Puritanism and Transcendentalism Essay

American literature is characterized by several genres of literature which represent galore(postnominal) different phases in American history and culture. Among these are Puritanism and transcendental philosophy. These two movements dish out(a) certain characteristics while they oppose each other for other reasons.The Puritans were a group of individuals that were very strict, radical Protestants that gathered as a slip of religion after the Reformation in England. They came to American for the freedom to place this type of religion. Writers of the Puritan era served to glorify deity and teach community how to live a godly life. These ideals are reflected in Anne Bradstreets, Upon the Burning of our suffer in which the narrator still praises God even after a devastating tragedy. In addition, Jonathan Edwards, a Puritan minister, notes the angry nature of God to his congregation who he feels is straying in Sinners in the Hands of an godforsaken God.Even Nathaniel Hawthorne, a writer from the 1800s, and Arthur Miller, a writer from the 1900s, focus on this period of time in their works, The Scarlet Letter, and The Crucible, respectively. These works point out need to strictly adhere to the groups principles and to live under its scrutiny, or provide the bitter consequences. Hester Prynne must wear a large, red letter A on her chest to show her sin of adultery in the beginning(a) novel while innocent townspeople are accused of witchery on the testimony of a jealous teenage girl in The Crucible. Obedience and humility were definitely characteristics of this type of literature.The Transcendentalist writers of the next century overly believed in the importance of a higher federal agency. However, unlike the Puritans, the higher function was not a rote belief in the doctrines of God. The rise of Transcendentalism came from the church, the Unitarian church, but not from an angry god but a quieter, kinder indwelling God and the significance of intuitive th ought (Campbell).This higher power was a more ambiguous higher reality than one could watch over in simple experience. It was a heightened level of knowledge and philosophical pinch than could be achieved by reason alone. The Transcendentalists sought to go beyond simple, occasional experience to find a higher level of truth. Whereas the Puritans would dictate what that truth were to be, according to the Bible, the Transcendentalists were willing to accept several interpretations of this truth.Some noted writers of the American Transcendentalist period of literature were Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Emersons essay on spirit showed the reverence for the natural world and its importance. Thoreaus Civil Disobedience emphasize the importance of being true to oneself and beliefs and not being bullied by the schematic institutions or church.Puritanism and Transcendentalism are both belief systems which arise from a spiritual background. The writers of these groups m irror their beliefs. While Puritanism focuses on dogmatic adherence to the Orthodox religion of the times, Transcendentalism is a kindler, gentler philosophy that focuses on the elevating of the individual to the sense and spirit of a greater truth.Campbell, Donna M. American Transcendentalism. Literary Movements. May 21, 2007 declination 13, 2007 .