History Literary Elements

Essay

The essay focuses upon the study and subject of History

The essay is written from Emerson's point of view as a scholar. The language often resembles a sort of "detached" first person narration. Through it, he tries to examine how History as a subject relates to humanity. Emerson argues how the shared experience of humanity creates History.

Scholarly and reflective. The essay is a study/discourse on the idea of history. Emerson uses his learning to describe how humanity has defined history. The definition he develops through the origins, characters, and results of "History" as a subject.

As an essay, "History" lacks a central protagonist and antagonist. Humanity is the central topic of discussion though so can be considered the "protagonist".

Emerson's questions about the "Law of History". The essay questions if History is worth studying and how it should be studied. Emerson seeks to do this by seeing how History first arose from nature, to humanity, to civilization. To Emerson, History is the divine result of humanity's innate possibility.

Emerson's conclusion that History is an organic and natural process brought on by humanity. The human individual is defined by all the work they can do in life as "His power consists in the multitude of his affinities, in the fact that his life is intertwined with the whole chain of organic and inorganic being." Emerson concludes with the assumption: ”Let it suffice that in the light of these two facts, namely, that the mind is One, and that nature is its correlative, history is to be read and written.” History then is the natural result of these affinities which compile or collect over time.

Emerson's discussion of the acorn and the "First Man". The acorn contains the possibility of a forest within itself by natural growth. The "First Man" contained the possibility of all humanity within himself. The power of exponential growth is inherent in all natural things. Emerson shows the most basic element of nature seeks to do the same as all of nature. The acorn is the same as all humans. All desire to grown beyond themselves.

Emerson constantly refers to the the great religions of the world, the great societies of the past, and great works of art/architecture, but says they, in the end, compare nothing to a single human. Through History, Emerson believes, each human (no matter how small) was/is invested with infinite possibility. Compared to the great prophets, leaders, and artists of History, the common man may seem small, but they still hold the same powers as these men. Any person could be the next Zoroaster, the next Homer, or the next Napoleon. This is why each individual is the measly "acorn" to the "forest" of humanity. The small may soon produce the mighty.

Emerson makes frequent use of historical and literary allusion throughout the essay. As a scholar, Emerson seeks to establish the definition of History through its vast nature. He names figures such as Herodotus, Napoleon, and Shakespeare to establish both historical and literary precedents. All these men and their moments he sees as showcasing History at its best. It was the figures and societies Emerson highlights that define the course of human history.

Emerson's imagery of the natural origins of temples and cathedrals. He sees both structures as having an origin in the wild, primordial forests of the world. Man mimic groves in architecture because it recalls the first divine experiences of humanity. It was in sacred groves that humanity first felt the transcendental divinity of God (or so Emerson believes). The columns of temples and spires of cathedrals replicate trees reaching toward the divine infinity of God. The desire to reach towards God (or the divine) is the most basic aspect of humanity. History is the eternal process of attempting to achieve the original state of divinity.

Throughout the essay, Emerson confronts the paradox presented by the study of History. The essay questions how one is suppose to study the infinite identity/span of History with a finite life. Emerson counters this paradox by saying humanity is equally infinite and finite. Infinite possibility is held within each soul. A fact which he displays by talking about such important figures of History as Solomon, Burke, Homer, Napoleon, etc... All these are Emerson's "saints" of History who defined it through religion, philosophy, poetry, and politics. The infinite truth of History can be gained by appreciating the size of its span.

Emerson sees the natural state of humanity as that which is parallel to History. It is from nature that both humanity and History are generated. Both find their origins in the divinity of the "One Mind". The divine process of both generates the other in Emerson's transcendental philosophy.

The concept of History in "History" is a complex idea to explain. Emerson does not simply mean "a sequence of events". He implies something more transcendent in his use of the world "History". History, to Emerson, is the great struggle from a divine origin. The transcendental God is displayed in all the great actions of "History". Humanity, culture, civilization, religion, war, and literature are all contained in Emerson's "History". It is the entire story produced by the human experience from beginning to end. A fact which Emerson believes shows all humanity is united within History.

Emerson personification of nature through the "One Mind" and humanity's origin as the "First Man". Emerson bestows human properties on these concepts to better describe them to the reader. Such abstract concepts need to be defined in more understandable/tangible forms. Emerson gives these primordial origins identities which he relates to human functions: thought, reproduction, and logic. These are the major concepts which define his History. The "One Mind" and "First Man" are human because all of humanity comes from them. All nature is related in purpose through this divine understanding of the world.