Compare And Contrast Thoreau And Emerson

Words: 1128
Pages: 5
Open Document
The Awakening of the Female Mind
In the present society, people are acutely aware of their own creativity. Each day, as men and women express their individuality in fields spanning from art to politics, they grasp an understanding of their own consciousness to which their ancestors were not privy. During the mid-1800s, philosophers, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Thoreau, began to evaluate their personal experience of life. Their writings sparked a transcendentalist movement which produced drastic changes in how people considered their own minds. For example, in contrast to the patriotic views of many Americans, Emerson claimed that each person should adhere to their own morality above the laws of their government. Thus, when the two are in conflict, the individual has the responsibility to …show more content…
These activists refused to believe that they were created to be subordinate to men, even though those around them said they were. Their acts of nonconformity stem from transcendentalist ideals. In his narrative, Walden, Thoreau alludes to a Hindu story of a prince who, after being cast from his palace as a baby and being raised by savages, believed himself to be a savage until a servant from his father’s palace rescued him and told him he was a prince. He states,“[The] soul from the circumstances in which it is placed mistakes its own character, until the truth is revealed to it by some holy teacher, and then it knows itself to be Brahme” (Thoreau, p.774). Today, the equality in opportunity and status that women’s rights activists envisioned has not yet been realized for women across the globe, as many women remain confined to their “separate sphere”. Still, activists like Grimke were truly the holy teachers of equality and individual worth who allowed more women to recognize themselves as
Show More

Related Documents: Compare And Contrast Thoreau And Emerson

Dwelling in Possibilities Analysis Essay

internship, traveling to six countries in Europe, visiting family and friends at home, and recording a rock CD. Edmundson, in contrast, had written five drafts of a chapter for his book about Sigmund Freud. Telling of this account allows the reader to actually see the change in youth, upon which is essay is based. The account of the student on the lawn, allows the reader to compare their students today, packing as much into their summer as possible and not allowing time for thought, to his generation…

Words 1206 - Pages 5

United States and Essential Questions Essay

Advanced Placement Untied States History Dr. Alba 2014-2015 School Year Course Description: AP U.S. History covers the spectrum of American history from pre- Columbian days to the present. Using chronological and thematic approaches to the material, the course exposes students to extensive primary and secondary sources and to the interpretations of various historians. Class participation through seminar reports, discussions, debates, and role-playing activities is required; special emphasis…

Words 7288 - Pages 30