Romantism Essay Essays - Philosophy, Literature, Civil Disobedience

Romantism Essay ?To be natural is to be obvious, and to be obvious is to be inartistic?, was said by Oscar Wilde. There are three main romantics beliefs the pieces of literature we read, they are that you should value the individual over society, to understand yourself you must first understand nature, and that you need to be your own person in life. First of all there was the belief that the individual was valued over society. One example of this is in the piece ?Social-Reliance? in which Emerson wrote; ?Society everywhere is in the conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members?in which the members agree?to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater.? This is saying that society is out to mold man into what it sees him fit to be. Society is always at your heels trying to turn you into a sheep and to follow the lead of one man. To surpass society you must first be able to look past and beyond it to explore goodness, and absolve to yourself. If you can accomplish that you will have the suffrage of the world. To lead yourself you have to follow your instincts of what you feel right and not what society tells you is right. By doing this society will have a harder time to mold you into what it wants you to think. Another example is the essay ?Walden? by Thoreau. In the essay he had moved away from society into a shel ter type house to escape about a mile from the town. He wanted to live his life as simple as he could, so he had nothing but what he felt were the necessities. By doing this he found the divine within himself. You can only find the divine if you are one with yourself and separate from society. Finally there was an exert from ?Resistance to civil government? in which Thoreau was thrown in jail for not paying a tax to the state. He was thrown in jail for believing in himself over what society expected of him. This shows a lot of control on Thoreau's part to be able to go with his gut as you might say. While he was in jail he felt as if it were not punishment but a reward for not paying his tax. He did not have to pay for food, housing or any of the other things that he would have to pay for if he were not in jail. He felt as he was freer then the people on the outside of the stone walls, because of the freedom he has there and that society can not reach him. If you can avoid society i t is easier to put yourself above it. Likewise they believed that you needed to understand nature to understand yourself. Which means that you can only discover who you are by exploring it through nature. Emerson shows this in ?Nature?. In the exert man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature.? This is saying that you view nature as you view yourself. That if you see nature as a beautiful and magnificent thing that is how you will see yourself. Similarly if you understand nature greatly you will know yourself better. As Emerson said you become a transparent eyeball and see all what is happening and grasp it with an understanding beyond your belief. You are able to see all that is happening in your world, and you are able to understand it as God does. Emerson also shows it in ?The American Scholar?. It says ?To young minds everything is individual?it finds how to join two things and see them as one nature; then three?it goes on tying things together, diminishing anomalies, discovering roots running under ground?re mote things cohere and flower out from one stem.? Which means that as a young man starts in life he sees every thing as an individual piece. Yet as he gains wisdom from nature he slowly begins to realize the every thing is connected to one root. As you discover that, your beginning to realize that understanding is a gate way to the divine, and to get knowledge of yourself. And the poem