Ralph Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson "...was truly one of
our great geniuses" even though he
may have a short biography (Hodgins 212).
But as Emerson once said himself,
"Great geniuses have the shortest
biographies." Emerson was also a major
leader of "the philosophical movement
of Transcendentalism". (Encarta 1)
Transcendentalism was belief in a
higher reality than that found everyday life
that a human can achieve.
Biographical Information Emerson was born on May 25,
1803 in Boston,
Massachusetts. His father died when he was young and his mother
was left with
him and his four other siblings. At the age of 18 he graduated
from Harvard
University and was a teacher for three years in Boston. Then in
1825 he
entered Harvard Divinity School and preached for three years. At the age
of
29 he resigned for ministry, partly because of the death of his wife
after
only 17 months of marriage. In 1835 he married Lydia Jackson and
started to
lecture. Then in 1836, he helped to start the Transcendental Club.
The
Transcendental Club was formed for authors that were part of this
historical
movement. Emerson was a big part of this and practically initiated
the entire
club. As we know he was already a major part of the movement and
know got
himself involved more. Many people and ways of life throughout his
career
including Neoplatonism, the Hindu religion, Plato and even his wife
influenced
Emerson. He also inspired many Transcendentalists like
Thoreau. Emerson didn’t
win any major awards, but he did win the love and
appreciation of his readers.
Literary Information Emerson wrote many
genres of writing including poetry and
sermons, but his best writing is found
in his essays. Even though he is noted
for his essays, he was also a strong
force in poetry. Emerson was known for
presenting ideas in an expressive
style. He wrote about numerous issues
including nature, society, conspiracy
and freedom. After returning to America
after a visit to England, he wrote
for the abolitionist cause, which was
eliminating slavery. Emerson used these
ideas in his 1837 lecture "The
American Scholar," which he presented
before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of
Harvard. In it he talked about
Americans becoming more intelligently
independent. In a second address,
commonly referred to as the "Address at
Divinity College," given in 1838
to the graduating class of Cambridge Divinity
College, brought about a
problem because it attacked religion and pushed
independence. Some of
Emerson’s famous titles are "Essays", which was
published in 1844, Poems,
which was published in 1847, "Nature: Addresses and
Lectures", 1849, and
"Representative Men", 1850. In 1860, he published
"Conduct of Life",
which was the first of his works to receive immediate
popularity. In these
works you were able to see the influence Plato and
Neoplatonism had of
him. "Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher. He developed
the notion of a
higher reality that exists beyond the powers of human
comprehension. Plato
explained that the idea of absolute goodness transcends
human description.
Neoplantonism was a collective designation for the
philosophical and
religious doctrines of a heterogeneous school of speculative
thinkers who
sought to develop and synthesize the metaphysical ideas of Plato"
(Encarta).
Ralph Waldo Emerson found motivation to write in anything he did,
whether it
was visiting England, the Transcendental Movement or if it was
abolishing
slavery. He didn’t receive much fame during his lifetime, but after
he passed
away in1882, he was remembered for all of his writing, not just one
good
essay. "Emerson was the most important figure during the Romantic
Period"
(Myerson 3). He left his mark on writing, especially the
Romantic
Period.
Bibliography
"Emerson, Ralph Waldo."
Microsoft Encarta. CD-ROM. 1998 ed. "Emerson,
Ralph Waldo." Lkd. Columbia
University Homepage, at "ILT Web."
*http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/acedemic/digitexts/emerson/bio_emerson.html
*
Hodgins, Francis. ed. Adventures in American Literature. Orlando:
Harcourt,
1989. Myerson, Joel. "Ralph Waldo Emerson." Grolier
Encyclopedia. CD-ROM.
1993
ed.