LITR 4232 American Renaissance 2010 final exam—Answers to Question A2

Melissa King

Anything You can Say (Feel, Believe, Do), I can Say (Feel, Believe, Do) Better

          Throughout life, humans constantly seek to find a better place for themselves. Seeking refuge from the bad in life and rising above the problems that this world brings to life is a constant battle for many of us. Century after century there has been leader after leader who has had their own way of thinking that they believe is higher than those who have thought before and that their way of thinking will create some form of remedy for that which ails the people. Transcendence, the act of rising above and leaving the past self behind, is a very popular term in the literary world and one that will be studied for many years to come.

          Perhaps the best known author and the one most associated with the idea of transcendentalism is Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson brings about the idea of transcending through nature in such beautiful words through his writings in “Nature.” Through nature, one is lifted up and made to see life’s problems and agitations as such trivial matters. In nature you are transcended to a higher form of thinking; a peaceful state. Emerson writes “my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space,—all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.” Just by breathing in the air from nature, he is transformed into this spiritual being and is able to feel closeness with God; his cares seem to vanish and he is raised above the world.

          Transcendentalism is a movement that overlaps Romanticism. In many romantic literary pieces or films we see that the ending is usually characterized by the two victims of the plot rising above their obstacles and separations from one another and moving on together to a world of happiness, at least for the time being. They are transcending into a better place, their thoughts have risen above the trivial worldly issues and they have moved on to a better way of thinking and living. Although we have not read very many romantic pieces dealing with the love between two people in American Renaissance, one piece comes to mind that is representative of this form of transcendentalism and that is Edgar Allan Poe’s “Annabel Lee.” Although Poe is not typically associated with the idea of transcendence, he seems to capture it beautifully in his poem about a man who is expressing such deep love for his “Annabel Lee” even after she is dead. Such lines in the poem that express transcendence in love so captivatingly are lines such as “But we loved with a love that was more than love --/ I and my Annabel Lee” (9-10). Their love seems to transcend through time and the metaphysical. It passes through this world with her death and onto the next.

Even the man in the poem’s thoughts are transcendental in nature; he speaks of their love as if it is higher than any other love that anyone else could have. The line “But our love it was stronger by far than the love/ Of those who were older than we -- / Of many far wiser than we” (27-29).  He has taken their love and aggrandized it, making it better than any could hope to have. He has a higher way of thinking than all others because of their love. By stating that their love is better than even those who are wiser than he, he is showing that he has risen above them and is now on a higher level than them. At one point he even challenges the angels, saying that not even the angels above could take the love they have away. As shown by this poem, transcendence can form through love and can take you to a world where no one can destroy the deep love that you have.

Transcendence seems to find its way into the world of government and politics as well. We see that Henry David Thoreau had a transcendental way of thinking in his Resistance to Civil Government. Thoreau had many ideas that the government was not really aiding society properly or in the way that it was created to do. He agreed that to some extent the government had stepped in and solved some issues, but not enough to justify the harm that it had caused. Although Thoreau did not fight the government physically or act in order to truly bring it down, he did passively stand his grounds and resist the laws that the government enforced because he believed that his views were higher than any laws the government could pass. He states in Resistance to Civil Government that “I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest. What force has a multitude? They only can force me who obey a higher law than I.” Thoreau believed that, to those people who were simple minded and did not look at the government from a higher view, would see the government as exactly what is needed and as doing a good thing. However, Thoreau saw the government from a higher view, one in which he believed was right and above the rest, and saw the government for what it was and was not going to lie down and take the injustice. Thoreau’s transcendentalist views aided his passive resistance to the civil government.

The beauty of transcendentalism is that although it is viewed as a seemingly religious idea, it is just that, an idea. It is not a religion itself, but an idea that is widespread in many religions. In today’s society, discussing religion is a very uncomfortable and negatively viewed subject in the realm of education. Many teachers and professors try to make their points by completely avoiding the topic. With transcendentalism, one can discuss a religious idea and not have to get into a religious battle because they are speaking favorably for a religion that their students might not believe in or be a part of. Transcendentalism can be viewed in many different forms and can edge the subject of religion without having to present a large debate. It is simply the idea that one rises above matters and moves to a better place within. Transcendentalism can be found in many areas, including film, literature, everyday actions performed by society, and even in the world of government.