Self-Reliance | Critical Overview
There are two distinct bodies of criticism of Emerson' s work: commentary on his writing and commentary on his thinking. As a writer, Emerson has been consistently praised through the years from all quarters. Joel Myerson, in Concise Dictionary of Literary Biography: 1640-1865, quotes Rene Wellek, a highly respected historian of literary criticism, as deeming Emerson ‘‘the outstanding representative of romantic symbolism in the English-speaking world.’’ Myerson himself adds:
Ralph Waldo Emerson is perhaps the single most influential figure in American...
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