During the 19th century a literary revolution occurred involving new never before seen styles and ideas. Before this time most written works spoke purely of God and what was in the bible. These pieces spoke of the mercy in God as well as the wrath he could inflict. In those times it was sin to fabricate fictitious stories for entertainment, if there were to be a story it had to have happened. However in the 19th century, things changed. A style of writing known as romanticism came about and discussed the afterlife, the supernatural, the “other” side, which hadn’t been in writing much before.
romantic writing intended to put not fear, but reality into the reader’s minds. This is the same goal for a style of writing that came soon after romanticism. They were called the transcendentalists. Transcendental writing asserts the importance of having trust in oneself and argues that no human can ever be truly happy until he or she “finds themselves”. The idea of “pushing the envelope” in 19th century writing was apparent, and the slight refrain from society was seen in both writing styles.
When romanticism was first seen it was frightening to readers because it was so peculiar that people would write stories relating to mortality and death let alone have it be made up. (In this time you’d be deemed a psychotic Satanist) Later in transcendentalism this was seen again with not assimilating to society’s rules and living by one’s own laws. Transcendentalism is all about that, although in certain aspects transcendentalism and romanticism do not go side by side. Romanticism has a darker nature and a different purpose for their resentment of social expectation.
The Essay on Earth Dancers vs West Side Story
Mallory Green Grade: 9 Due: Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 Earth Dancers & West Side Story Evaluation Q: What was the dance like? A: EARTH DANCERS: In the Earth Dancers performance, I chose the "Resurrection Fern" dance piece. It was one of the last pieces of the first act. The costumes that the performers were wearing were several different vintage style mini dresses. There was no more than ten ...
In romantic writing change was encouraged in order to receive reaction much like today’s pop stars, who simply do what they can to receive attention. They don’t care whether their actions scare the reader or gives the reader the impression the author is psychotic, just like how celebrities don’t care if it harms themselves, other people or if it makes a complete fool out of themselves. (Although today it is more extreme than the 1830s. ) In transcendentalism there is a different approach, a more philosophical one.
By speaking of inspirational subjects and telling their audience to be comfortable with themselves is a more subtle, natural as well as more direct approach to the audience. This teaches the reader not to care about what society thinks and become satisfied with their own accomplishments. By losing the worry of social judgment transcendental followers can live life without strife, and finally achieve true happiness. Romanticism inspired this idea in transcendentalism as seen by their similar arguments but the reason behind it changed.
From refraining from society’s rules to receive reaction and get people on one’s side like a romantic to thinking transcendentally and refraining from society to become comfortable with oneself and achieve personal nirvana. This proves the style of romantic writing influenced the styles of the transcendentalists as both contain similar themes and morals. In Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” a minister begins to wear a black veil which covers his face. It causes multiple reactions from his surrounding society. The people are afraid of him because of the veil, because they do not understand why he has on the black veil.
Many even try to force him to take it off, his fiancee even leaves him because of her petty curiosity. This reaction to the black veil was the same reaction people had when reading any dark romantic piece. People are afraid of what they do not understand. That is why people rejected romanticism, people reject transcendental thought and the free speech of any non-white male (in this time).
The Essay on Black Veil Society Community People
In today's society, American literature illustrates the way a society or a community can affect an individual. It shows the ways of what a society can do to others, whether it is positive or negative. They may have different beliefs than an individual and they think that everyone in the society should think and believe the same things. In comparing early Americans to Americans today, I think these ...
This is the same reason things like gay marriage isn’t allowed in certain places. “The Minister’s Black Veil” is very relatable to transcendentalism most importantly “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Both send the message of “Do not let society change you no matter what they say or do. ” The black veil seems like more of a metaphor for a person’s true personality and people rejecting it because it isn’t the same as everyone else. In Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau, Thoreau tells a story of a night he spent in jail. He discusses how bad and overpowering the government is at the time and reveals he has not paid poll tax in 6 years and is jailed for it. He touches on the pettiness of the government, for not paying a tax he is jailed like an animal, put in time out because he broke a rule he didn’t believe in.
A soldier is a hero for refusing to fight in an unjust war but a man who refuses to follow an unjust law is put with the killers and thieves. Thoreau questions “Why such a big government can be so scared of a tiny man? ” it is because as stated before society rejects what it cannot understand, but no just understand but what it thinks it cannot control. A murderer is obviously out of control, a thief is out of control, but when jailed they are, Thoreau wishes to know why the government believes a non-taxpayer is uncontrollable to the point of jailing.
This connects with a romantic piece by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Masque of Red Death”. The host of an elegant party shows his guests multiple rooms of different colors representing different emotions. Toward the end when the host realizes what the symbols mean and then sees a black room that seals his and his guests’ fate he is afraid to accept it, afraid to accept death. This is also seen in “The Raven” by Poe as well where the man mourning the loss of his lover Lenore is haunted by a raven who repeats “Nevermore” over and over until the man goes into madness.
The Term Paper on Henry David Thoreau 6
Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862) was an American writer and philosopher famous for his naturalistic and anarchical ideas as well as his adherence to the movement of transcendentalism. Thoreau was a vegetarian, actively stood against slavery and war, and was one of the first who supported Darwin’s theory of evolution. Among his many works, the best known are his essay, Civil Disobedience, a ...
The man refuses to accept the fact that he will never see Lenore again, that she is gone forever and there is nothing that can be changed, that it is fate, and he must accept it. A common mistake of humans even today is deny and refusing to accept their fate. Final Destination is an entire movie franchise dedicated to people attempting to avoiding fate and not wanting to accept their end because they fear what cannot be controlled. Just like the man tormented by the raven, the government that jailed Thoreau was simply afraid of what they couldn’t control.
Transcendentalism was a gradual development from romanticism because of their many similar aspects and arguments. Transcendentalism adapted the romantic idea of non-conformity and exposing society’s flaws and used it to apply to oneself and it started a revolution of people seeking their dream and what they believe in to achieve happiness. Both styles of literature rocked the 1800s because of their will to take a chance with all their morals of refusing conformity, not fearing what society will think, understanding what will happen in life and not being afraid, and still even inspires their readers today.
