READING EMERSON’S SELF-RELIANCE TEXTS:
THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR, THE DIVINITY SCHOOL ADDRESS,
AND "SELF-RELIANCE"
These texts address the theme of self-reliance in different ways.The American Scholar treats self-reliance in scholarship and literary culture. The Divinity School Address calls for a rethinking of Christianity to privilege the divine in each person over the life of Jesus as an individual. And "Self-Reliance" asks you to "Trust thyself" in broader and more theoretical terms (1046). As you read these texts, consider the similarities between them (as well as ways in which the ideas here are extensions of those in Nature). To what extent is Emerson making the same gestures in three different arenas? On the other hand, how do these texts differ? Does each text arrive at the same point? Are these texts similar in tone?
As you read, pay attention to the following issues: How does Emerson approach reading in each of these texts? How important are great books to him, and how does he react to earlier authors? In the Divinity School Address, consider Emerson’s approach to the Bible and to Jesus. Pay particular attention to the two middle paragraphs on page 1037, beginning with "These general views" (1037).
More broadly, how do other people fit into Emerson’s understanding of the self? How does he imagine a self-reliant individual’s relationship to society? Does he seem consistent about this across these three essays?
Watch for smaller continuities among these texts as well. You’ll notice, as you read, that many of the themes and images that run through Nature appear in these texts. For example, in The American Scholar, Emerson describes man as existing in society in a "degenerate state," having been divided from "Man into men" (1022, 1021). How similar is this sense to the various fables of fallenness that he suggests at the end of Nature? Does this idea appear in the Divinity School Address and "Self-Reliance" as well?
Watch as well for Emerson’s preoccupation with metaphors of sight and vision. In these texts, who sees clearly, and in what ways is vision threatened? Consider as well the role of the poet in these texts? How does Emerson define poetry? To what extent would you call these texts poetic?
Again, these are difficult texts. Don’t expect to master them fully in a single reading, or even in a single term. But I hope that you’ll enjoy them. Despite their difficulty, these are wonderfully interesting texts.