A Renaissance in American
Literature

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Reaction to the “cold” intellect (devoid of emotion) of the Age of Reason
Enlightenment and French Revolution refines the role of the individual
Scientific and Industrial Revolutions lead to interest in the unknown and new ways of thinking
Major reform movements such as abolitionism and women’s rights lead to the search for truth and the perfection of the social order
Rise of Transcendentalism and Unitarianism
Attempts to cultivate utopian societies
The move westward adds to American optimism

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The quest for “pure beauty” and truth
 The use of antique and fanciful subject matter
 Interest in the past
 Use of the grotesque, gothic, odd or queer
 Escapism from American problems
 Interest in external nature as a source of beauty and knowledge
 Nature as a refuge and a revelation of God to the individual

 Emphasis on emotion
 Appeals to imagination/ use of the sublime and mystical (otherworldly)
 Subjectivity of the speaker as opposed to objectivity
 Common people as subject matter as opposed to “the great”
 Originality/ New philosophies and ways of doing things

 Remote settings
 Improbable/contrived plots (inclusion of magical/mystical/unexplained events)
 Organic principle: form rises out of content
 Authorial subjectivity
 Appearance of authenticity
 Romantic writing forms: essay, short story. poetry, novel

5 BASIC BELIEFS OF
TRANSCENDENTALISM
 Everything is a reflection of God
- People are basically good
- People will still sin, but they will repent and will most of the time choose to do the right thing
- People are close to God
- Nature is great!
 Contemplating nature can allow you to transcend the real world and go to a higher, spiritual level
- People can get closer to God without church
- Nature is as close as you can get to God
- Society (the opposite of nature) keeps people from getting to a higher spiritual level

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A person’s INSTINCT (intuition) can lead them to understand
God’s spirit
Everyone can do this! Wealth, status, prior knowledge not needed.
- Stressed that people were basically good – their gut instincts could lead them to God
Individualism and self-reliance are better than following others or depending on tradition.
- People will make the right choices if given the chance
- Believed that government was not necessary
- Urged people to question tradition
- Materialism was not good; people should not be dependent on money or belongings

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A person’s true feelings and intuition are more valuable than book knowledge.
- Average people were able to do this
- Money, wealth, status not necessary
- Trusted people to do and feel good things

 Washington Irving
 Ralph Waldo Emerson
 Henry David Thoreau
 Nathaniel Hawthorne
 Herman Melville
 Edgar Allan Poe
 Emily Dickinson

 Led to the American ideals of individualism and free thought
 Celebrated multiculturalism and feminism
 Encouraged reform
 Emphasized self reflection and exploration
 Paved the way for literary creativity of the modern era

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How does Emerson’s “Nature” illustrate some of the principles of the Romantic and
Transcendental movements?