Romanticism and transcendentalism are mainly movements that originated during the eighteenth-century period to focus on aesthetic experiences of the world during the period shaped by the Industrial Revolution. On the one hand, romanticism was a movement that primarily emphasized the aesthetic experience essential for recognizing novel emotions such as horror, terror, anxiety, and awe. On the other hand, transcendentalists generally emphasized the influence of individualism nature, and divinity, especially, religion, even though such beliefs were highly relative to those of romanticism. This paper mainly contends that in the current society, the population has generally deviated from the transcendental mantra into romanticism, with most of the population embracing the tenets of robust disbelief in humanity, the struggle to attain justice for all, and the freedom from the currently established rules and authority, all which have resul6ted in significant rebellion and conflicts globally.
Even though both romantic and transcendental writers have had great influence on different ways of living and experiencing phenomena since the eighteenth century, most of the current population appears to embrace romanticism over transcendentalism in their disbelief in humanity. In particular, the romantics often composed their works based on the tenets of imagination, and individualism, along with their thoughts and dreams. For instance, the famous romantic writer Thomas Hobbes insisted on the ability of people to ignore nature and natural causes because of the simple belief that the advice of others is likely to be associated with deception (Hobbes, 1651). Specifically, in his argument, Hobbes (1651) emphasized that one of the tenets of romanticism that greatly influences societies includes that ignorance of nature, and its causes is real because men are often predisposed to lying to one another. Consequently, this credulity associated with ignorance of nature has driven most people into rebellions due to a lack of belief in the currently existing laws and authority. This phenomenon is evident in contemporary society in which conflicts are emanating from all corners of the world and between different nations because of individualism and lack of trust in the existing authorities.
Another romantic tenet that influences the current society involves the struggle to attain justice for every individual. According to the transcendentalist writer Alexander Pope, in his famous essay on man to Henry St. John, he mentions that humanity generally likes to “rejudge his justice, be the God of God” (Pope, 1963, p. 1). This poetic line generally implies that society has gained significant disbelief in religion. In this context, most people have lost hope in not only religion but also in the religious systems and authorities that should offer them hope concerning their future tomorrow. This disbelief in religion has also contributed to significant rebellion and conflicts between different religious facts such as Christians and Muslims in contemporary societies.
Another romantic tenet that has influenced the current society includes humanity’s struggle for freedom from the currently established rules and authority which demonstrates their deviation from transcendentalism to romanticism. For instance, when considering the life of Ivan Ilyich, after he moved to a new city following his appointment as a magistrate, one of the things he did was adopt a new approach to working in which he “adopted a tone of slight dissatisfaction with the government, moderate liberalism, and a civilized sense of citizenship” (Tolstoy, 1960, p. 50). This excerpt implies that most people in society often are influenced by the disbelief of the existing laws and regulations and often choose to follow their paths in their struggles to attain justice and the struggle for freedom for every person. This form of individualism is characterized by romanticism which appears to influence the current society. Evidently, in today’s society, people have gained significant disbelief in the current laws and regulations governing them, such as those set out in their constitutions leading to rebellions against these constitutions and consistent struggles to change the laws through referendums.
References
Hobbes, T. (1651). Leviathan, Or the Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiastical and Civil. By Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury (Vol. 1). Crooke. Retrieved from: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3207/3207-h/3207-h.htm#link2H_4_0089
Pope, A. (1963). An essay on man: Epistle I: The poems of Alexander Pope. POoetry Foundation. Retrieved from: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44899/an-essay-on-man-epistle-i
Tolstoy, I. N. (1960). The death of Ivan Ilyich. Retrieved from: https://web.stanford.edu/~jsabol/existentialism/materials/tolstoy_death_ilyich.pdf
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