19th Century American Literature Essay

The nineteenth coulomb gave readers a plethora of literary genius. Perhaps the most recognized literary movement was Transcendentalism. This literary concept was based on a group of new ideas in religion, culture, and philosophy. Transcendentalism paved the flair for legion(predicate) subgenres, its most importantly opposite however was the emergence of Dark Romanticism. The Romantics had a tendency to measure out emotion and intuition over reason and logic. Many of the writers of the nineteenth century placed themselves into one or the other category. In its most specialized usage transcendentalism refers to a literary and philosophical movement that actual in America in the premier(prenominal) half of the nineteenth century. It first arose among the liberal New England Congregationalists who departed from the orthodox Calvinists, whose approach to Christian disembodied spirit emphasizes the rule of God over all things. (in text citation) Transcendentalism withal involved t he rejection of the Puritan value that were once the basis of New England culture.American Transcendentalism began with the formation of the Transcendental Club in 1836, in capital of Massachusetts. Ralph Waldo Emerson tug the group of literary minds including, Margaret Fuller, a feminist and social reformer, and Henry David Thoreau, a naturalist and reason. Together they and their other members published The Dial, a short-lived alone important periodical. Emerson, the father of Transcendentalism, wrote some of the major whole caboodle of the movement. Self- Reliance and temperament are two of his well known. In Nature, Emerson conveys to the reader the judgement that apiece individual must develop a personal understanding with the universe, and that in that respect is a relationship between man and nature. Henry David Thoreau was also a major contributor to the Transcendentalist movement, in two of Thoreaus most influential pieces, Walden, he writes of his strong beliefs o f natures impact on man. In Resistance to Civil Government, Thoreau writes of his issues with organized judicature That government is best which governs least,That government is best which not governs at allHis libertarian views of governments amour in every day life lead to his arrest in 1846 for nonpayment of poll taxes. His refusal to pay was based on his beliefs that one should not support a government that supported such atrocities as slavery. Walden was an trace of Thoreaus time spent living in a shack in Walden Pond near Concord, Massach dotts he explores such values as self reliance, and the simplicity of nature. The Transcendental movement inspired authors wish Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Alan Poe and sparked another literary movement known as Dark Romanism. strange Transcendentalism the Dark Romantics believed that human nature is not necessarily good, that the juicyer array of humanity had been being ignored by the transcendentalists. The works of the Dark roma ntics is change with tales of revenge, obsession, shame and madness. The conflicts between good and evil set a gloomy, dark mood of the tales written by the Dark Romantics. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the Scarlet Letter, a narrative of shame and hypocrisy, his ancestors Puritan values and his lack of belief in their ways lead to the creation of this piece.His of import character, Hester, is labeled an adulterer and is forced to wear a scarlet A that symbolizes her sin of adultery. composition those who see her see a symbol of shame and ill-doing, Hester sees it as a symbol of strength and pride, and above all, a symbol of the towns hypocrisy. This romantic piece of literature also has gothic elements. Hawthornes use of imagery and dismal tones lend it to the genre of Dark Romanticism. Other works by Hawthorne, specifically, My Kinsman, Major Molineux, are filled with dark and light imagery, from the main character, redbreasts, meeting of the ferryman to his realization that his kinsman is not the respectable man he once believed he was, this story had dark undertones that go along way in conveying the strange and secretive ways of the townsfolk that Robin meets.Edgar Alan Poe also writes in the Dark Romantic genre, he had a colossal dislike for the transcendentalists calling them, Frogpondians, after a pond on Boston Commons, he ridiculed their writings and his piece, Never Bet the Devil in You Head, was a clear attack on the movement. Poe, who is sometimes considered a gothic writer, uses ideas such as dementia and paranoia in his works. Supernatural behaviors of characters and personification grace the pages of many of his best tales. Many of Poes tales are distinguished by the authors unique grotesque inventiveness in addition to his fleck construction. Such stories as The Pit and the Pendulum is a spine-tingling tale of cruelty and torture, eyepatch the Tell -Tale Heart, is a story a maniacal murderers overbearing guilt and shame, then actual co nfession of his crime. The dark romantic authors embraced the concept of weltschmerz, or world pain, a phrase coined by German author dungaree Paul.