LITR
4232: American Renaissance
University
of Houston-Clear Lake, spring 2003
Sample Student Research Project
Simone Rieck
Dr. Craig White
LITR 4232.01
4/19/2003
Nature: The Universal Bond
The American Renaissance (approx. 1820-1860), a historical period marked by slavery, war, and innovation, is presented in three main forms of literature: the slave narrative, transcendentalist fiction, and romantic fiction. The three literary forms are representative of several of the different types and classes of human beings inhabiting America during its renaissance, but the lush and sublime natural landscapes of the still young country are consistently appreciated. Several classic authors wrote during this period. Readers get a glimpse into the lives of slaves with the narratives of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs, as well as the realization that each human is equally free in nature. Along the same lines, transcendentalists, such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, provide society with an alternative to traditional authority, and advocate a self-reliant and unified nation, imploring the country to embrace the arts and enjoy what Mother Nature has to offer. Finally, Washington Irving and James Fennimore Cooper captivate readers with their descriptions of mountains, trees, water, etc., within the interesting and complex development of their stories’ characters. However stratified the developing society of the United States can be, nature acts as a unifying force in literature, equally revered by every being, whether free or captive.
Nature plays a small, yet important part in slave narratives. The slave narrative genre became popular in America during the mid 1800’s, illuminated by authors such as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs. The personal narratives of these two talented writers struck a nerve in Americans who were previously unaware of or unattached to the traumas of slavery. There are several commonalities between the stories of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs. Both individuals were born into slavery, and both had an epiphany of sorts leading to their escape. Douglass learned of the free life he was missing when he was taught to read; Jacobs seemed motivated to leave all along, but acted solely on the behalf of her children whom she did not want to experience slavery as she did. In addition, both narratives contain interactions with nature, viewing it either as a symbol of freedom or simply as a touchstone or place of comfort.
Frederick Douglass uses images of nature as the equivalent of what could be. As a slave, Douglass is limited as to what he can do, where he can go, and whom he can see. As he writes of his exchanges with nature, the reader is granted a glimpse into his soul:
Our house stood within a few rods of the Chesapeake Bay, whose broad bosom was ever white with sails from every quarter of the habitable globe. Those beautiful vessels, robed in purest white, so delightful to the eye of freemen, were to me so many shrouded ghosts, to terrify and torment me with thoughts of my wretched condition. (1852).
The “beautiful vessels” of which Douglass writes signify the freedom that he dreams of, but that he cannot have (1852). He seems disturbed by the fact that he may only experience this wonderful sight as an outsider. Later he further describes the antipathy he feels for the freemen in those ships and gives an emotional comparison between his life of oppression and their lives of independence. Douglass states, “You are freedom’s swifwinged angels, that fly round the world; I am confined in bands of iron! O that I were free!” (1852). Nature, to Douglass, exemplifies the boundaries he faces as a slave. He knows that, while on one side of the Chesapeake Bay, he is a slave, but on the other he could be a freeman. Nature both torments and cultivates hope.
A contrast to Frederick Douglass’ narrative, Harriet Jacobs’ “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” provides an inside look into the mind and life of a female slave, a novel endeavor. Jacobs writes of nature, using it in metaphors denoting larger ideas or feelings. Nature is not something unattainable, but it is a force bigger than her or any other being. It can create a sublime feeling within her or be reminiscent of something or someone from the past. As Jacobs describes her visit to the graveyard where her mother is buried, a still and somber feeling is conveyed. She expresses, “The graveyard was in the woods, and twilight was coming on. Nothing broke the death-like stillness except the occasional twitter of a bird. My spirit was over-awed by the solemnity of the scene” (Jacobs 1975). Jacobs experiences earth as if she were one with it. She seems to feel her experiences throughout her mind, body and soul. In the end, Jacobs is free and finds comfort in her past through the memory of her loving grandmother:
It has been painful to me, in many ways, to recall the dreary years I passed in bondage. I would gladly forget them if I could. Yet the retrospection is not altogether without solace; for with those gloomy recollections come tender memories of my good old grandmother, like light, fleecy clouds floating over a dark and troubled sea. (1985)
She portrays her life and memories in terms taken from her natural surroundings. This expression is an example of the universality of nature. Each person around the world sees the same sky at any moment, but the sky can mean something different to everyone. Nature is open to interpretation.
Similar to the slave narratives, nature has a strong influence on much transcendentalist fiction. Transcendentalism is a “philosophical and literary movement that flourished in New England from about 1836 to 1860” (Transcendentalism). The movement began with a small group of intellectuals who derived some basic concepts from German and English philosophers, including Immanuel Kant, Carlyle, Coleridge, and Wordsworth. Transcendentalism is known for its “optimistic emphasis on individualism, self-reliance, and rejection of traditional authority, […] and its ideas were most eloquently expressed by Ralph Waldo Emerson in [his essay] ‘Nature’ (1836) […] and by Henry David Thoreau in his book Walden (1854)” (Transcendentalism). Both authors view nature as a coalescing and purifying experience, where living creatures can find the true meaning of life.
Emerson expresses the power nature has over each human being in his essay,
“Nature.” The images of nature that he provides are masterful. It is omnipotent, offering every creature whatever he or she chooses, whether it is tranquility, knowledge, splendor, or curiosity. Emerson offers this interpretation:
The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence. Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection. Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood. (1517)
Earth unites people with its beauty. Nature represents freedom in that it offers an escape from everyday thoughts and tribulations into the realm of reminiscence and harmony. Memories erupt of childhood days filled with playing in the dirt, petting animals, and feeling completely content. Emerson most powerfully affirms, “In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows” (1517). Nature conveys peace.
In line with the popular transcendentalist attempt at social reform, Thoreau’s Walden is the story of a man who removes himself from society to live alone alongside a pond. Nature births a new person in Thoreau as he learns to live with only bare necessities and must hunt and gather to survive. In explanation of his isolation, Thoreau testifies:
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life…. (1692)
In nature, all creatures are equally trying to survive. In the same sense, Thoreau is making the statement that each human being should have the ability to live in freedom. While reading Walden, the reader gains a sense of appreciation for life. Humans strive each day to learn and improve their lives; however, in effect they fail to recognize the gift of life itself. With his experience at Walden Pond Thoreau gains a clearer awareness:
I found in myself, and still find, an instinct toward a higher, or, as it is named, spiritual life, as do most men, and another toward a primitive rank and savage one, and I reverence them both. I love the wild not less than the good. […] I like sometimes to take rank hold on life and spend my day more as the animals do. (1696)
Thoreau does not criticize people for striving towards improvement; he only suggests that each person be aware of the true meaning of life. Life is equivalent to nature.
The use of nature in romantic fiction is much different than its use in slave narratives and transcendentalist fiction. Though nature succeeds in acting as a unifier, landscapes are often used as an effect underlying the storyline. In American literature, the romance genre is a kind of story or narrative with a quest, rescue, or transcendence. In Romantic fiction, character and story development are most important. The reader must be captivated by the conditions in the story and have the ability to relate to the characters enough to draw emotions as they read. To gain this effect, authors focus on factors that tend to be the most collective. Nature is universal.
Ichabod Crane, in Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” is an awkward man with no real admirable qualities other than his humbleness. Irving paints a picture of the cowardly Ichabod as he is compelled to enter the “haunted” forest and confront the headless Hessian trooper. To gain the frightful effect, Irving includes lavish descriptions of road through the wooded valley:
In the center of the road stood an enormous tulip-tree, which towered like a giant above all the other trees of the neighborhood, and formed a kind of landmark. Its limbs were gnarled, and fantastic, large enough to form trunks for ordinary trees, twisting down almost to the earth, and rising again into the air. (2108)
With the gothic result of the “gnarled” limbs, readers feel fear as Ichabod gallops along the road through the dark dell. Without the elaborate descriptions of the gangly character’s surroundings, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” would be dull and difficult to imagine. Similar to the effect made by Douglass and Jacobs, readers relate to Ichabod due to the common ground of nature.
Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans is a love story that takes place in the New York rough country. Love arises between Cora Munro and one of her Native American guides, Uncas, as well as between Alice Munro and a dear friend, Duncan. The diverse group must traverse the untapped wilderness of New York in order to return to the girls’ father and safety. The story of the trials and tribulations of the group is elaborate on its own, but Cooper’s detailed description of their surroundings help the reader to imagine and share in their experiences. In the following depiction, Cooper illustrates the vast terrain of the young country and sets the stage for the entire story:
The lengthened sheet of the Champlain stretched from the frontiers of Canada, deep within the borders of the neighbouring province of New-York, forming a natural passage across half the distance that the French were compelled to master in order to strike their enemies. Near its southern termination, it received the contributions of another lake, whose waters were so limpid, as to have been exclusively selected…. (11)
The rest of the novel is filled with details of the beautiful landscape, including “cragged rocks [and] fantastic limbs and ragged tree-tops“ (Cooper 48). Without such in depth particulars of the environment, readers could not fully experience the tails of love and mystery present in romantic fiction. In effect, nature serves as an illuminating detail.
With the American Renaissance came several talented authors and many genres of literature. Still a new country, much of the common knowledge among citizens remained in the memory of Europe; however, nature provided a new alliance among the American people. Every being is capable of appreciating what nature has to offer. Douglass described nature in terms of torment and hope, where Jacobs discovered that it is open to interpretation. Similarly, Emerson employed nature to convey peace, where Thoreau argued that nature equals life. Finally, Irving and Cooper used nature as an illuminating detail to their stories of life, love, and conquest. In whatever context, nature bonds all beings universally. As long as we all experience life in day and night, we are all bonded as people. Life will continue to be lived. In closing, Thoreau expresses (from the conclusion of Walden), “The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star” (1721).
Works Cited
Cooper, James Fennimore. The Last of the Mohicans. New York: Penguin Books, 1986.
Douglass, Frederick. “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.” The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 4th ed. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. 1817-1880.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Nature.” The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 4th ed. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. 1516-1555.
Irving, Washington. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 4th ed. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. 2093-2112.
Jacobs, Harriet. “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Seven Years Concealed.” The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 4th ed. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. 1962-1985.
Thoreau, Henry David. “Walden: Where I Lived, and What I Lived For.” The HeathAnthology of American Literature. 4th ed. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. 1516-1555.
“Transcendentalism.” Columbia Encyclopedia. 14 April 2003. Academic Search Premier.