While Romantic ideals about the superiority of emotion and beauty over logic and scientific rationalization do not fit entirely with modern interpretation of truth – generally being a falsifiable, objective, scientific approach to reality – there are many philosophical movements still in existence today that revolve around the equality and acceptance preached by poets and authors of the past era. Two famous examples of pure equality during the Romantic era are Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions and Walt Whitman's “Song of Myself.” Though Rousseau focuses more on accepting his own misdeeds as human err, his underlying message is synonymous with Whitman's blunt statements about the equality of people both good and bad. In a world full of societal standards and bigotry, mankind needs to reflect on some of the Romantic principles to realize that we are all equal humans and that there is no supernatural social standard for humanity.
It is a common theme among Romantic literary works to emphasize the equality of all persons, even while acknowledging that there are differences. While the Enlightenment thinkers would have seen deviation as a mark of superiority or inferiority, Romantics saw it as having no divine or social importance; dissimilar people were just as human and thus just as equal in the eyes of the Romantic philosophers. Rousseau, in his Confessions, admitted to his grave distinctness with the line, “I will even venture to say that I am like no one in the whole world” (498), yet the work is filled with arguments for his equality amongst his peers. Throughout history, mankind has always found different ways to segregate themselves based on differences. It was from the second half of the 18th century onward that a strong objection to such petty discrimination could be seen. Whitman's “Song of Myself,” among other claims, addresses a common bigoted ideology that has been a powerful force in most cultures: sexism. With a simple sentence, he expresses a concept that has been widely debated for as long as there has been gender: “it is as great to be a woman as to be a man” (Whitman 920). While people discriminate over minute differences such as skin color or opinions, Whitman is bold enough to make, without a second thought, a blanket statement about the equality of an entire gender.
While it is just as easy to state that a group of people is equal as it is to state that they are not, Rousseau and Whitman have underlying messages and explanations in their push for impartiality. Most importantly, one must remember that the social standards to which humans hold themselves were man-made, not divine. From trivial dress to life-altering class systems, the vast majority of the things on which society bases judgment are inglorious. Pamela Clemit acknowledges Rousseau's insistence on redefining social standards, showing how the Romantic author “invites readers to reflect on their own experiences of alienation and self-division” (Clemit 161). Many people who judge based on these earthly social standards are guilty of the very same offense, and no person can say he or she has lived a life without moral demons. This only emphasizes the subjectivity of morality. Acceptable and degenerate behavior is ever-changing; the dominate moral ideology of a society is a result of conformity as opposed to unity.
In order to accept someone else as an equal, the most important things to know are the reasons for diversity among personality. On the surface, and as per societal standards, these marks of difference generally represent inferiority and one's place in society; however, when taking a closer look, one will find that such personality attributes are not so supernatural. Rousseau, for example, explains his seemingly inferior conversational thought process in detail. Due to his inability to put forth coherent statements with agility, Rousseau mentions, “though I am not a fool, I am very often taken for one, even by people in a good position to judge” (514). It is the misunderstanding of his peers that leads them to believe he is lacking in intelligence – a misunderstanding that results in a feeling of inequality among the author and his audience, even though Rousseau has since become recognized as a brilliant mind of his era. Rousseau thus shows that judgment of inferiority is not always well deserved, as one cannot be accurately labeled by anyone other than him- or herself. Jean-Jacques even goes so far as to say that evil actions, not just misinterpreted ones, make one no less equal. “His depravities and degeneracies, he suggests, are the result not of uncontrolled nature but of the pernicious influences of civilization” (Bauer 311). We are the products of our environment. It would be quite egocentric for one to judge another for behaving as his or her environment taught him or her to behave, seeing as how one's behavior is a result of environmental influence as well. We must question the whys of actions. For every question about a person's personality or actions, there is an answer, and that answer is never inferiority.
The association of life with nature is a beautiful justification for man's equality that was often used in the Romantic era. Prominent Romantic authors felt that everything, including humanity, was equal due to the fact that everything is natural. Whitman focused on this idea heavily, connecting humans to nature and to each other by stating, “every one atom belonging to me as good belongs to you” (918). Whitman “saw humans and their creations as an inextricable component of the natural world” (Sickels 19). This connection can be interpreted as a reduction of man to soulless matter; but, given Whitman's wholly love for all, it should be seen more as a promotion of nature to man's level: “Towards animate and inanimate, intimate and distant, that which is humanly affable and that in us which resists affection, Whitman turns the steady regard of an equal” (Hirshfield 48).
Unfortunately, human equality is not as common-sense as Romantic authors would have hoped; before one can accept others, one must first accept oneself. After all, if we define ourselves via some social standard, then we are still succumbing to that earthly standard. Both Rousseau and Whitman preached self-acceptance as a precursor to equality in their works. Beatrice Marovich describes how Whitman “[broke] out of the linear narrative” (354) of religion, and thus prevailing social standards, of his time in order to “recode, transpose, or repossess it” (353) with his own idea of an “infallibly good and sinless” (362) self. It is necessary to accept oneself as sinless before one can accept others as such. Rousseau's Confessions serves as a remarkable example of self-acceptance. Reflecting on a “calumny” (Rousseau 507), Rousseau tells a story of how he stole a ribbon and avoided punishment when confronted about it by passing on blame to his friend. He repeatedly refers to this as such a “cruel memory” (Rousseau 507), but is able to admit that, “never was deliberate wickedness further from my intention than at that cruel moment” (Rousseau 508). Accepting his misdeeds and therefore not thinking less of himself, Rousseau's “confessions become, in effect, the great apologia of his life” (Bauer 311). Rousseau grants himself a better understanding of both himself and his actions, allowing for a realization “that at the bottom of his 'Nature' he is good” (Bauer 311).
So sure of his equality in light of his misdeeds, Rousseau said, “Let them groan at my depravities, and blush for my misdeeds. But let each one of them reveal his heart at the foot of Thy throne with equal sincerity, and may any man who dares, say 'I was a better man than he'” (498). This quote, with which “Rousseau challenges his readers to scrutinize their own lives and characters before condemning him” (Clemit 161), is a perfect representation of how Romantic authors believed the average person should feel about him- or herself. It is through personal experience and self-reflection that one discovers the innocence behind acts that are often perceived to be immoral; and thus is a common concept to find in Romantic literature that focuses on equality.
The Romantic concept of equality and focus on self-acceptance lead to their underlying ideal society of acceptance and tolerance. While the concept of equality encompasses how one feels about others, Rousseau and Whitman challenge their readers to go beyond mental tolerance in order to publicly and physically accept human difference. Professor Ralph Bauer notes, in response to Confessions, how “Enlightenment moral prescriptions appear to be inadequate, and the upholders of public decorum as pharisaic hypocrites who chastise Rousseau for their own sins” (Bauer 311). Romantic philosophers were able to recognize the flaws in Enlightenment ideas of morality, go against the social norm, and embrace difference. Whitman addresses all people when he says, “you are not guilty to me, nor stale nor discarded” (919). He serves as the perfect role model for how all of mankind should live their lives. Jane Hirshfield comments on how “Song of Myself” is a beckoning life creed: “Whitman asks no less ardor of us. His omnivorous, compassionate insistence that we live as his companion 'cameradoes' in the fullest pitch and range of existence – that is the irresistible music of Whitman, for me, the song of all of ourselves” (49). In his work, Whitman not only equates himself with all people, but befriends them as well. He decides that he “will accept nothing which all cannot have their counterpart of on the same terms” (Whitman 921).
David Bromwich summarizes the Romantic movement eloquently in his article: “In this Romantic view, the discovery of the self is not a selfish discovery. By reading, by abstraction, it connects me with a community beyond the parochial demands I associate with my parents or the beliefs and prejudices I inherit from my placement in a given culture at a given time. That larger and impalpable community, which I was not given but chose, relates me conceivably to anyone, and therefore it seems to everyone” (66). The Romantic ideas of equality, acceptance, and rewritten societal standards have withstood the sands of time. The philosophies are still preached today, but, unfortunately, are very rarely practiced.
Society needs to embrace the enlightened ideals of the Romantic era. Rousseau's Confessions presents very compelling evidence for the subjectivity of morality, explanations for perceived immorality, and his desire to be socially equal; Whitman's “Song of Myself” offers an exquisite interpretation of our morally-equal selves' places in society. “Because the movement is not a dragging of outer realities into the ego, but the reverse – Whitman,” as should we, “expands to embrace the entirety” (Hirshfield 48).
- Charles Stover, 30 November 2010
Bibliography
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Hirshfield, Jane. “Section 26 of 'Song of Myself' and Whitman's Listening.” Virginia Quarterly Review (2005): 48-49. Academic Search Elite. Web. 20 Oct. 2010.
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Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself.” The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. Ed. Sarah Lawall. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2006. 918-923. Print.
