Representative Men (Magill Book Reviews)
At a glance:
- Author: Ralph Waldo Emerson
- First Published: 1850
- Type of Work: Philosophical Essays
- Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Biography
- Subjects: Philosophy or philosophers, Authors or writers, Poetry or poets, Mysticism, Heroes or heroism, Heads of state, Transcendentalism
Knowing that each age must produce its own geniuses, Emerson offered these essays to the nation as examples from past ages, trying to explain the attraction of these men and to understand their contributions. He called them REPRESENTATIVE, by which he did not mean average. Each genius came forth to stand above all others in his field; each was representative of what could be accomplished; each illustrated and characterized the age that produced him; and each was an abstract ideal given solid form. In form, each essay begins with a philosophical premise concerning some aspect of man’s...
[The entire page is 519 words long]
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