Transcendentalism Vs Puritanism.

 Name : Nidhi P. Jethava 

Paper : American Literature 

Roll No. : 13

Enrollment Number : 306920200009

Email ID : jethavanidhi8@gmail.com 

Batch : 20-22( MA SEM- 2 )

Submitted to : S. B. Gardi Department of English, Maharaja KrishnaKumarsinhji Bhavnagar University 

Q. Transcendentalism Vs Puritanism. 

Both Puritanism and Transcendentalism have evolved from religious doctrine and pervaded the American culture, politics, and identity, becoming more secular in their visions. However, Puritanism possesses a darker perspective from that of Transcendentalism. Here are some of their differences.

Definition of Transcendentalism: -

 

1.

an idealistic philosophical and social movement which developed in New England around 1836 in reaction to rationalism. Influenced by romanticism, Platonism, and Kantian philosophy, it taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity, and its members held progressive views on feminism and communal living. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were central figures.

2.

a system developed by Immanuel Kant, based on the idea that, in order to understand the nature of reality, one must first examine and analyse the reasoning process which governs the nature of experience.

 

 

Definition of Puritanism :-

Puritanism, a religious reform movement in the late 16th and 17th centuries that sought to “purify” the Church of England of remnants of the Roman Catholic “popery” that the Puritans claimed had been retained after the religious settlement reached early in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Puritans became noted in the 17th century for a spirit of moral and religious earnestness that informed their whole way of life, and they sought through church reform to make their lifestyle the pattern for the whole nation. Their efforts to transform the nation contributed both to civil war in England and to the founding of colonies in America as working models of the Puritan way of life.

· The transcending, or going beyond, empiricism, and ascertaining a priori the fundamental principles of human knowledge.

· Ambitious and imaginative vagueness in thought, imagery, or diction.

· A philosophy which holds that reasoning is key to understanding reality (associated with Kant); philosophy which stresses intuition and spirituality (associated with Ralph Waldo Emerson); transcendental character or quality.

· A movement of writers and philosophers in New England in the 19th century who were loosely bound together by adherence to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths.

Related terms

* philosophy * religion * transcendental * transcendentalist.

One of the proponents of Transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson, based his philosophy partly on that of Idealism in which nature is a doorway to a mystical world holding important truths. Furthermore, he emphasized the importance of each individual, and his outlook was optimistic whereas the Puritans believed that human beings are sinful by nature

Puritanism holds that there is salvation only for God's chosen, the elect; Transcendentalism maintains that every person can reach ultimate truths through spiritual intuition that transcends reason and sensory experience

Transcendentalism is a religion of revelation, not of history as is Puritanism. By going into nature, man feels the presence of the Sublime and is enlightened to truths, whereas in Puritanism, church doctrine is handed down in the form of covenants that parallel God's covenant with His people in the Bible

 

In Puritan thought, hard work and worldly success are signs of God's grace. For the Transcendentalists, God is present in every aspect of Nature including every human being.

Transcendental thought holds that Nature is divine and symbolic of the spirit, so the human soul is inherently good and evil is virtually non-existent.

In Puritan thought, grace from God makes people "reborn" as a member of the community of saints;

Transcendentalism is based upon idealism and self-reliance, Puritanism is based upon practicality and industriousness;

The Puritans see God as inexplicably included in the acts of deep space, whereas the transcendentalists believe God is connected to humanity through nature and intuition. The outlook on Puritan composing is that their style tends to be plain and reflective. Transcendentalist writing shows how nature and feelings are victorious over reasoning and rationality. In contrast to the plain style of Puritan writing, Jonathan Edwards frequently strikes his audience with powerful words in his literature. He exhibits this style in "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" however still reveals the lowliness of people in relation to God's power, another Puritan quality. In transcendentalist writing, the spiritual and ideal worlds are revealed through the physical realities of the natural world. An author who uses transcendental techniques is Ralph Waldo Emerson. The work composed by Emerson showing Transcendentalism is called "Nature." The name itself portrays the piece as transcendental, but Emerson uses the forest and its parts as symbols of the spiritual world. In comparison, both the Puritans and the Transcendentalists focus on their own perceptions of the world and human presence. Edwards' preaching called "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" repeats the reality that God has more power than male. Wickedness and sin, as Edwards explains, leads man closer and more detailed into the depths of hell. Humanity is weak and helpless if God is provoked. "There is no desire of power in God to cast wicked men into hell anytime. Guy's hands can not be strong when God rises up," (Jonathan Edwards). Edwards utilizes the phrase "Men's hands can not be strong when God rises" to obviously make his point. His intention is to say that God and his powers should not be taken lightly. No matter how strong the will of man, God has the final say in it all. There is, however, a twist to his intention. Edwards directs the wrath of God mainly upon those who sin and that "He [God] is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it," (Jonathan Edwards). By using the word "wicked," Edwards hints at how many acts in order to provoke God. Sin leads towards mankind's wickedness, therefore angering God. His wrath may come in different ways. Instead of throwing the inhabitants of Earth directly into the fiery depths of hell, He will let mankind destroy itself and withhold His retribution. "The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher...the floods of God's vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the meantime is constantly increasing, and you are everyday treasuring up more wrath," (Jonathan Edwards). Obviously, Edwards uses the water held behind a dam as a symbol. The dam represents God's "hand," and the water is His wrath. Comparing this, Edwards tries to explain that the longer the water is held back, the more force it will have when the dam will no longer support it; the longer God puts off judgment of man's sin, the more powerful His punishment. The sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God'' is a great example of the Puritan belief of society. A man is either part of the elect, basically chosen to go to heaven, or of the damned that are sent to hell at God's force. On the softer side of God's presence, Transcendentalism takes place. Their view is that intuition and nature as a whole is more powerful than intellect. In Emerson's "Nature," there is a strong sense of God being present through the wilderness and the natural way of life. "All the parts incessantly work into each other's hands for the profit of man. The wind sows the seed; the sun evaporates the sea; the wind blows the vapor to the field; the ice, on the other side of the planet, condenses rain on this; the rain feeds the plant; the plant feeds the animal; and thus the endless circulations of the divine charity nourish man," (Ralph Waldo Emerson). What Emerson is trying to get through to his audience is that God works in a process for the good of mankind. When he tells about how the wind, sun, rain, and plants, and how each work together in a cycle to support nature, he is comparing their jobs to God "nourishing" man. Emerson is also trying to say that without nature and its course, man would not survive. The Transcendentalists believe that the physical facts of the natural world are a doorway to the spiritual and ideal world; an apparent example is that "nature always wears the colors of the spirit," (Emerson, Chapter: Nature). Emerson considers God to be present within the physical properties of nature, in this case, color. The use of the word "always" suggests that God and the spiritual world are visible through nature to man no matter the condition. Conversely, do these relations of God and nature apply in any way to man? When a man is described as "a particle of God," (Emerson, Ch: Nature), he is a piece of God and the spiritual world. There is a connection between man and nature because of God's visibility through the environment. Ideally, the Transcendentalists show that man is not only a part of God, but also in nature. People living in the Puritan and Transcendental periods of time believed that God was connected to humanity and the life surrounding it; also, God had the power to reveal himself to mankind and even take control, making Puritanism and Transcendentalism equivalent. Texts like "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" and "Nature" are good examples of Puritan and Transcendental writing because they exemplify the characteristics and beliefs of each era. Elements in transcendentalism are knowledge and spiritual existence in nature, whereas Puritanism consists of discipline and God revealed through the inner self of man. Whether it be for "God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment," (Edwards), or "divine charity [to] nourish man," (Emerson), God was presented as a power both to reprimand and nurture civilization.

Thank you...

Citation:

Abrams, M. H., and Geoffrey Galt Harpham. 1999. A glossary of literary terms. Boston, Mass: Thomson Wadsworth.

Buell, Lawrence. The American Transcendentalists: Essential Writings, New York: Modern Library, 2006. [Anthology with commentary]

Bremer, Francis J. Puritanism: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

Spurr, John. English Puritanism, 1603–1689. Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan, 1998.

Views of transcendentalism versus puritanism. (2016, Jul 21). Retrieved from http://studymoose.com/views-of-transcendentalism-versus-puritanism-essay.

Characters:10691

Words:1720

Sentences:80

Paragraph:44