Compare And Contrast Transcendentalism Essay

Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement that occurred in America after the Enlightenment and before the Civil War. Transcendental authors espoused closeness with nature while at the same time nonconformity with mainstream society. Transcendental authors compare and contrast the bonds that these writers promoted by using details from several works of literature.
Emerson and Thoreau express their ideas about nature and the relationship between people. From the essays, “Walden”and “Nature” each one points out the elaboration between nature and God in each of their essays. When Emerson says, “I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part and parcel of God.” He placed an emphasis on being one with nature and so as a transparent eyeball, he sees

In “Self-Reliance” and “Walden”, each author expressed how they felt as trusting and believing in yourself. A quote that Emerson stated “Trust thyself; every heart vibrates to that string.” He means every person have their own individual feeling and that they should trust in that feeling. When Thoreau says “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.” He means that when a person is acting in a “strange” way may just have different values that than the rest of society. Another example, Emerson stated “Be yourself; no base imitator of another, but your best self. There is something which you can do better than another. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that. Do the things at which you are great, not what you were never made for.” Emerson is saying, try your best to be yourself and don't worry about what other people think. Emerson and Thoreau put their thoughts into believing that people should always trust in their inner thoughts and not what society thinks and tells them to