Ralph Waldo Emerson: Critic’s View of His Ground Breaking Material

In the nineteenth century there are several schools of thought that are emerging, struggling to be recognized. Of these schools there are transcendentalists. A transcendentalist that can be pointed out as a great author is named Ralph Waldo Emerson. In the time period of the 1840’s Emerson is accredited with the Transcendental movement. Emerson is acknowledged as “one of the most influential figures of the nineteenth century” (274). Emerson is an American essayist and poet. He published numerous pieces of work which portions of them were at a moment in time when he was going through a great deal of pain. Most critics refer to Ralph Waldo Emerson as one of the most significant American writers of the nineteenth century, but are having difficulty deciphering which one of his creations earn the most interest. As time goes by, he continues to write incredible literary collections that are well recognized by his contemporaries. All of these conceptions have exposed an intellect of great uniqueness. They were critiqued by several authors that provided insight to the meaning behind the words. Emerson’s most talked about and most critiqued works include Nature, The American Scholar and The Divinity School of Address.

Emerson’s first published work is Nature, which includes the essence of his transcendental thoughts towards the exceptional world, as a kind of attractive sign of the personal devout life, hanging trancelike before the eye, yet, it is to be noted, having control as one of its teaching for the caring heart (305). After all the critics have read and reread Nature, hardly any of them have anything negative to state. Nature is just an undeniable amazing essay. As Alfred S. Reid stated, “Nature is a unique blend of...

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...1981. 286.

Osgood, Samuel. “Nature.” The Western Messenger. (1837): 385-93. Rpt. in Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1981. 275.

Reid, Alfred. “Emerson’s Prose Style: An Edge to Goodness.” Style in the American Renaissance: A Symposium. (1970): 37-42. Rpt. in Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1981. 305.

Reid, Alfred. “Emerson’s Prose Style: An Edge to Goodness.” Style in the American Renaissance: A Symposium. (1970): 37-42. Rpt. in Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1981. 306.

Van Doren, Mark . The Portable Emerson. Ed. Carol Bode. New York: Penguin Books, 1981. 3.

Van Doren, Mark . The Portable Emerson. Ed. Carol Bode. New York: Penguin Books, 1981. 4.