Lecture 3 Transcendentalism and Emerson

Lecture 3 Historical, Ideological and Cultural Background , war with Britain s, a series of wars against native Americans —1848, war against Mexico , discovery of gold in California, thus the Gold Rush , first oil well drilled in Pennsylvania —1865, Civil War , the first transcontinental railway constructed

Lecture 3 The Doctrines of Transcendentalism 1.The most important thing in the universe is spirit, or the Oversoul. 2.The Transcendentalists stress the importance of the individual. The ideal type of man is the self- reliant individual through the perfection of whom the regeneration of society can be achieved. 3. The Transcendentalists have a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of God. Nature is the garment of the Oversoul.

Lecture 3 Emerson’s Major Works: (1) Nature (1836) (2) The American Scholar (1837) (3) Self-Reliance (1841) (4) The Over-Soul (1841)

Lecture 3 The Interpretation to Over-soul The over-soul is believed to be an all-pervading power for goodness, omnipresent and omnipotent from which all things come and of which all are a part. It exists in nature and man alike and constitutes the chief element of the universe. According to Emerson, it is a supreme reality of mind, a spiritual unity of all beings, and a religion regarded as an emotional communication between an individual soul and the universal over-soul of which it is a part. He holds that intuition is a more certain way of knowing than reason and that the mind could intuitively perceive the existence of the over-soul and of certain absolutes.

Lecture 3 Primacy of the Individual Man Emerson strongly believes in the divinity and infinity of man as an individual. Since man is divine, he can totally rely on himself. And self-reliance in turn leads to self-improvement, self-cultivation, and self- perfection. Man is important to the whole society, whose regeneration relies on the regeneration of the individual. Emerson constantly emphasizes the infinitude of the private man, trying to convince people that the possibilities for man to develop and improve himself are infinite.

Lecture 3 Primacy of Nature Emerson’s nature is the garment of the over-soul, symbolic and moral-bound. Nature is not something purely of the matter, but alive with God’s overwhelming presence. Besides, it exercises a healthy and restorative influence on human beings. Children are considered to see nature better than adults. Emerson says in his essays, “Nature is the symbol of spirit, and it always wears the colors of spirit.”

Lecture 3 The Importance of Emerson’s Historical Status 1. He embodied a new nation’s desire and struggle to assert its own identity in its formative period. 2. His aesthetics marked the birth of true American poetry. 3. He called for an independent culture, which represented the desire of the whole nation to develop a culture of its own. 4. His reputation declined somewhat in recent years because of his cheerful optimism.