Sherry Evard
Dr. Craig White
Literature 5535 Midterm
28 September 2003

Religion and Spirituality as a Theme of Idealism in American Romanticism

The human spirit yearns to find meaning, find God if you will, and evidence of this longing manifests in expressions of religious or spiritual idealism.  Literature preceding and during the American Romantic Period provides documented evidence of man’s struggle to come to terms with what he believes and to solidify his religious ideals through written expression.  It is as if this personal quest for truth and meaning through spiritual beliefs is being contemplated, worked out and shared publicly though the literature of this period.  To illustrate this point, I will point to three pre-romantic works heavily imbued with religious idealism, Anne Bradstreet’s “To My Dear Children,” Mary Rowlandson’s “Captivity Narrative,” and Jonathan Edwards’ “Personal Narrative”—and show how this common characteristic converges as an influence in the ultimate representation of a romantic work, James Fenimore Cooper’s novel, The Last of the Mohicans.

 What precisely is idealism?  In an effort to pinpoint the meaning and further clarify my purpose, I came upon The Oxford American Dictionary’s definition of ideal in which it mentioned “the high ideals of the Christian religion.”  This supports the point that religion can be regarded as a form of idealism—which has been identified as one of the attitudes associated with Romanticism.  Further investigation of the literal meaning of the word idealism swings the door wide open for interpretation—as Webster’s defines it as “a theory that ultimate reality lies in a realm transcending phenomena; (or) the practice of forming ideals or living under their influence; (or) something that is idealized, etc.”   Christianity as a religion seems to fit well within these definitions.  And furthermore if I may borrow a quote, “romanticism is spilt religion” and put a personal spin on it, then please allow me to identify three “spilt” religions in Cooper’s definitive romantic work:  Christianity, Native American religious beliefs, and transcendentalism—although the latter may be more accurately defined as a philosophy of spirituality.

In her 17^th century writings pre-dating the era of American Romanticism, Ann Bradstreet expressed traditional Christian views that had been shaped by a background of Puritanism.  Her letter “To My Dear Children” expresses her desire to leave a legacy of religious ideals (through her Christian beliefs) to her children.  She wants them to “gain some spiritual advantage by (her experience” (128).  In her letter she conveys her idealistic belief that goodness and virtue are rewarded and evil is punished (Burleson 1). She goes on to reveal to her children that she struggles to believe the scriptures and indicates that she finds evidence of God in nature as she writes,  “I see, the vast frame of the heaven and the earth, the order of all things, night and day, summer and winter, spring and autumn, the daily providing for this great household upon the earth, the preserving and directing of all to its proper end” (Bradstreet 130).  “She is the first in a long line of American poets who took their consolation not from theology but from the “wondrous works” (115).  Her writings seem to reflect a personal struggle—a personal quest to come to terms with her beliefs—her religious ideals.  An element of transcendentalism is detected in her sentiments.  Stronger evidence of transcendental philosophy will emerge during the Romantic Period and can be seen in Cooper’s character, Hawkeye.

Christian beliefs are an important part of the work of another 17^th century writer, Mary Rowlandson.  Her religious faith gives her courage and strength to face the suspenseful and sometimes tragic events written about in “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson.”    When human despair is at its height, after Mary loses her “sweet babe,” she turns to God for “some sign and hope of some relief” (141).   Her constant inward reflection manifests in professions of her faith.  The writing is emotional and evokes empathy from the reader.  Her heart rending account of how she felt as her precious child was dying with little more than a drink of cold water to sustain her, universally connects the author to anyone who understands a parent’s love for a child. Christian ideals bring hope for transcendence to the individual caught in a rather helpless predicament.  Mary believes, as many do, that solace is found through one’s relationship with God.  Understandably, representations of religious idealism provide literature with a universal quality and are part of the appeal of romanticism.

Jonathon Edwards’ 18^th century work reflects the pure essence of religious idealism or, if you will, fanaticism.  His descriptive passages about the fulfillment he feels as he transcends closer and closer to a personal relationship with his God—stir emotion—reach a level of artistry that may be defined as sublime.  “I felt God at the first appearance of a thunderstorm.  And used to take the opportunity at such times, to fix myself to view the clouds, and see the lightnings play, and hear the majestic and awful voice of God’s thunder; which often times was exceeding entertaining, leading me to sweet contemplations of my great and glorious God. (186).  Edwards conveys the sentiment that although once terrified by thunder, he now has transcended to a sublime recognition of the majesty of God in nature.  In this statement, he seems to be finding God in nature not unlike Cooper’s character Hawkeye.  However Edwards would probably not appreciate the comparison, to be sure!  For Edwards was a stickler for the literal interpretation of the Bible.  Hawkeye clearly was not—which is evidenced by him saying, “I have heard it said that there are men who read in books, to convince themselves there is a God!” (117).  He has no use for the Bible as he finds God in the vast and awesome wilderness by living with the laws of nature.

By looking at The Last of the Mohicans as a whole, you can find “spilt” religion all over the place.  Christianity, American Indian religious beliefs and transcendentalism are splattered throughout the novel.  It’s as if there is a quiet conflict of religious ideals stirring in the background—and the question remains as to which one will emerge victorious.  Perhaps we can read this as a reflection of Cooper’s own quest for truth through religious ideals as he writes the definitive work of American Romanticism.

 Attitudes about religious or spiritual idealism are being aired and tossed about among Hawkeye, Munro and his daughters, the Indians—and certainly through Gamut’s character at times.  This amounts to a tug of war or conflict of religious ideals appearing as an underlying theme in the novel.  Cooper gives Hawkeye the strongest voice for expressing his spiritual idealism which we can call transcendentalism.  Hawkeye comes across as condescending and somewhat intolerant of other views.  Gamut carries the torch for Christianity, as well as the girls, Cora and Alice.  Gamut is a dorky—somewhat nerdy—character, and the girls are often (and irritatingly, I might add) referred to as the weaker sex, the fainter sex, the dumber sex—poor helpless creatures.  (I took the liberty to exaggerate and be further offended.)  Gamut and the girls, appear to be underlings—thus, we could interpret their religious viewpoints are suggested by Cooper to be inferior.   The Indians have a sort of comforting religious idealism that allows Uncas and Cora to be together after death.  Even Munro constructs his ideals to allow for a heaven where all can come together.  We can see this when Munro asks Hawkeye to deliver his thanks to the Indian women who have tenderly prepared Cora’s body for burial.  Munro says, “Tell them, that the Being we all worship, under different names, will be mindful of their charity; and that the time shall not be distant, when we may assemble around his throne, without distinction of sex, or rank, or colour!” (Cooper 347).  Wow—these were progressive and idealistic views that Cooper allows out through the voice of Munro.  However, Hawkeye cannot go there—he says because it will confuse the red skins, but it appears that Hawkeye simply cannot accept this way of thinking.

Since the Romantic Period corresponds with the Age of Transcendentalism, one would expect to find evidence of transcendentalism in the literature of this historical period.  Hawkeye’s character is Cooper’s vehicle for this representation.   Hawkeye is the individual in nature—separate from the masses—making him the obvious candidate to espouse a transcendental viewpoint.   Transcendentalists held “that each person is innately divine, with the intuitive ability to discover higher truths.  They rejected dogmatic religious doctrines, praised self-reliance, and gloried in the natural goodness of the individual” (Murfin 419).  The move toward transcendentalism is reflected in Hawkeye’s simple and unpretentious manner.  He prefers the primitive lifestyle—a lifestyle “unspoiled by society’s influence.” (417).  “Romantics believed that humans are essentially good, namely that people are good by nature; they also believed that civilization corrupts this essential goodness.” (417).

Cooper appears to be favoring Hawkeye’s transcendental philosophy in the skirmish among religious beliefs.  As a main character, Hawkeye’s philosophy carries much weight and significance.  It has a pervading presence even though it does not always come to the forefront in dialogue.  Much of the reverence for nature, that we come to know through the omniscient narrator, supports what we can feel is Hawkeye’s view of his surroundings.  “God knows what the country would be, if the settlements should ever spread far from the two rivers.  Both hunting and war would lose their beauty” (210).  Civilization destroys the natural world.

By contrast to Hawkeye’s strong and sensible character, Cooper makes a statement about Christianity by associating it with the “weaker” characters—the women and Gamut.  It is also interesting to note that the word “Christianity” and forms of this word are not capitalized a number of times in the latter half of the text.  Could this be a conscious or at least subconscious slight toward Christianity?  Perhaps an expression of Cooper’s ambivalence about faith?

Furthermore, we note that Hawkeye is the Natty Bumpo folk-hero character of Leatherstocking fame—protagonist, long-lived hero throughout a series of texts.  Through his main character, Cooper appears to be rejecting “ dogmatic religious doctrines”—namely Christianity.  Hawkeye expresses a sentiment that the book of nature is a truer authority than the Bible that Gamut holds so dear (Cooper 117). Hawkeye exhibits an air of condescension as he conveys this idea to Gamut.  Hawkeye’s know-it-all attitude makes him rebellious of mainstream Christian philosophy.  And a spirit of rebellion is yet another identifiable characteristic of romantic literature.

Hawkeye also shows a resistance to Indian religious beliefs.  At Uncas’ and Cora’s funeral ceremony, the Indians in their language “extorted [Cora] to be of cheerful mind, and to fear nothing for her future welfare.  A hunter would be her companion, who knew how to provide for her smallest wants; and a warrior was at her side, who was able to protect her against every danger” (343)—adding American Indian religious beliefs to the mix.  (What a tearjerker.)  Yet Hawkeye, who was the only white man able to understand the language, “shook his head, like one who knew the error of their simple creed” (344)—Hawkeye, with his air of superiority, thinks he knows better.

 A disturbing aspect of Hawkeye’s philosophy is that people must be separate but equal.  It is clear that he thinks it is wrong for races to mix.  Newsbreak:  We are all mixed—some irony here!   Hawkeye says, “I have seldom been where women of my colour dwell” (265).  As “a man without a cross” is he a man without mixed blood—a man without Christianity—a man without the burdens of society?  There appear to be some inconsistencies in his beliefs, however:  “There is but a single Ruler of us all, whatever may be the colour of the skin” (265).

 In conclusion, we see a convergence among the four works through a strong presence of religious idealism, with influences of transcendentalism gaining strength in The Last of the Mohicans.  It is worth considering that these representations of religious idealism are not necessarily born out of an unrealistic world of dreams.  Human kind is conditioned by experience to form idealistic visions.  We can say that Anne Bradstreet’s notion that virtue will be rewarded and evil will be punished is a conditioned idea.  That is to say that we all have found some truth in the age-old adage—“what goes around, comes around.”   Mary Rowlandson’s idealism reflects the human desire to connect with God in order to bear the loss of a loved one—her dear child in this case.  Connecting with God in times of sorrow surely does provide solace.  We hope it does.  Perhaps it does.  It does.  Thereby isn’t it reasonable to conclude that there is at least an element of truth in idealism?  Edwards is awed by not only the scriptures in his Bible, but also by God in nature.  The latter builds a bridge connecting him with Hawkeye and others who may have difficulty finding “God” in the scriptures but have no doubt that there is an awesome force in nature.  So we may conclude that idealism is evident in romantic literature because it is universally present in the human spirit.  Even if our rational minds tell us that romantic stories lack realism, our hearts want them to be true.  Such stories give us hope that our ideals are more than just fantasy. 

Works Cited

Bradstreet, Anne.  “To my Dear Children.”  The Norton Anthology of American Literature.     Ed. Nina Baym.  New York:  Norton & Company, 2003.  128-131.

Burleson, Stacey M.  “Religion as a Gothic Element in American Romanticism.”  LITR 5535 Fall 2000 Midterm.

Cooper, James Fenimore.  The Last of the Mohicans.  New York:  Viking Penguin, Inc., 1986.

Edwards, Jonathan.  “Personal Narrative.”  The Norton Anthology of American Literature.      Ed. Nina Baym.  New York:  Norton & Company, 2003.  183-194.

“Ideal.”  Oxford American Dictionary.  Heald Colleges 1980 ed.

“Idealism.”  Webster’s Tenth Collegiate Dictionary.  2001 ed.

Murfin, Ross and Supryia M. Ray, eds.  The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms.  Boston:  Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003.