Romanticism In Dr. Heideggar's Experiment, By Ralph Waldo Emerson

During the early and mid-19th Century, a literature type known as Romanticism evolved in Europe, creating many works of poetry and literature that are still in use presently. Through Romanticism, poets wanted to shed the light on the beauties or the darknesses of human nature and humans themselves with different characteristics that define Romanticism. ¨Dr. Heideggar´s Experiment¨ by Nathaniel Hawthorne and a short story, Nature, by Ralph Waldo Emerson both present the Romantic Characteristic of preferring youthful innocence over educated sophistication. Both pieces advocate a preference for youth, but ¨Dr. Heideggar´s Experiment¨- a dark romantic literary piece- uses greed and corruption to show that if given a chance to relive a past, the same corrupt mistakes will be made, corrupting innocence

Nature- the work of a Transcendentalist- uses purity and innocence of a child to show that childhood is a place of purity, and a place to reflect back on when the soul wanders too far from nature. ¨Dr. Heideggar´s Experiment¨ sets the theme of greed, advocating that through years of wisdom, innocence is destroyed as a result of revisiting an unethical youth. Dr. Heidegger is a curious scientist who brings in four guests known for their crooked days of the past. He shows the guests a vase filled with water from the ¨Fountain of Youth¨ knowing they are filled with greed and will want a chance to satisfy their greedy ways. Each guest is pleasured as they drink their glasses of youth, feeling