On H.D.Thoreau’s Inheritance And Development Of R.W.Emerson’s View Of Nature In Walden

Henry David Thoreau(1817-1862)is an eminent American writer,philosopher,representative of transcendentalism and the pioneer of modern environmentalism.Thoreau,an ardent lover of Nature,devoted all his life to the study of the relationship between man and nature and bequeathed a legacy of works in this field.Walden,written after his solitary staying in a cabin by Walden pond for two years and two months,is perhaps his best-known book representing his thoughts and understandings of nature and its relation with human and society.Thoreau is often dismissed as being merely a minor disciple of Ralph Waldo Emerson who stole the ideas of his mentor.The aim of this thesis is to argue,by examining the contexts of Walden,that this is a misunderstanding of Thoreau and that although he has inherited Emerson’s ideas,his work further expands Emerson’s view of nature.In Thoreau’s eyes,Nature,the epitome of good,truth and beauty,exists by itself and has its own meaning.To anyone who has a pursuit for truth,good and beauty,getting close to nature is the only way.This paper consists of three main parts.They are the introduction,the body and the conclusion respectively.In introduction,the background and the significance of the research,literature review and the research framework have been narrated.In the body part,there are altogether three chapters.In the first chapter,the views of nature of Emerson and Thoreau have been explored successively.In the second chapter,Thoreau’s inheritance of Emerson’s view of nature has been studied from the following three aspects: the role of nature played in the world and human’s eyes,the healing effects of nature to human’s soul and body and going to solitude as the way of getting close to nature.In the third chapter,Thoreau’s development of Emerson’s view of nature has been discussed from three angles: the relationship between human and nature,the attitude towards industrial civilization,the way to determine a man’s success.