"Emerson and the Work of Melancholia" and His Rejection of Romanticism

Ralph Waldo Emerson is and has been a very influential writer throughout history. However, this is strange because during his career, his ideals and beliefs seemed to make a switch from Romanticism to a philosophy called Transcendentalism. Mark Edmundson discusses this switch in philosophy in his literary criticism entitled "Emerson and the Work of Melancholia." He mainly focuses on the traits of Transcendentalism and how events in Emerson's life appear to match up with them thus slightly straying from Romanticism. For example, Edmundson speaks a lot about Emerson's views on the conformity of society and the slight differences in this view between Romanticism and Transcendentalism. Emerson's important and wild career as a writer not only interestingly dawned a sort of new philosophy called Transcendentalism, but it also set an example for other writers to also stray away from Romanticism.

In the early stages of his career, Emerson heavily believed that grieving the dead was simply a waste of time ("Edmundson"). This is mainly due to his strong ties to Romanticism at this point. However harsh this sounds, Emerson truly believed that it was necessary to express his feelings dealing with the issue of conformity. He believed that one way that society was simply conforming; they were wasting this energy on grieving the loss of loved ones while more important aspects of life could be focused on. Emerson truly does exemplify this when a loved one of his passes away, and he does not seem to show grief ("Edmundson"). I suppose that I follow Emerson's logic here, but it is strange that he has such a Rationalistic belief in this situation. The Rationalists believed that no time should be wasted, and by following a Romantic belief dealing with the conformity of society, Emerson believes in the same ideal.

Later in the life of Emerson, around the year 1842, his beloved son passed away. Obviously he was devastated by the loss, and because of this, an interesting switch seemed to occur. According to Edmundson, this is the rough point in which Emerson's views and beliefs seemed to become more Transcendentalist than Romantic ("Edmundson"). The main difference between the two philosophies that I have observed is that in Romanticism, one pays more attention to how they behave in and in accordance with nature, and Transcendentalists are more concerned with how people behave in and in accordance with society as a whole. Although this may seem like just a subtle difference, it can have a large effect in one's life such as it did in the life of Emerson. When his son died, his views on the grieving of the dead changed to almost needing the grieving process as an invention of oneself("Edmundson"). Such a drastic change on an issue leads to what seems to be a subtle change in philosophy.

In my conclusions, I find that Emerson seemed to usher in a new era having to do with the philosophy of Transcendentalism. His works even inspired some of the greatest writers in history such as Nietzsche and Whitman ("Edmundson"). Although Emerson's general philosophy was changed by the issue of the grieving process, his ultimate views of the unwarranted conformity of the society around him did not change much at all.

Works Cited

Emerson and the Work of Melancholia." Raritan (Spring 1987). Quoted as "Emerson and the Work of Melancholia" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Updated Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. Nov 9. 2010. .