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Transcendentalism in the modern world
Transcendentalism in the modern world
Transcendentalism in the modern world
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Transcendentalism is a highly competitive world of the market revolution which strongly encouraged the identification of American freedom without any restraints on people who were seeking financial improvement and personal development. It was a world in which regional developments along with the market revolution crushed traditional and social borders. For example moving from one place to another was a common characteristic of the American life. Transcendentalism believed in individual judgment over existing social traditions and institutions.
Dead Poets Society Transcendentalism is about life in which nature and the soul connect. In the movie Dead Poet Society, one of the characters who shows transcendentalism in Neil Perry. In the movie the students quoted poems and had their alone time with nature. They also relied on themselves and sought the spiritual side of things.
The key to transcendentalism is confidence in a person’s own beliefs, but one more could be
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”- Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalism is an American philosophy that revolves around self-reliance and independence, commonly in nature, a Transcendentalist wants to find the true meaning in life. I believe that Chris McCandless was a Transcendentalist because he was able to leave his whole life behind and take on a minimalist lifestyle while having a strong relationship with god. However, I believe that I am not a Transcendentalist, but simply an adventurer.
Into the Wild Chris McCandless. Who is he? I guess you could say he is the pure definition of a “transcendentalist”. A transcendentalist is a person who lives a completely different type of lifestyle than your average person, they believe in self reliance, they will always have a strong connection with mother nature, they’re individualists, and always searching for the meaning of life. McCandless went on a journey that no normal american would have thought was sane.
The movie Dead Poets Society has quite a few connections with the world of transcendentalism. The movie ties in with some of the writings and themes. It also talks about a transcendentalist writing directly in the movie. The movie is about a group of boys who learn to express themselves and decided who they want to be. They learn this because of their teacher in Mr. Keating and the Dead Poets Society, which they found out about because of Mr. Keating.
The characteristics of transcendentalism is individual vs society and the connection between human and nature. A subject of Into the Wild is individual vs society because Chris McCandless tends to desire to chase freedom and be alone rather than with people. In the last letter ever received from Everett Ruess, to his brother Waldo on November 11th, 1934. He explains that he wants to live in isolation.
In Emerson's views, people should “not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”(citation). Based on Emerson’s thoughts, people should not follow the crowd, but instead live their lives and leave their mark on the Earth. Emerson thoughts come from a philosophical movement of the nineteenth century called transcendentalism. Transcendentalism focuses on religious renewal, literary innovation, and social transformation (encyclopedia.com). Because of their belief that God exists in everyone and nature, and that knowledge comes from individual intuition, led to the highlight of individualism, self-reliance, and breaking free from traditions(citation).
In the Dead Poets Society, the idea of conformity is the tradition for students in Welton Academy. For instance, in school, students we forced to dresses the same school blazers and follow the same "four pillars" (tradition, honor, discipline, excellence). That shows the repetition in school spirits even though it can't work for everyone. Similarly, in Neil's family, his father seems to care a lot about his son's success by layouts his own path to become a doctor. This illustrates through the discipline and conformity which leads to achieve 'success' but in a narrow, material sense of getting good grades, going to a good school to get a good job.
Acceptance and originality are keys to prosperity. In the novel O Pioneers! by Willa Cather, the protagonist Alexandra thrives in what seems to be a hopeless situation due to her strong beliefs. Alexandra has the beliefs of a transcendentalist. Transcendentalists rely on intuition.
Transcendentalism has five main characteristics, confidence, self-reliance, appreciating nature, free thought, and nonconformity (Day). Most people today still find many, if not all, of these characteristics very important and necessary. This is reflected in our communities in the things that are produced in aim to keep these characteristics at the forefront of society. Although the Transcendentalist movement has since ended, key characteristic and beliefs of the movement still heavily influence our modern society in many aspects such as music, pop culture, and film.
Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are examples of transcendentalist literary figures who displayed arguments and accounts of social commentary within their works in order to utilize nature as a means of spiritual and political furthering. Emerson’s theory of transcendentalism argued that “Our age is retrospective.” (508) He claims that his age is obsessed with the past, and that they are missing out on experiencing culture, poetry, religion, and philosophy. He presents a solution for this social complacency, and states that one must become like a “transparent eyeball” in order to be filled by the divine and fully appreciate nature.
It has been accused of subverting Christianity. It has also been accused of assessing human nature too optimistically and underestimating human weakness and potential for evil; placing too much emphasis on the self-reliant individual at the expense of society and social reform. Yet even those hostile to transcendentalism must concede that American literature, religion, philosophy, and politics have been shaped by the movement in profound ways. The Transcendentalism movement had a unforgettable impact on our worlds history and has contributed to more than a few aspects of
Transcendentalism, a philosophical and social movement, demonstrated how divinity spreads through all nature and humanity. One of the main ideals of transcendentalism, living simply and independently, define as the principle. In matters of financial and interpersonal relations, independence projects as more valuable than neediness. Henry david Thoreau elaborates on these transcendentalist ideals when he travels into the woods and writes an essay.
Following the time of a growing nation was the New England Renaissance. During this 15 year time period, our country burst into creativity. The Golden Age, or Sunlight era was a time for not only literature, but for growth in cities, industry, technology, and the westward movement. People were free to travel more because of the invention of railroads, and they were able to communicate faster because of the invention of the telegraph. This time also came with struggles such as; child labor, slavery and still very low human rights for minorities.
