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Kylie Mims

Dr. Morton

English 2131H

April 26, 2014

Evidences of Nineteenth Century Literary Movements in Modern Culture

“The next great influence into the spirit of the scholar, is, the mind of the Past.”-Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar

As the preceding quotation states, the viewpoints of preceding generations greatly shape

the mindset of the current paradigm, just as presently common opinions will influence the ideas

of future generations. However, many of those foregoing beliefs and ideas are still prevalent

throughout modern society. While it is possible that some of those ideas have been modified to

fit the current predominant mindset, it seems that many of them have remained true to their

original form and are just as apparent in modern cultural references as they were in the works of

the authors with whom the concepts originated. A comparison of the texts of nineteenth century

American writers to modern song lyrics illustrates the commonalities between the ideas of those

time periods and suggests that, overall, the “mind of the Past” is also the mind of the present.

In order to see the influence of nineteenth century American authors in modern popular

culture, one must first comprehend the basic tenets of the literary movements to which each of

those writers belonged. Romanticism, one of the earliest of these movements, was pioneered by

Ralph Waldo Emerson in the 1830s as a response to the Age of Reason and the Industrial

Revolution and proposed that connection with one’s divine self through nature was the only way

to escape the evils of society, science, and progress. He details his views on the importance of a

spiritual connection with nature in his essay “The Over-soul,” in which he states that men’s

interests lie “in parts, in particles,” referring to physical elements, while he believes that they

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should be more focused on the “wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and

particle is equally related, the eternal ONE,” referring to the common spirit that lives inside

every part of nature (1). This idea of one universal spirit residing in all of us and continuing to

exist in others and in nature after we die is also evident in Emerson’s poem “Brahma,” in which

he details the way the spirit “keep[s], and pass[es], and turn[s] again” (347). He clearly views

nature as a positive thing, as evidenced by the sense of awe with which he describes even the

frightening aspects of nature, such as the “north-wind’s masonry” in his poem “The Snow

Storm” (342). Emerson’s perspective on the threat society poses to the search for one’s true self

is made evident in his essay “Self-Reliance,” in which he comments that “whoso would be a

man must be a nonconformist” in spite of the fact that the “world whips [him] with its

displeasure” when he chooses not to conform (271, 273). His essay on wealth provides further

evidence of his devaluing the material world as he states that people should not let their “soul[s]

be subject to dollars” (1). Henry David Thoreau took Emerson’s ideas further by foregoing

employment altogether and moving to Walden Pond to connect with nature. He wrote of his

experience there that “a lake . . . is earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the

depth of his own nature,” illustrating that his views of finding oneself in nature closely mirrored

Emerson’s (“Walden” 1078). They differed, however, in that Thoreau advocated blatant rejection

of social institutions and hierarchies, particularly government, as expressed in his essay

“Resistance to Civil Government” which he begins by saying “that government is best which

governs least” (964).

The influence of Transcendentalist beliefs is still evident in modern culture, especially in

song lyrics by contemporary artists. The song “Big Yellow Taxi” by Counting Crows, for

example, uses lines like “they took all the trees and put ‘em in a tree museum/And charged the

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people a dollar and a half to see them” to represent the Romantic view of progress as a negative

thing because it interferes with man’s ability to connect with nature (“Counting Crows Lyrics –

Big Yellow Taxi). Another example of modern criticism of progress, particularly technological

advancement, is STYX’s song “Mr. Roboto,” which states that “the problem's plain to see: too

much technology/Machines to save our lives, machines dehumanize” (“STYX Lyrics - Mr.

Roboto”). Other songs reflect the Transcendentalist idea that separation from society is necessary

to avoid corruption. One example of this is a lyric from Eddie Vedder’s song “Society” which

states “Society, you're a crazy breed/I hope you're not lonely without me,” implying that the

lyricist desires to retreat from the modern world as Emerson and Thoreau did (“Eddie Vedder

Lyrics – Society”). The best modern lyrical illustration of Thoreau’s objection to governmental

involvement is Rush’s song “The Trees”; it uses maples and oaks as metaphors for different

groups of people who cannot get along, and ultimately “the trees are all kept equal/By hatchet,

axe and saw” when the government gets involved to settle the dispute (“Rush Lyrics – The

Trees”). All of these references prove that the ideas of Emerson and Thoreau still exist in the

minds of modern men and women.

Dark Romanticism was the literary rebuttal to the ideas of the Transcendentalists. The

writings of Dark Romantic authors, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, and Herman

Melville, illustrate that they agreed with the Romantics about the problems with society, but they

did not believe that society could be avoided or corrected. This can be seen in Hawthorne’s

“Wakefield,” in which the protagonist removes himself from society for a twenty year period,

only to find that society’s problems, as well as his own, remained the same; once he left, “the

dead ha[d] nearly as much chance of re-visiting their earthly homes, as the self-banished

Wakefield” (Hawthorne 399). Hawthorne’s writings also depict a rejection of science, especially

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in his story “The Birthmark” in which the scientist Aylmer aims to perfect his wife’s complexion

through the removal of her birthmark; the fact that the removal of this natural part of her beauty

results in her death suggests that Hawthorne is criticizing science’s tendency to ruin things that it

attempts to fix (419). The Dark Romantics’ writings tend to focus less on environmental details

and more on the mental, emotional, and relational states of their characters, through which they

illustrate their belief that people are innately flawed. Spirituality is still a dominant theme

throughout this movement, but these writers focus on the depravity of man rather than the divine

potential that the Romantics believed all people possessed. This is especially evident in Poe’s

short stories as many of his characters are described as possessing some form of repressed

iniquity, the narrator’s “disease [that] had sharpened [his] senses” and led to paranoia in “The

Tell-Tale Heart,” for example (Poe 691). Herman Melville’s novella Benito Cereno further

criticizes Romantic ideas through an eternally optimistic protagonist who blindly refuses to

acknowledge the evil that is right in front of him; the Transcendental character is described as

being “a person of a singularly undistrustful good nature, not liable . . . to indulge in personal

alarms, any way involving the imputation of malign evil in man,” and the fact that that man’s

perception of the other characters’ innocence in the story did not align with the reality of their

character indicates that Melville is mocking the Romantics’ idea of innate human goodness

(Melville 1526). The author does agree with Emerson and Thoreau that the pressure to conform

to societal expectations is a negative thing as he expresses through his novella Bartleby, in which

the titular character chooses not to do his work simply because he would “prefer not to”

(Melville 1490).

The Dark Romantic idea that the push for progress is detrimental when it interferes with a

person’s humanity is still present in modern culture as well. “The Scientist” by Coldplay, for

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example, reinforces that idea through a line that says, “Questions of science, science and

progress/Do not speak as loud as my heart” (“Coldplay Lyrics – The Scientist”). This reflects the

same idea as Hawthorne’s stories about scientists in that it places a greater value on the natural

than on the artificial as created by science. Another prominent theme of Dark Romanticism, the

concept that society’s corruption cannot become undone, is best represented in a modern context

through the lyrics to Rise Against’s song “The Good Left Undone”:

In fields where nothing grew but weeds,

I found a flower at my feet,

Bending there in my direction,

I wrapped a hand around its stem,

I pulled until the roots gave in . . .

Inside my hands these petals browned,

Dried up, fallen to the ground

But it was already too late now.

I pushed my fingers through the earth,

Returned this flower to the dirt . . .

There's a point we pass from which we can't return (“Rise Against Lyrics – The

Good Left Undone).

The song’s message that the damage one does to a part of nature—whether it is a plant, a person,

or society as a whole—cannot be undone echoes the Dark Romantics’ perspective that it is too

late for mankind to reverse the corruption of their hearts.

Realism was a subsequent literary movement chiefly propagated by Walt Whitman and

Emily Dickinson. Like the Transcendentalists, these writers emphasized the importance of a

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connection with the divine through nature, as evidenced by Emily Dickinson’s 236th poem in

which she writes, “I keep [the Sabbath] staying at Home - / With a Bobolink for a Chorister - /

And an Orchard for a Dome” (1668). However, the Realist authors, especially Whitman,

disagreed with Emerson and Thoreau on the issue of the importance of the physical world. His

comment in “Song of Myself” that “every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you”

indicates that he believed physical connection with nature and with other people is an essential

part of the human experience and should be embraced rather than rejected (Whitman 1330).

Dickinson shared Whitman’s perspective on the significance of both spirituality and physicality,

as her poems 448, 479, 591, and many others explore both the physical and spiritual aspects of

death. She differed from him, however, in her perspective on society. While “Song of Myself”

advocates learning more about yourself through interacting with other people, Dickinson’s

poetry, including the aforementioned 236th poem about her own personal church service,

illustrates her preference for seclusion and her belief that she can understand herself better in the

absence of pressure from others. As “those who ne’er succeed” are the only ones who understand

what success truly means, she believed that she could better understand human nature through

her lack of interaction with other people (1663).

The Realists’ focus on physicality is evident in modern music as well, particularly as it

pertains to the concept of the unceasing physical cycle of life and death detailed by Whitman in

“Song of Myself.” The lyrics to “The Circle of Life” from the 1994 Disney film “The Lion

King” depict this interchange of life and death that “moves us all/Through despair and

hope/Through faith and love/Till we find our place/On the path unwinding” (“The Lion King

Lyrics – The Circle of Life”). The song depicts the cycle as a beautiful thing, as Whitman does in

his discourse on the grass when he states that “the smallest sprout shows there is really no death”

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(1334). An example of the Realists’ idea that both the good and the bad things in life are

beautiful in their own ways and are essential to the human experience can be found in the lyrics

to Coldplay’s “Paradise.” This song tells the story of a girl who was disappointed by her life, but

“in the night, the stormy night/Away she'd fly/And dream of para- para- paradise” (“Coldplay

Lyrics - Paradise). Her comment that she “I know[s] the sun must set to rise” reflects Whitman

and Dickinson’s mindset that everything that happens in life, whether good, bad, or indifferent, is

essential to one’s personal growth.

The Naturalists, like Jack London and Brett Harte, were the most despondent of the

nineteenth century writers, as they believed that men were merely animals, meant only to be

born, reproduce, and die. Their works undermine the idea that men are spiritual beings created to

have an impact on society and connect with a divine power. London depicts this perspective

through the protagonist of his story “The Law of Life,” who believes that nature’s “interest lay in

the species, the race,” so men are meant to reproduce and then die to make room for new

generations (London). Brett Harte’s short story “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” depicts this same

view of human nature as animalistic and unspiritual through the resolution of the story in which

the characters, the guilty and the innocent alike, are all met with the same fate regardless of their

state in life (Harte).

Evidence of the Naturalists’ point of view is exceptionally prevalent in today’s society

since the Darwinian theories that so greatly influenced their perspective is still the dominant

scientific theory. The song “History of Everything” by the Barenaked Ladies is just one of many

examples of the popularity of this outlook on life; the lyrics detail the process by which

evolutionary theory believes the universe came into being, beginning with a “hot dense state,/

Then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started” (“Barenaked Ladies Lyrics – History

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of Everything”). The song implies that the scientific advancements the band mentions in the

lyrics throughout the remainder of the tune all exist for the purpose of furthering the human

species, which accurately describes the belief system of the Naturalist American writers as well.

The song “Convince Me” by pop-punk band We Still Dream reflects the lack of significance of

spirituality in the lives of the Naturalists through the story of a man who loses his faith in a

divine power. The song’s statement that “some things just are what they seem” sums up these

writers’ view of life because of its emphasis on the observable world, which the Naturalists

favored, rather than the spiritual realm on which the preceding literary movements tended to

focus (“We Still Dream Lyrics – Convince Me”).

Because of the presence of the ideas of nineteenth century American literary movements

in modern cultural references, it can be concluded that the minds of the intellectuals of the past

have indeed influenced, and continue to influence, the minds of present scholars. Although those

movements developed over a period of decades, each in response to the mindset preceding it, all

of the ideas of those authors coexist in today’s society. Some of these concepts may be altered at

times to more closely fit with a particular culture’s predominant perspective on nature,

physicality, spirituality, and society; but for the most part, the ideas that began with these

nineteenth century authors remain true to their original form, which suggests that the basic tenets

of each of these movements are still largely influential on society’s current attitudes. Based on

the evidence of these philosophies’ presence in modern thought, it can be postulated that not only

does the mind of the past have a great influence on the mind of present scholars as Emerson

stated, but also that the mind of the past and the mind of the present will coalesce and continue to

influence the mind of the future for generations to come.

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Fagan, Sean. "Which Disney Princess Are You?" Buzzfeed. Buzzfeed, Inc., 3 Feb. 2014. Web. 2

May 2014.

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