Emerson and the Work of Melancholia

Emerson is a Romanticist writer. He is one because he follows what he feels. He also follows a set rule that he places in front of him. For example, he finds it bad to mourn death. When his wife, who was only 19 years old and his favorite brother died 5 years later, he did not cry or mourn. He bleieved that mourning was a weakness. He knew that he will some day see the souls of the people again and he was not sad that they were physically done with the earth. He also believed that it was embarrassing to be caught mourning. He had this theory called the "mispace". The midspace was the part of transition where you are not completely in heaven, but your body is not on the earth anymore for living people to enjoy your presence. He thought this was a time that if you were a mourner it would show. He found it shameful to be caught mourning (Edmundson). This is a sad theory. I believe it is because it is okay to mourn the death of someone, yes you will see them again some day, but it is still had that you have to live the rest of your life without seeing them or talking to them ever again. It is okay to mourn it helps to relieve the stress you may have from loosing the close friend or relative. People also need to move on with their lives and realize there is much more to live and they should remember the person that passed, but should find new happiniesses. Emerson's mind changed when his son, Waldo, died. He writes in a letter to his friend Caroline Sturgis, "Alas! I chiefly grieve that I cannot grieve; that this fact takes no more deep hold than other facts, is as dreamlike as they; a lambent flame that will not burn playing on the surface of my river." This is the opposite of what he has been preaching his whole life and it has bitten him in the butt (Edmundson) He wants to grieve over the death of his son but he is not able to because he does not know how to grieve or show mourn or saddness. The death of his son helps him to realize how the path he has followed for his whole life is wrong. He realizes that he should have "learned" to mourn. He has never felt the need to mourn because he felt it was wrong to do so and it was embarassing, but when his son died, he noticed that mourning was a good thing. He was over powered by the fact that his son was so young. It probably hit Ralph Waldo Emerson hard because his son was a part of him, or Waldo was half of Ralph becuase he helped to created him and he loved his son to no end, just like anyo other father loves his child. He knew that he would see his son again in heaven, but Emerson felt that heaven was a far time away and he missed his son.

Edmundson, Mark. "Emerson and the Work of Melancholia." Raritan (Spring 1987).
New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts
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