Post by rachaell02 on May 19, 2008 8:49:59 GMT -5
Transcendentalism is an idea with multiple aspects that make up and link to the common theme of individualism. The main aspect of the works of Emerson and Thoreau is the achievement of the Oversoul. The Oversoul is a term used to describe an individual’s achievement of self actualization. Man acquires his over soul by going into isolation finding oneself without outside influences. A person must become an individual and be able to keep their individualism once returning back into society, it is only then one can say that the over soul is reached. Ralph Waldo Emerson in his essay “Nature” describes the influence nature has on one’s ability with obtaining the over soul. One must go into nature and contemplate without societal pressures, the meaning of life. Emerson states, “The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood.” Emerson is saying that a person does their finest learning in nature when society is unable to disrupt learning. He compares this learning to a child’s learning and that children learn with intuition instead of with their head and experiences. Children are curious beings and absorb information about anything; they view the world with uncorrupted eyes forming their own opinions. As humans grow older life becomes less mystifying because humans become more accustomed to life, Emerson in “Nature” points out that we should live not to strive for what might be but that “intercourse with heaven and earth, becomes part of his daily food.” Life is a process that is heaven. As man grows older and more experienced man loses sight of the beauty of life. This critique of human nature is one of many that Transcendentalism evaluates. Transcendentalism assesses many traditions America honor and live by. Americans are social beings, easily influenced by society. Transcendentalists like Ralph Waldo Emerson introduced the idea of Transcendentalism in order to change the thought process in which individuals are influenced. He emphasized the purity of nature, in which nothing is troubled by society. He talked of the sixth sense intuition, saying that individuals who had reached their over soul used intuition to guide their lives instead of the mind. He said intuition was a much purer form of thought, one much closer to nature as it has not been disrupted by societal influences. Transcendentalism’s main focus was on the individualistic nature of humans, emphasizing the importance of solitude and nature in order to find this uniqueness.
The Hudson River artist Thomas Prichard Rossiter paintings were obviously inspired by Transcendentalism as they take on the themes of solitude, nature and individualism. “Picnic by the Lake” depicts the idea of the Oversoul and Individualism. The woman standing in the center of the circle of people evidently is the most focused and intuitive; the light cast by the sun is focused on her demonstrating her connection with nature. The woman is able to keep her own individualism, while in the company of society, which is demonstrated as she is in peace, in the center of the group. While the rest of the people talk about societal problems the woman in the middle has her focus on the natural world and herself. Much like Thoreau in his chapter “Sounds the woman appears to be listening to the sounds of the environment. Although Rossiter painted the woman’s companions in nature they are more reminiscent of the locomotive, Thoreau talks of in “Sounds”. Nature is a noisy place which does not need the added sounds of human conversation. The group, excluding the woman, appears to be more of a disruption to nature rather than being one with nature as they openly converse disrupting their individual relationship with nature. In nature one is meant to be in solitude in order to find one’s self, society is not intended to be in nature. Rossiter through this painting criticizes human’s tendency to be social as he portrays the woman in the middle as the figure that appears to most at peace. Rossiter takes transcendental ideas and uses them in his paintings focusing on the aspect of solitude in nature.
The Hudson River artist Thomas Prichard Rossiter paintings were obviously inspired by Transcendentalism as they take on the themes of solitude, nature and individualism. “Picnic by the Lake” depicts the idea of the Oversoul and Individualism. The woman standing in the center of the circle of people evidently is the most focused and intuitive; the light cast by the sun is focused on her demonstrating her connection with nature. The woman is able to keep her own individualism, while in the company of society, which is demonstrated as she is in peace, in the center of the group. While the rest of the people talk about societal problems the woman in the middle has her focus on the natural world and herself. Much like Thoreau in his chapter “Sounds the woman appears to be listening to the sounds of the environment. Although Rossiter painted the woman’s companions in nature they are more reminiscent of the locomotive, Thoreau talks of in “Sounds”. Nature is a noisy place which does not need the added sounds of human conversation. The group, excluding the woman, appears to be more of a disruption to nature rather than being one with nature as they openly converse disrupting their individual relationship with nature. In nature one is meant to be in solitude in order to find one’s self, society is not intended to be in nature. Rossiter through this painting criticizes human’s tendency to be social as he portrays the woman in the middle as the figure that appears to most at peace. Rossiter takes transcendental ideas and uses them in his paintings focusing on the aspect of solitude in nature.