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Transcendentalism: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau

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During the time that the Age of Reason died off, the thoughts and beliefs of Romanticism were on the rise. This movement began to take off so heavily that many began to want to dig deeper into these thoughts and beliefs. Many of the influential Romantics such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Henry David Thoreau, and others wrote many important works of literature that would be the foundation of what would become known as Transcendentalism. Some of the characteristics of this Transcendentalist movement are the belief that humans are born with infinite potential, that one can transcend the physical world, and that one must be in communion with Nature to be fully whole. One of the famous actors mentioned before, Henry David Thoreau, wrote …show more content…

Other beliefs before Transcendentalism and other writers before Thoreau believed in respecting nature, but Thoreau believed in taking it a step further and deeper. Romanticism had similar views when it came to having a connection with nature. The transition from The Age of Reason to Romanticism came from the problems of the time. People believe the only way to solve these problems was to get back to nature. They believed getting back to nature would solve the problems of the times because nature was a pure, spiritual way of renewal. This lead to Romanticism. Transcendentalism just takes connection with nature deeper. They did not concern themselves with the actual scenery but the in depth feel of it. Transcendentalist believed one should just take in the spiritual renewing feeling of nature rather than trying to figure nature out. Many of the influential Transcendentalist were Romantics that felt the issues like the connection with nature should be taken deeper. Thinkers and Authors such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote works such as Thoreau’s Walden and Emerson’s essay Nature. These works of literature are prime examples of former Romantics taking a characteristic of their former beliefs and taking it

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