Anti Transcendentalist Beliefs

Anti-Transcendentalism

In the early 1800's two movements within the period of

romanticism occurred. These two movements were transcendentalism and its counterpart anti-transcendentalism. Although the transcendentalists had an admirable dream of how people and life

should be that fit many aspects of romanticism, they were far too hopeful and naïve when looking at humanity as a whole. Transcendentalists like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David

Thoreau believed in such things as the essential divinity of all people, the beauty of nature, and the human spirit. Those who opposed this movement at the time were known as anti-transcendentalists, followers of this philosophy like Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne believed in humanity's capacity to commit evil acts, the accreditation of all evil done in the world to original sin, and natures indifference to the suffering of man.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, a leading author who followed the philosophies of anti-transcendentalism wrote several short stories and novels in his life time like the "Ministers Black Veil" and "The Birth Mark" that represented in some way the anti-transcendentalist beliefs he had.

In "The Ministers Black Veil" a local minister to a town in America shows up to preach one day with a black veil covering his face so that none can see it, all of the people who knew him before this act denounced him, avoiding him and gossiping of him making the young minister an outcast to a town in which he used to be a respected preacher.

This veil in Hawthorne's story is believed to represent secret sin to the people of the town who gossip about their preacher however, in relation to the fundamentals of

anti-transcendentalism it could also be interpreted to symbolize man's capacity you do evil for even the preacher in this town is just susceptible to the temptations of man, and even though Nathaniel Hawthorne doesn't clarify what this possible send is it is a prevailing theme in anti-transcendentalism that all men have this capacity to do evil preacher and regular man alike. In Hawthorne's short story "The Birthmark" A man marries in almost perfect woman with only one flaw, his wife has a slight blemish on her cheek of a Crimson tint. The slight imperfection drives the scientist mad and he becomes up Obsessed with correcting the slight flaw, after much criticism from her husband even his wife begins to hate this light birthmark and becomes obsessed with having it removed. Finally she agrees to let him remove the birthmark; it is at this point that the scientist tries to play God. However like in many anti-transcendental beliefs nature prevails over the power of man and his indifferent to his suffering, after much trial and error the scientist creates a concoction for the wife, however there is great risk in this so call medicine, if anything is done wrong during the procedure his wife will die. The wife at this point, believing so much that this birthmark is something to be hated, much like how her husband has treated the defect is willing to give up her life just for a chance to have the birthmark go away. In the end the husband gives his wife the medicine and the birthmark slowly fades away, however after the birthmark has disappeared completely his wife dies.
Another famous author of anti-transcendentalism was Herman Melville, Melville wrote a poem by the name of "Shiloh a Requiem" somewhere around or after the time of the Civil War. In the short poem Melville implicates the anti-transcendentalist believe that nature is once more and different to the suffering of man, swallows which can be interpreted to symbolize death due to their color fly overhead during A battle by a church at Shiloh. As the war rages on the birds simply fly overhead like nothing is occurring, and after all The battling is over and the soldiers lie dead the birds continue to fly overhead without any care, for nature is indifferent to the suffering of mankind.
Transcendentalism and anti-transcendentalism do have some similar beliefs and ways, however the transcendentalist beliefs are far too naïve. Thus anti-transcendentalism has a superior View of the realistic world we live in, a transcendentalist can look at a rose and only see the petals in the main of the flower, but an anti-transcendentalist can appreciate the flower and also realize that the flowers capable of cutting with its thorns.