Tenets Of Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism is a literary and philosophical movement that took place between the 1830s and 1840s. It became a movement as a reaction to the general state of intellectualism and spirituality during that time. There are six basic tenets when it comes to Transcendentalism.
The first is non-conformity; this tenet is the failure or refusal to conform to a prevailing rule or practice. The Transcendentalists did not wish to conform to the rules of society as they were extremely disgruntled when it came to those rules. The second tenet is self-reliance; this is pretty self-explanatory. It is the reliance on one’s own powers and resources rather than those of others. The people did not want to rely on others because, as I stated earlier, they were unhappy with the state of the people during their time. The third is confidence; the Transcendentalists wished to remain confident in their writing, as it is an important quality in an author. The fourth tenet is civil disobedience. These authors did not want to comply with certain law of their time, but they
wished to do so peacefully. The fifth tenet of Transcendentalism is the importance of nature. They wanted to show that nature can be a wonderful place of reflection and knowledge for all, and by writing about it they could show others. The final tenet is to simplify life. The writers could not be bogged down by what was ailing them, so they had to make life simpler which would ,in turn, make their lives better and happier. Major authors of this time were people such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and Amos Bronson Alcott.
There are also many works associated with the Transcendentalist movement. One novel is Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson. This novel represented ten years of in depth studies in philosophy, religion, and literature. Henry David Thoreau wrote several novels in his time. One example is Resistance To Civil Government. He wrote this while in prison, and in the novel he lectured against slavery. Another novel of his is Walden. Margaret Fuller is another one of the aforementioned authors of this Transcendentalist movement. Some of her novel include the following: Summer on the Lakes and Woman in the Nineteenth Century. Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” is similar to Transcendentalist writings. The poem states,”Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled
by,
And that has made all the difference.” (Frost). This is great example on how the people of the Transcendentalist movement lived their lives. They did not want to take the metaphorical road that everyone during their time was traveling. They longed for a different, more enlightened, way of going about their everyday lives. This is why Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” proves as an ample projection of how the Transcendentalists felt.