Genre/Style Character sketch Slave narratives Political Novels Poetry Transcendentalism

America: coming of age Landscape and culture were developing and finding a place in a literature distinct from European models This literary period is often described as a renaissance or rebirth (in comparison to the European Renaissance of the 14th-16th centuries) because of the cultural development between 1840-1860.

Social improvement: Other reformers: Horace Mann (improve public education), Dorothea Dix (relieve horrible conditions in institutions for the mentally ill), William Lloyd Garrison (abolish slavery), Elizabeth Peabody, Margaret Fuller and Emma Willard (women’s rights). Many utopian projects were created in an attempt to perfect society. Utopia = ideal and perfect state New England was experiencing a period/movement of self-improvement and intellectual inquiry called Lyceum. Goals of this movement: training teachers, establishing museums, and instituting social reforms. Emerson provided a series of lectures on self-improvement. Emerson’s utopian group became known as “The Transcendental Club”.

What does Transcendentalism mean? Definition: in determining the ultimate reality of God, the universe, the self and other important matters, one must transcend, or go beyond, everyday human experience in the physical world.

Where does Transcendentalism come from? The term transcendental came from 18th century German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Transcendentalism originated from the past idea of Idealism (created by Greek philosopher Plato in 4th century BC). Idealism=true reality involved ideas rather than the world perceived by the senses. They wanted to look past physical appearances to see permanent reality and truth. Transcendentalists were Idealists in a broader, more practical sense. They believed in human perfectibility as an achievable goal and worked to achieve it.

Characteristics: Everything in the world, including human beings, is a reflection of the Divine Soul. The physical facts of the natural world are a doorway to the spiritual or ideal world which hold important truths. People can use their intuition to behold God’s spirit revealed in nature or their own souls. Spontaneous feelings and intuition are superior to deliberate intellectualism and rationality.

Most well-known Transcendentalist authors: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau

The most famous Transcendentalist… Ralph Waldo Emerson Emerson was the best-known and most influential transcendentalist. What he combined into transcendentalism… Puritan thought (God revealed himself through the Bible and the physical world) The beliefs of Jonathan Edwards (who found God’s wisdom, purity and love in the sun, moon and stars and in all of nature) And the Romantic tradition (nature) He viewed the world based on intuition - the capacity to know things spontaneously and immediately through our emotions rather than through reason and logic. He possessed an intense feeling of optimism that stemmed from the belief that God could be found directly through nature (even tragic natural events such as death, disaster and disease).

Emerson’s beliefs continued… God is good and works through nature. Death, disease and disasters have a spiritual explanation. Evil stems from a separation from a direct, intuitive knowledge of God. One must know God directly to realize that they are a part of the Divine Soul (universe), which is the source of all good.

The appeal of Emerson’s optimism and transcendentalism was a result of what was happening in society at the time: economic downturns, regional strife, conflict over slavery.

Anti-Transcendentalists aka Dark Romantics Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville Unlike Emerson and transcendentalism, their view of the world lacked optimism. They saw a dark side to human existence and recorded this aspect of human nature in their works. Similarities to transcendentalism: valued intuition over reason, saw signs and symbols in events, spiritual facts lie behind physical appearances. Differences: spiritual forces are not necessarily good or harmless. Their view developed from the mystical and melancholy aspects of Puritan thought. Their works explored the conflict between good and evil, psychological effects of guilt and sin, and madness and derangement in human psyche. They saw the blankness and the horror of evil within humanity.

Where does Edgar Allen Poe fit in? Although often considered a Dark Romantic, Poe can be viewed more as a Gothic writer. Poe’s works strongly represent Gothic elements more so than valuing intuition over reason or examining the natural world for God and spiritual truths.

Gothic literature… Settings- include large, drafty old houses that have "been in the family for years."  Atmosphere of mystery and suspense A ghostly legend, an unexplainable occurrence, or a story about a horrible death or murder . Omens, foreshadowing, and dreams usually play a large role in the mysterious air that is created within the story. Include highly charged emotional states like:  terror, a feeling that one is on the brink of insanity, anger, agitation, an exaggerated feeling of some impending doom, and obsessive love. Supernatural events:  ghosts, doors that open themselves, unexplained sounds, etc. Damsels in distress are frequent.  Women who are frightened and confused, wandering around lost, or dying due to a slow and unexplainable ailment. Words designed to evoke images of gloom and doom: dark, foreboding, forbidding, ghostly, etc. Romantic themes often involve the death of a man or woman in the throes of some great passion, the obsessive nature of a man or woman in love, or excessive grief one feels upon the loss of a loved one.