浅析爱默生的论自助
拉尔夫?华尔多?爱默生是美国十九世纪着名的作家《论自,
助》是其极具影响力的一部作品,也是一部激励人们自信、独
立的作品。论文从分析、研究爱默生及其作品出发,探索了作
品中的四种主要思想,包括“自信”、“独立”、“个性”、“拒绝对
穷人的同情”,其中,“自信”是论文的核心。在研究作品主要思
想的基础上,论文探讨了作品的主要思想对当今社会的启迪
和影响,包括对乐观自信生活态度的启迪、对女性自助思想的
促进、对个人成功的影响及对国家繁荣与富强的影响。
Introduction
Emerson, Ralph Waldo was one of the most outstanding American writers in the19th century; he experienced much in his whole life. His Self-Reliance is an influential work which deeply attracts many readers. “Believe in Oneself” is the main
idea expressed and analyzed in the work. In Self-Reliance, there exist four kinds of important thoughts. The first kind of thought is “The Confidence”. Emerson advocated that a man must show his opinion confidently and bravely in spite of different ideas. “The Independence” is the second kind of important thought which is expressed in Self-Reliance. A man should keep himself firmly but not be easily influenced by environment. The third kind of thought is to keep personality, which is closely related to the confidence and the independence. From Emerson’s opinion,
a man must keep his personality and conform to his own principles. “Showing no Sympathy to the Poor” is the fourth kind of thought in the work. It shows that why the poor are poor is mainly due to their backward thinking. Showing help to this kind of people means doing harm to them. All these ideas in Emerson’s Self-reliance have enlightenments on today’s society.
They help people take confident and optimistic attitudes towards life. These important thoughts enlighten the female to be confident and strive for their social status. Besides, they are crucial for individuals’ success. Each man who possesses the
thoughts is easy to make progress and achieve success. Moreover, a country’s prosperity is established on the basis of confidence and independence.
I. A Brief Introduc
tion to Emerson and His Self-Reliance
A. Emerson, Ralph Waldo
Emerson collected all his speech materials and made a book called Essays, including Self-reliance, Love, and Friendship and so on. Emerson’s Essays speaks highly of the man who should trust their own suggestion. He advocated that a man should develop the national pride and opposed following the others’
saying. Almost all his speeches made a deep influence on America’s national civilization. In 1837, he published a famous speech which declared that the American literature was separated from Britain literature. He was also the spokesman of transcendentalism. Emerson abandoned the thought which takes god as the centre. He raised the idea that the man could know
the truth by instinct, so to some extent, the man is the god. Then he cried out that ‘Believe in Yourself’. His opinion reflected
the advancing spirit of capitalism society. This positive spirit was called as American religion and it pushed the development of national spirit of America. He was the clairvoyant of American spirit and belonged to America, Emerson’s thoughts
and works largely promoted the establishment and development of American national spirit.
B. Self-Reliance
Emerson’s works deeply attract readers, especially
Self-Reliance, which is from Essays. This prose is finished according to a series of speech materials between 1836 and 1837. Self-Reliance is his significant work which expresses his idea of transcendentalism. “Believe in Yourself” is the core point of Self-Reliance. Emerson opposed all forms of imitation in the works. He thought the man should believe he was excellent at any time. The real man should learn how to reject to drift with the stream. If a man is afraid of public opinion or compelled him to do something unchanged, he will possibly lose the innovative ability which leads him to success. If a person doesn’t want t