Transcendentalism

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Transcendentalism
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What does transcendentalism mean?

• There is an ideal spiritual state which
  transcends the physical and intellectual.
• A loose collection of eclectic ideas about
  literature, philosophy, religion, social reform,
  and the general state of American culture.
• Transcendentalism had different meanings for each
  person involved in the movement.

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Where did it come from?

• Ralph Waldo Emerson gave German philosopher
  Immanuel Kant credit for popularizing the term
  transcendentalism.
• It began as a reform movement in the Unitarian
  church.
• It is not a religionmore accurately, it is a
  philosophy or form of spirituality.
• It centered around Boston and Concord, MA. in the
  mid-1800s.
• Emerson first expressed his philosophy of
  transcendentalism in his essay Nature.

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What did Transcendentalists believe?

• Intuition, instead of logic or the five
  senses, became the means for a conscious union of
  the individual psyche with the world psyche also
  known as the Oversoul or life-force

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Basic Premise 1

• An individual is the spiritual center of
  the universe.

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Basic Premise 2

• All knowledge begins with self-knowledge. This
  is similar to Aristotle's dictum "know thyself."

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Basic Premise 3

• Transcendentalists accepted the concept of
  nature as a living mystery.

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Who were the Transcendentalists?

• Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Henry David Thoreau

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The Anti-Transcendentalists
Herman Melville
Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Who were these guys?

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The Big Two

• Anti-transcendentalism was a literary movement
  that essentially consisted of two writers
  Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville
• Both men are easily two of the greatest fiction
  writers of their time
• In opposition to the transcendentalists, their
  work focused on the limitations and
  destructiveness of the human spirit

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Transcendental Connections

• After graduating from college, Hawthorne lived in
  solitude at his mothers house for 12 years
  working on becoming a writer
• For a short time, he lived on a transcendental
  commune, Brook Farm
• After marrying, Hawthorne moved to Concord, and
  became a close friend of both Emerson and Thoreau

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Brook Farm

• Brook Farm was a commune which tried to establish
  the transcendental ideal individual freedom and
  humane relationships.
• They sought harmony, the merging of values,
  ideas, and spiritual matters.
• At Brook Farm, physical labor was considered a
  condition of mental well-being and health.
• The members of Brook Farm believed that they
  could create a utopian microcosm of society.

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Anti-Transcendental thoughts

• Despite his friendship with both Emerson and
  Thoreau, Hawthorne found it impossible to accept
  their optimistic view of the world
• He could not get past puritan guilt and the
  belief of evil as a dominant force in the world

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His work

• As a result of his beliefs, his works express a
  dark and gloomy view of the world
• He is most widely known for The Scarlet Letter (a
  novel about sin and guilt in the time of
  puritans) and The House of Green Gables

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Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Hawthorne once said I do not want to be a
  doctor and live by mans diseases, nor a minister
  to live by their sins, nor a lawyer and live by
  their quarrels. So, I dont see that there is
  anything left for me but to be an author.

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About the Author

• Born July 4, 1804 in Salem, Mass. to a well-to-do
  family
• Father, a sea captain, died when Hawthorne was
  four
• Worked in the Salem Custom House

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About the Author

• Married Sophia Peabody and fathered Una (who
  became the model for Pearl)
• Served as the United States Consul to Liverpool
• Great-great-great-great grandfather, John
  Hathorne, was judge at Salem witch trial
• Although he was not a Puritan, he was shaped by
  his heritageand so he carried a good deal of
  guilt

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His End

• Hawthorne lived abroad in England and Italy for a
  number of years
• His time away provided him with time and material
  for another novel, The Marble Faun (not one of
  his better works)
• He died in his sleep in 1864 on a walking tour in
  New Hampshire
• Buried in Concord, Massachusetts

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Hawthornes Style

• Hawthorne worked at creating allegories (a work
  of literature in which events, characters, or
  details have symbolic meaning) in his works
• At times, his allegories are difficult to
  identify
• He used the voice of a storyteller to draw
  readers in and set the stage for his hidden
  meanings
• The use of a storyteller also allows readers to
  consider the truth of such tales
• Hawthornes argument was that readers
  imaginations could be manipulated through the
  mood and images of the text

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The Scarlet Letter

• By Nathaniel Hawthorne

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The Custom House

• Hawthorne claims to have gotten the idea for this
  novel from the papers of Jonathan Pue. Among the
  papers, Hawthorne allegedly found an embroidered
  scarlet A and information on Hester Prynne.

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Plot/Setting

• The novel is set in the mid 1600s in Boston,
  Massachusetts.
• The plot encompasses a seven year period.
• The plot involves the love triangle of
  wife-lover-husband.
• The major theme of the novel is developed in the
  context of good vs. evil.

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Point of View

• Third-Person OmniscientHawthorne reveals the
  inner and outer workings of the characters and
  provides social criticism, history, and
  psychology.

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Characters

• Hester Prynne- wearer of the scarlet letter
• Pearl- child of Hester living symbol of Hesters
  sin
• Roger Chillingworth- learned scholar doctor
• Arthur Dimmesdale- admired young minister
• Governor Bellingham- governor and magistrate of
  Massachusetts Bay Colony
• Rev. John Wilson- senior minister of colony
• Mistress Hibbins- Gov. Bellinghams sister

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Major Symbol

• The scarlet letter itself is the central symbol.
  It changes meaning for the characters in the
  novel as Hesters character changes. The A
  becomes a pathway to redemption for some
  characters as well. Watch the many ways
  Hawthorne uses the scarlet A as a symbol