Analysis of the American Literature - Essay Example

Analysis of the American Literature Analysis of In Young Goodman Brown by Hawthorne's Most short stories written by Nathaniel Hawthorne have characters that are created with either evil features or malice to give the reader a more allegorical meaning. Many have argued that without any justification his work targets women. In addition, due to this he may be labeled as a misogynist if wrongly interpreted. Analysis of his In Young Goodman Brown book shows that, the wife of Young Goodman Brown, faith is a character who submits to the devil after losing her faith. In this case, Hawthorne shows the flaw by directly relating it to faith. That is the character does not have enough faith to refuse the devils call, which brings the aspect of her lacking enough self-control. Faith finds it hard to resist being tempted even with her husband’s emotional plea, as quoted "Look up to heaven, and resist the wicked one,"(1590), and after her submission to him she is seen as having "uncertain sorrow,"(1587). Hawthorne portrayed picture of the character Faith, is one which is weak as in no self-control and uncertainty. She is an effective example on how the author brings out a deeper significance of his work by using women. In the case of Faith, she demonstrates the Puritan people hypocrisy, that is, Puritans also contain evil characteristics and are not as pure as they do claim, and bringing it into context of the character, and they get used at night. Faith as used by Hawthorne cannot be justified as misogyny, in that during the early 16th century women were not regarded as being equal to men. In addition, the puritan era also had a rich witchcraft history, and Hawthorne uses of a woman can be seen as appropriate in this case. In general, it is clear that Hawthorne uses both sexes to bring out the explicit evil flaws and establish his beliefs to the reader (Wagenknecht 1588). Transcendentalism in Emerson's writings The Harvard formed and uniquely influenced 1830’s Cambridge American Transcendentalist School brought new insight to a young country still struggling to find its voice, new ideas concerning; spirit, man, and nature. Ralph Waldo Emerson as its chief proponent conveyed a philosophy that at that particular time was regarded as being too radical. Being raised in an environment of Christian dogma, and harsh Puritan sensibilities the young John Muir was introduced to the transcendental ideas while at the University of Wisconsin to which he took strongly. The fact that most of his writing has clear characteristics of Emerson’s style is one that demonstrates his gratitude to the sage writer (Emerson 81). However, unlike all the other England group and Emerson Transcendental writers he had a different vision. Transcendentalism for Muir was a directly given spiritual experience that through physical immersion got meaning in alpine areas in nature. This new perspective was n direct contrast to Emerson’s nature experience that was typified by vision and sight modified by a very keen and active cerebral insight. According to Muir, the nature idea derived by Emerson could only be concluded as having begun and ended in a frustrating abstract metaphorical realm that did nothing to satisfy the yearnings of his spirituality. Edgar Allan Poe gothic style of poetry The 1809-1849 poet Edgar Allan Poe could be described as being an essayist, poet, and short story writer. However, he is most known for writing mysterious, dark, and death-centered literature. His main aim was to merge the medieval romance elements, which he saw as being too fancy and modern novels, which according to him were strict and confined to realism. This type of writing is what latter came to be known as gothic literature or gothic fiction. Poe had great talent for writing spine-tingling and terrifying tales; and that is why most of his writings currently are classified under horror stories. Another factor that distinguished him is his incredible imagination and mad sense of style, which vividly allowed him to paint unforgettable scenes and images through words. Example of his literature style is demonstrated in the book The Masque of the Red Death that is ranked among the most horrific and colorful of his stories. Apart from his books, the poet is also famous for his proposed theories on writing which up to now are still unique and rare. According to Poe, he believed that every short fiction or work of poetry must aim at creating in a reader a single effect; one that is particularly intense be it an experience, feeling, emotion. He explains that the author by detailing everything to the minutest detail, word, expression can bring out this desired effect (Zapf 214). Emily Dickson and Walt Whitman The emergence of Emily Dickson and Walt Whitman can be said as being the final true emergence of American indigenous English-language poetry. If viewed on the surface these two poets would not be seen as being less alike. With Dickinson's concentrated stanzas, short lines and phrases mainly derived from hymnals used by Protestants and Whitman’s long lines that have inclusions of democracy and others that originate from the King James Bible version metric. Their common connection to Emerson is what links them as seen by their visions and in Leaves of Grass passage by Whitman. Two poetic idioms that are considered major in American literature can be said to have been created by these two poets namely; direct and metric expressions by Whitman and irony and gnomic obscurity by Dickinson both of which became major in the history of American history. Whitman’s poems “Song of Myself” and Leaves of Grass help bring out his patriotic side, while Dickson’s poems "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain" and "I heard a Fly buzz-when I died help bring out her solitary and romantic side. In conclusion, all the above analyzed literature help bring out the influence that Emerson had on many of the writers during the American renaissance period. In addition it maps out a chronology of the different forms of literature expression namely; romantism, realism, enlightenment and puritan that emerged from some of the renown authors like Walt Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe, Emerson's, Hawthorne's and Emily Dickson. Work cited Emerson, R. W., “Nature,” in Ralph Waldo Emerson: Nature and Selected Essays (L. Ziff, Ed.), New York: Penguin Books, 1982. Print. Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne: the man, his tales and romances. (1587-1590). Continuum, 1989. Print. Zapf, Hubert. "Entropic Imagination in Poe's" The Masque of the Red Death". College Literature 16.3 (1989), pp. 211-218. Read More