Interpretation Of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Mew Of Nature

This thesis aims to interpret Emerson’s transcendental view of naturecomprehensively. As the greatest thinker, essayist and poet in American history, Emersonand his transcendental view of nature exert a profound influence on American culture.The thesis makes a comparative study of Emerson’s three core ideas in his view of nature:Man and nature in one, Over-soul and Self-reliance from some perspectives of nature,spirit and individual which make further explanations of his transcendental view ofnature.This thesis consists of three parts: introduction, main body and conclusion. Theintroduction of this thesis mainly introduces Emerson’s life, works, Transcendentalismand the domestic and foreign research status, the basic framework of the thesis and itswriting purpose.The main body of this thesis is made up of four chapters. Based on comprehensivesummary of domestic and foreign research status, the first chapter has a comparativestudy of the source and basic views of Emerson’s Transcendentalism, and Emerson’sview of nature is hooked on the orient. It analyzes the influence of Emerson’sTranscendentalism upon American culture, especially upon literature.The second chapter offers a detailed study of one of Emerson’s core notions in hisview of nature:“man and nature in one”. Emerson’s thoughts of nature are the theoreticalcornerstone of his Transcendentalism. This chapter is divided into three sections toanalyze Emerson’s thoughts of “man and nature in one” in his prose Naturecomprehensively: the proposition of the beauty of nature, the personification of view ofnature and the advocacy of natural values of “man and nature in one”. That is to say, heselects the essence of oriental view of nature and forms the view of nature of theharmonious coexistence of man and natureThe third chapter focuses on the study of one of Emerson’s core notions in his viewof nature: Over-soul. Based on his thoughts of nature, Emerson puts forward his thoughtsof Over-soul. This chapter analyzes in three respects: the concept of Over-soul, thesimilarity between “Tao” and Emerson’s Over-soul and the similarity between Confucian ideas on deity and Emerson’s Over-soul, interpreting gradually his thoughts of Over-soulin his prose Nature. This chapter covers an innovative study of Emerson’s Over-soulfrom perspective of “Tao” and Confucian ideas on deity, revealing his views of spiritualworld.The fourth chapter pays attention to one of Emerson’s core notions in his view ofnature: Self-reliance. Self-reliance acts as the way that puts Over-soul into practice. Thischapter mainly consists of three sections: the basic views of being self-reliance, how tobe self-reliance and the similarity between Emerson’s evaluation of human nature andConfucian ideas on human nature, interpreting his thoughts of Self-reliance in detail inhis prose Self-Reliance. In this chapter, we draw the conclusions of the necessity ofself-reliance in his view of nature and his attitude towards individual in Nature, namelyto believe people’s importance.The concluding part of this thesis summarizes the relationship of “man and nature inone”, Over-soul and Self-reliance in Emerson’s view of nature, and highlights thatEmerson and his transcendental view of nature influence American culture, especiallyAmerican literature. Moreover, it points out the theoretical significance and practicalsignificance of Emerson’s transcendental view of nature.