Ralph Waldo Emerson

Representative Men contains seven essays, the first of which discusses the role great men play in society. The remaining six essays extoll the virtues of six men whom Emerson deemed great: Plato, Emanuel Swedenborg, Michel de Montaigne, William Shakespeare, Napoleon, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Nature contains the essence of Emerson's transcendental philosophy in which the world of phenomena is seen as symbolic of the inner life, and individual freedom and self-reliance are emphasized. Emerson's addresses apply his doctrine to scholars, clergymen, and others.

Nature, Addresses and Lectures

Representative Men

Introduction by Brenda Wineapple In 1845 Ralph Waldo Emerson began a series of lectures and writings in which he limned six figures who embodied the principles and aspirations of a still-young American republic. Emerson offers timeless meditations on the value of individual greatness, reconnecting readers with the everyday virtues of his “Representative Men”: Plato, in whose writings are contained “the culture of nations”; Emanuel Swedenborg, a “rich discoverer” who strove to unite the scientific and spiritual planes; Michel de Montaigne, “the frankest and honestest of all writers”; William Shakespeare, who “wrote the text of modern life”; Napoleon Bonaparte, who had the “virtues and vices” of common men writ lar≥ and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who “in conversation, in calamity…finds new materials.” This Modern Library Paperback Classic reflects the author’s corrections for an 1876 reprinting.

Representative Men Nature, Addresses and Lectures