Exploration of Identical Ideas: Wordsworth and Emerson

Abstract

This article deals with the similarities between American Transcendentalism and British Romanticism, more precisely between William Wordsworth and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s engagement with Individualism and Nature. Wordsworth, one of the revolutionary thinkers of the Romantic period, has dealt with the life of the ordinary man and Emerson, one of the prophets of American Transcendentalism, has dealt with freethinking and the liberty of the people. The article examines the basic structures of both American Transcendentalism and British Romanticism and how the society of the period played a significant role in shaping the philosophical mindsets of both Emerson and Wordsworth. The article concludes with a brief discussion on the identical ideas delivered by both Wordsworth and Emerson in their respective writings.