2. Reasons and Causes  Opposed the optimism and naïve idealism of the transcendentalists  Dwelt on guilt and remorse over past sins  Discontented with current circumstances in America (poverty/unjust and cruel treatment of factory workers, poor educational system, lack of women’s rights, slavery…) so they focused on moral dilemmas and society’s ills  Not all authors of the period as thought-provoking as the transcendentalists.  Saw the universe as confusing and difficult.  Evil and suffering had to be explained, accounted for.  Life was ultimately mysterious.

3. Key Ideas/Philosophy  “Puritanically dark view of human nature and fate”  People are basically evil and apathetic to matters that don’t effect them  Nature is indifferent to mankind  It is vast and incomprehensible, a reflection of the struggle between good and evil  It is the creation and possession of God and it cannot be understood by human beings

4. Key Ideas/Philosophy cont…  Belief in the potential destructiveness of the human spirit  Belief in individual truths, but no universal truths, and the truths of existence are deceitful and disturbing  Evil is an active force in the universe  Focus on the man’s uncertainty and limitations in the universe

5. Transcendentalists (Emerson, Thoreau) had an optimistic view of nature and human nature o God found in nature, so nature = good o Nature = truth Anti-Transcendentalists had pessimistic view of nature and human nature o Nature = indifferent to mankind o Human nature = hypocritical, apathetic

6. A House Divided Anti-transcendentalists  Realists  Experience  Spirituality based on Puritanism/Calvinism  Nature is indifferent; Man is evil  Man’s dark side  Suspicious of science and technology Transcendentalists  Idealists/Individualist  Intuition  Everything is a reflection of the divine soul  Nature is good; even Man is good  Man and Nature in partnership  Embraces science as part of nature

7. Writing Style  Man vs. Nature conflicts bring out the evil in humanity  Raw and morbid diction  Focus on the protagonist’s inner struggles  Typical protagonists are haunted outsiders who are alienated from society  Prevalent use of symbolism

8. Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter o People are hypocrites o Shows pathos for those in society who suffer from being truthful (e.g., Hester Prynne) o “Be true! Be true! Be true!” Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Billy Budd, Redburn