Sample Student Research Project 2018: Journal
LITR
4328 American Renaissance / Model Assignments
Sample Student Research Project 2018:
Journal
Anne Ngo
28 November 2018
Idealism in American Romanticism:
A Look into its Philosophy and Other Contexts
Introduction:
The topic of idealism interested me
during the earlier classes of the semester. While learning about the
characteristics of Romanticism, the feature of idealism struck me as the period
after the movement, Realism, differs from the dreamy and imaginative aspects of
the American Renaissance.
With help from Dr. White, I narrowed my research to
idealism as a philosophy and how it connects to Romanticism. I will also explore
the works of Romantic writers who practiced idealism or viewed life through an
idealistic lens such as Susan B. Warner, Edgar Allan Poe, Frederick Douglass,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau.
I start this journal with my initial understanding of the
term idealism— an act that
romanticizes something to its most ideal form. I hope through this research, I
can learn more about the philosophy of idealism and how it contributes to the
Romantic period.
Etymology:
To better understand the origin of the term
idealism, I searched the word through
the Oxford English Dictionary for
more context.
The term’s etymology is English based, deriving from the
English word “ideal,” but also models from the French word
idéalisme (“Idealism, n.”). The word was originally seen in Andrew Michael
Ramsay’s The Philosophical Principles of
Natural and Revealed Religion in 1748, then later in 1773 with Denis
Diderot’s Ess. on Blindness
(“Idealism, n.”). Thus, the origins of the word interestingly have philosophical
roots.
Definitions:
According to the
Oxford English Dictionary, there are three main definitions of the term. The
latter two definitions were ones in which I had already had prior knowledge
previously:
2. The practice of idealizing or the tendency to
idealize; the habit of representing things in an ideal form, or as they might
be; treatment of a subject in art or literature more imaginatively than
realistically; ideal style or character: opposed to realism.
3. An instance of idealizing; an act or product of
idealizing; an ideal representation.
These two definitions, I find, were the most commonly
understood meanings of the term and used ubiquitously in everyday life. However,
there was a new definition that I was not familiar with, one that is tied to
philosophy:
1. Any of various views according to which reality is
ultimately in some sense mental or mind-dependent; any of various views
according to which the objects of knowledge or perception are ideas; more
generally, any view opposed to some form of realism or materialism.
Looking at the definitions of the term, I had not known
the philosophical usage of the word. I had only defined idealism as an act of
idealizing something with a romanticized lens.
As idealism, in the philosophical sense, is “any view”
that is the opposite of “realism,” it makes sense, then, that idealism would be
a characteristic of American Romanticism in literature. Romantic texts are often
nostalgic, emotional, and an escape from reality. Thus, the period right after
the American Renaissance, Realism, is the direct response to the idealistic
nature of Romanticism.
It is interesting that the contrast of
idealism and realism in philosophy is also reflected in the literary movements
of American literature.
Idealistic Characteristics of
The Wide, Wide World
The word, idealism, is used prevalently in everyday life.
Other variations of the term such as
idealistic or idealized are often
used to describe a view in the highest, most perfect form. More specifically,
their connotations have a sense of hopefulness compared to pessimism. Notably in
Susan B. Warner’s The Wide, Wide World,
Ellen has an idealistic view of her circumstance. When she is placed in her new
home, Ellen’s “distress” from her familial situation was “gone,” and the
“bracing atmosphere restored her spirits” (10.4). Ellen has a sense of
idealistic hopefulness, as her worries are gone despite the distance from her
parents.
This hopefulness arises in the end of
the chapter, when Ellen’s sadness reappears. As the “sunshine” left “Ellen’s
heart,” it “suddenly. . . sprang” at the idea of writing to her mother (10.67).
After completing her letter, she had an “odd mixture of pleasure and sadness,”
as she sealed the envelope (10.75). This scene showcases Ellen’s resilience and
hopefulness, despite the possibility she will never see her mother again.
Although she feels grief, she also has belief that she will be able to
communicate with her in the future. If this narrative were to be transported to
the Realistic period, she would have more than likely lost all hope in
communicating with her again. Thus, the aspect of idealism in this text, Ellen’s
idealization of a reunion with her mother, fits the characteristic of
Romanticism.
Romantic Idealism in
Ligeia and
The Fall of the House of Usher
In my research of idealism in American Romantic
literature, I came across David W. Butler’s “Usher's Hypochondriasis: Mental
Alienation and Romantic Idealism in Poe's Gothic Tales.” Butler argues that
there is a relation between the ideals that the characters projects or “sees”
and the manifestation of those ideals coming to “life” in Poe’s short stories.
He points out that “if the narrator” in
Ligeia “succeeds” in “reshaping” the
“idea of Ligeia” to reality, but only through Rowena’s form, then the “Ushers. .
. succeeds in idealizing their [total] reality” (10-11). In other words,
Ligeia’s narrator is only able to
bring his idealized lady, Ligeia, through the form of Rowena, but Roderick is
able to idealize his reality completely as he finds his sister “alive.”
Nevertheless, Ligeia’s narrator and
Roderick succeed in bringing some form of their idealizations to the “real
world.” Thus, Butler argues that there is a parallel between the “natural and
the supernatural,” or the “scientific and the romantically idealistic” in these
gothic texts (3).
It is worth noting that the article was
published in the mid-1970’s, and the assumed diagnosis of Roderick’s state from
The House of Usher may be outdated.
Recent articles on Roderick and the narrator from
Ligeia indicate that their condition
may have stemmed from trauma, as demonstrated by Marita Nadal’s “Trauma and the
Uncanny in Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘Ligeia’ and ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’.”
Seeing how scholars continuously examine Poe’s works, it reinforces my
understanding that literature continuously creates discussions and new
interpretations of the texts.
Insight to Emersonian Idealism
With the suggestion from Dr. White, I looked into Emerson
and his use of idealism in his works. Although Emerson was considered an
idealist philosopher, he advocated the importance of the individual, separate
from the masses (Brewton). Unlike the philosophical definition of idealism, in
which reality is “mind-dependent,” Emerson believed that with the independent
mind and nature together, a person can lead to higher meaning or transcendence.
From what I gathered from Emerson and idealism, it seems that the term as a
philosophy has its own variations and meanings, formed by the interpreter. In
other words, idealism can be interpreted differently by the individual.
In researching Emerson’s use of idealism, I found a book
review, John Hansen’s “The New American Scholar,” that responds to a critic’s
argument about literary scholars being “trapped” in “accepting Emersonian
idealism” through their emulation of “Emersonian symbols and tropes” (100). As
quoted in Hansen’s review, one critic, Rob Wilson, declares that instead of
writing in Emersonian idealism, literary scholars should look towards the
“pragmaticism of William James” to model (102). It seems that Wilson recommends
the literary scholar to write realistically, rather than idealistically.
However, Hansen argues that Wilson’s “idea of literary
reform” seems to reflect “what Emerson was urging” for the “American scholar” to
write about: to “describe the ordinary” person “in society” earnestly (102).
With a focus on the individual, Emerson seems to embrace both the realistic and
the idealistic in his own terms.
Thus, I learned that there is not only a coined term for
Emerson and idealism (Emersonian idealism), but that idealism can have various
meanings based on the interpreter.
Art and Idealism
The Romantic Movement not only
flourished across countries and continents in artistic spaces like literature,
but it was also prominent in domains such as art and music. While searching for
websites that related to my research, I stumbled across a webpage of Romanticism
as an art movement. I remembered reading the “American Romanticism” webpage on
the course website and learned that the Romantic movement was prominent in
various artistic domains like art. I also recalled analyzing Caspar David
Friedrich’s Wanderer Above the Fog in
class, pointing out the Romantic characteristics of the painting.
Similar to Romantic literature, one of the notable
characteristics of Romantic art is the idealized depiction of the past
(“Romanticism”). This can be seen in literature through Poe’s “Sonnet— To
Science,” in which the narrator longs for the past, while disapproves of the
growing industries and empirical science.
Idealism, Equality, and Justice
I learned that “the idealism of the
French Revolution” helped propel Romantic artists to illuminate “current events”
and “injustices” in their work to promote “freedom,” “equality,” and “justice”
(“Romanticism”).
Similarly, many American Renaissance writers such as
Frederick Douglass and Elizabeth Cady Stanton brought light towards the
abolition and women’s rights movements during this period. These movements were
in response to issues like slavery and women’s limited rights during the time.
Idealism in Romanticism then reflects the progression for equality among women
and people of color. With idealism, many Romantic writers shed light on these
issues, encouraging disenfranchised groups and supporters to call for equal
rights.
Henry David Thoreau’s
Resistance to Civil Disobedience also
calls for the “individual” to “do justice,” standing up against slavery, the
Mexican-American War, and the rising “machines,” or industries (9-10).
Additionally, as described in Emerson’s “Thoreau,” he was an “idealist” who
stood for social causes like the “abolition of slavery” (15).
Moreover, Thoreau was a prominent figure in the “social,
political, and poetical dimensions of American pragmatism” (“Henry David
Thoreau”). From what I read, it seems that Thoreau walked the paths of both
Transcendentalism and Pragmatism. In the romantic sense, he was certainly
philosophical, but he did not see philosophy as a “project of reclusive
understanding” or “scholarship” (“Henry David Thoreau”). Additionally, his
“Transcendental idealism” was “seldom stated,” but was implied through his work:
his “antimaterialism,” emphasis on nature, and focus on the “transition” to
transcendence were “instrumental” in helping people discover “ways to live
sincere lives” (“Henry David Thoreau”).
Again, Thoreau seems to be on the cusp between
Transcendentalism of the Romantic and Pragmatism of the Realist. He was a
Transcendental idealist by helping people find meaning in their lives through
the emphasis on nature’s mode to higher law and transcendence. But he also
“foreshadowed” the “pragmatic educational philosophy” and “political and social
involvement” of pragmatism (“Henry David Thoreau”). Therefore, Thoreau used
idealism in Transcendental and Pragmatic ways to bring light to the injustices
that people face and advocate for equality and justice.
“Takeaways” and Conclusion
Throughout my research, I learned that idealism is a
philosophy, one that counters realism. I also learned that Romantic writers use
idealism in their own ways: Warner describes Ellen’s idealized reunion with her
mother, Poe idealizes the past, Douglass and Stanton use idealism to illuminate
social issues and advocate for equality, Emerson is known for his Emersonian
idealism (but encourages the scholar to write the “ordinary man” authentically),
and Thoreau employs both Transcendental idealism and the social and political
involvement of pragmaticism. In other words, people interpret the term
idealism in their own ways.
Other paths to consider for further
research include the differences between idealism and pragmatism, the
examination of idealism in other Romantic texts and artistic fields, and the
continuation of idealism throughout literary movements. Nevertheless, the
concept of idealism is prevalent in the modern times: it’s ubiquitous in
colloquial terms, but also common in the philosophical sense.
Works Cited
Brewton, Vince. “Ralph Waldo Emerson.”
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
https://www.iep.utm.edu/emerson/.
Butler, David W. “Usher's Hypochondriasis: Mental
Alienation and Romantic Idealism in Poe's Gothic Tales.”
American Literature, vol. 48, no. 1,
1976, pp. 1-12.
Hansen, John. “The New American Scholar.”
The Pluralist, vol. 9, no. 1, 2014,
pp. 97-103.
“Henry David Thoreau.”
Poetry Foundation,
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/henry-david-thoreau.
"Idealism, n." OED
Online, Oxford University Press, July 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/90960.
“Idéalisme, n.”
Collins Dictionary, HarperCollins Publishers,
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/french-english/id%C3%A9alisme.
Nadal, Marita. “Trauma and the Uncanny in Edgar Allan
Poe’s ‘Ligeia’ and ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’.”
The Edgar Allan Poe Review, vol. 17,
no. 2, 2016, pp. 178-192.
“Romanticism.” The
Art Story, https://www.theartstory.org/movement-romanticism.htm.
"Great Star" flag of pre-Civil War USA