Essays

Emerson, Whitman, and Eros

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Abstract

Seeks to correct the "sanitzed and stilted view of Emerson" that prevailed among Emerson's Brahmin friends and still dominates much Whitman criticism, and argues that Emerson and Whitman share a belief in "the body and the senses" as "essential elements of human nature"; using Norman O. Brown's theories, goes on to posit that for Emerson and Whitman "one of the primary drives of Eros . . . is desire for union with the world, with the natural environment," and that both writers sought a "sensual language" to express this desire: "For both Emerson and Whitman, humanity must literally come to its senses, in word and deed."

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How to Cite: Gougeon, L. (2006) “Emerson, Whitman, and Eros”, Walt Whitman Quarterly Review. 23(3/4). doi: https://doi.org/10.13008/2153-3695.1797