Transcendentalism

• Transcendentalism is a type of Romanticism that originates in the 1840s and 1850s.

• “Transcendentalism” is the idea that in determining the ultimate reality of God, the universe, the self, and other matters, one must “transcend”, or go beyond everyday human experience in the physical world. Intuition is an important tool for discovering truth.

Transcendentalist Values/Themes

• Everything in the world, including humans, is a reflection of the Divine Oversoul.

• Nature is a pathway to understanding the spiritual world.

• People can use their intuition to find God’s spirit revealed in nature or in their own souls. (The perfectibility of Mankind).

• Self-reliance and individualism is more important than blindly following old customs and traditions.

• Intuition is more important than reason.

Anti-TranscendentalistsPoe and Hawthorne

• Valued intuition over reasoning • Believed nature is not the spiritual doorway to the

universal soul; not all signs of nature are good and harmless

• Believed Transcendentalists ignore the concept of Original Sin; some things are evil and not all things are perfect

• Anti-Transcendentalists explored literary themes – between good and evil – wrote about the the psychological effects of guilt. – They were the first to present psychopathic characters and

explore the realms of madness and the deranged mind.