Open AccessTranscendentalism in Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick
Author(s) -
Wenjin Qi
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of language teaching and research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2053-0684
pISSN - 1798-4769
DOI - 10.17507/jltr.1202.08
Subject(s) - hero , transcendental number , romance , narrative , individualism , art , philosophy , literature , epistemology , political science , law
Ralph Waldo Emerson's Transcendentalist beliefs had dominated American literature in the Romantic period. It has remained an appealing interest in exploring whether Herman Melville had been influenced by Transcendentalism and in what ways it is embodied in his work. Therefore, this study carries out a detailed analysis of Melville's Transcendentalist tendency in his masterpiece of Moby-Dick. It is found that the characterization of Ahab as a Transcendentalist hero and Ishmael as an Emersonian Individualist are two cases in the point. Furthermore, it also reveals the embodiment of Oversoul in the narration. Altogether, they testify the sign of Transcendental influence over Melville in this novel.