Examples Of Transcendentalism In Emerson And Thoreau

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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. Thoreau is the application of Emerson’s ideals, writing about self sufficiency, and being a sojourner.