Studying The Feeling Of Freedom

Thoreau remembers the previous places he had seen before choosing Walden Pond, all of them being much larger. He then quotes a Roman philosopher which applies to his situation rather well. He acknowledges the feeling of freedom, and he then proceeds to the woods feeling free of any obligations and responsibilities. He shares with pride that he is a great distance away from the post office and its problems. Thoreau is very proud of being a first-time homeowner and views his house with a great amount of optimism  He considers himself someone who is flowing through the current of time whenever and however he pleases. Several times a week Thoreau hikes to Concord to meet with the townsfolk and browse. During one of the journeys to Concord he is detained, arrested, and jailed for refusal to pay a poll tax to the state.

He is then released and returns to his pond where he feels safe and at home. Throughout the winter Thoreau usually spends his winters alone by the fire. He imagines the lives of those before him who have had to endure the winter, the path to Concord is not heavily populated and he believes the snow settled much thicker before. During the winter his contact with humans is very limited as well as with animals. Thoreau has a few reliable peers which include an owl and a few of his friends. In Chapter 27 “The Romantic View of Nature”, focuses on nature and romanticism in the nineteenth century. Charles Darwin gave his perception on nature in his theory of evolution. Darwin’s theory of evolution talks about survival of the fittest and natural selection.

Darwin believed that humans evolved from another species such as animals.  William Wordsworth help start what was called the romantic movement in the 18th century. Wordsworth wrote poetry, specifically lyric poetry that had a neoclassical flare. In Wordsworth's “Tintern Abbey”, Wordsworth “set forth three of the key motifs of nineteenth-century romanticism: The redemptive power of nature, the idea of nature’s sympathy with humankind, and the view that one who is close to nature is close to god.” Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats were also writers in the romantic era. Landscape painting also was a big aspect in the romantic era also. Famous landscape painters such as John Constable, Joseph Mallord William Turner, Friedrich, and Jean Baptiste Camille Corot. The transcendentalism movement was derived from the romantic movement and its key figures were Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were both friends. Other keys factors that had to do with romanticism were the relationship between Americans and Native Americans and American Folk Art.

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In folk art , quilts were one of the most popular genres of art. Edward Hicks, an American folk artist vividly displayed the idea of the romanticism era in his painting called “The Peaceable Kingdom” . In Chapter 26 '18th Century Art, Music, and Society, during the eighteenth century, different types of art styles and music were shared amongst society and influenced each social class differently. The rococo style was one of the most famous art forms that symbolized elegance with its fancy display of luxurious display of interiors and vivid detailing with landscapes. Some of the most famous rococo-style painters are Antoine Watteau, Francois Boucher, Marie Louise Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, and Jean-Honore Fragonard. Other rococo styles such as sculptures and music were also a big part of the eighteenth century too. Another part of eighteenth-century art that took place was called genre painting. Famous genre painters were Jean- Baptiste Greuze and Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin.

Neoclassicism which came from the renaissance age and brought back the awareness of Greco roman life and culture. Neoclassicism architecture was also a big part of eighteenth-century art forms too. Some of the most famous architectural pieces came from architects such as Jacques- Gemain Soufflot, Robert Adam, James Gibbs, Jean-August Dominique, Angelica Kauffman and Thomas Jefferson. Another artist named Jacques Louise David who was related to Francois Boucher made himself popular with fellow neoclassicist. One of David’s most famous pieces is titled “The Oath of Horatii”. In the eighteenth century, classical music and symphony orchestra music were very popular amongst the social classes. Orchestra music usually contained instrumentals that used strings, wood, brass, percussion, and wind instruments. After the sinking of the ship due to a storm Pangloss, Candide and a sailor who fell overboard are the only survivors.

They reach shore and head for Lisbon and upon arrival only see the aftermath of an earthquake. The sailor stumbles upon money in the ruins and proceeds to get drunk as well as pay for sex.Pangloss and Candide attempt to help the injured.In an attempt to comfort the victims, Pangloss claims the earthquake may have been for the best and is then accused of heresy. The authorities of Lisbon believe sacrificial burnings will prevent future earthquakes. They select a man who has married his own family, and two others who refuse to eat bacon to be burned. The authorities also hang Pangloss for his opinions and also beat Candide publicly for approving of Pangloss’ ideas. Candide is approached by an elderly woman who tends to his  wounds , feeds and clothes him . After a couple of days she brings him to a house in the country to meet Cunegonde. Cunegonde explains to Candide that burglars have killed her family. Candide then murders a soldier who he found raping Cunegonde, a captain took the woman as his mistress and later on sold her to a jew .

The Grand Inquisitor then attempted to take Cunegonde from the jew and when rejected he made a threat. The two then decided to share her. Cunegonde had witnessed the hanging of Pangloss as well as Candide being whipped which led her to question Pangloss’s teachings. The jew finds Cunegonde and Candide alone together and attempts to kill Candide . Candide kills the jew and later on Grand Inquisitor as well when he comes to meet with Cunegonde. The old woman, Cunegonde and Candide flee on horses . The Holy Brotherhood gives the Grand Inquisitor a proper burial and only throws the Jews body on a dunghill. A Franciscan friar steals Cunegondes jewels. Candide mourns the loss then decides to sell one of the three horses. They then travel to Cadiz where they find troops preparing to sail to the new world.Candid demonstrates his military skills which then earns him the ranking of a captain.Candide takes Cunegonde as well as the elderly woman with him to the new world.

In Chapter 25 'The Limits of Reason” involved the industrial revolution, the transatlantic slave trade, satire, the rebellion against reason from Rousseau and Kant, and the American and French revolution. During the industrial revolution, new inventions that involved the use of machinery instead of doing things by hand. The industrial revolution basically produced machinery that made work easier for people. In the transatlantic slave trade, Africans were taken from their home in Africa against their will and brought to the new world where they were forced to work. Olaudah Equiano, one of the most famous slaves who documented his journey as a slave, recalled many memories of his time during the transatlantic slave trade. Olaudah was later released from slavery and learned English. Olaudah Equiano was also an abolitionist. People who wrote satire were people such as Jonathan Swift, Voltaire, Ruzhen, and William Hogarth.

Jean-Jacques Rosseau tried to make the idea of human conduct better.  Rosseau believed that “human beings may be good by nature …but they are corrupted by society and its institutions. Immanuel Kant respected and followed the ideas that came with enlightenment, yet Kant also questioned what really goes on in reality and morality. Kant said that “enlightenment is man’s emergence from self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance” In the French and American revolutions, the American revolution was a fight against British rule and the thirteen colonies of America. While the French revolution fought about inequality amongst the classes and the expenses brought on by the wars and rulers. In Chapter 24 “The Enlightenment: The Promise of Reason”, the age of enlightenment marked a time where people shared their intellectual and philosophical ideas with the world, through science, liberty and political theories and philosophy.

Two philosophers named Thomas Hobbes and John Locke shared their ideas on social contract. Social contract is basically an agreement between the government and the governed. For Thomas Hobbes, Hobbes believed that a social contract was an agreement with people who willingly gave their freedom to those who were in leadership positions. Whereas John Locke believed that people in leadership positions should remain in full power, yet there should be a form of order between the government and the governed that makes sure that people are happy and everything is in order. Both Thomas Hobbes and John Locke both influenced the natural law. On the other hand, Locke also inspired those such as Thomas Jefferson and Charles Montesquieu.

The philosophes or philosophers were the main people involved in the enlightenment. Philosophers mostly believed in God but did not tend to believe in organized religion or things associated with organized religion such as the bible. The Encyclopedia was a book which many philosophers contributed ideas and formed them into a thirty-five-volume book. Though the Encyclopedie had many philosophers contribute to it, Denis Diderot edited and published the Encyclopedie. There were also many other contributing factors in the enlightenment such as Condorcet, womens rights, and the many enlightenment literatures. Some enlightenment literature writers were Daniel Defoe and Edgar Poe.

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