of every day. Both of these poems show transcendentalist ideas such as valuing nature, reflecting on oneself, being independant, and disregarding the values of others. “A Noiseless Patient Spider” and “The Loveliest of Trees” both value nature. Walt Whitman in “A Noiseless Patient Spider” reveals that a spider is on his own in a large open space in nature.…
During the Poem “Song of Myself” Walt Whitman examines the complex idea of belonging in society by using sly commentary and symbols alike, while writing with a seemingly egotistical style. This piece was one of the twelve poems from the original collection of “Leaves of Grass” published in 1855, which was shortly before the Civil War started. This was a time of despair for Whitman because he was living in a fractured union. During this piece Whitman used many evocative situations to capture the readers imagination. The piece was written with mid-level diction, yet each line is crammed with significant detail.…