Abstract

Moby-Dick represents an important transitional moment in Herman Melville's literary career, dramatically altering tendencies inherent in his fiction from Typee onward. In contrast to Melville's blithely exciting and largely optimistic first six novels of the sea, Melville's later works---beginning with his pivotal epic Moby-Dick---assume a much darker and increasingly anti-Transcendental philosophical position. ;Chapter One, "Correspondent Colorings: Emerson and Melville," outlines the critical history of the Emerson-Melville relationship and treats the European origins of American Transcendentalism. Chapter Two, "American Transcendentalism and its Discontents," considers the Transcendental movement in detail and provides critical commentary on Emerson's major works. Chapter Three, "Deeper Shadows to Come: The Transcendental Underpinnings of Melville's Early Works," examines Melville's early exposure to Emerson and the Transcendental dimensions of Melville's fiction leading up to 1850. Chapter Four, "Defying Nature: Moby-Dick and the Limits of Emersonian Affirmation," explores Moby-Dick as both a Transcendental and an anti-Transcendental work that marks Melville's transition away from a metaphysics of idealism. Chapter Five, "A Hell-Fired Rural Bowl of Milk: Melville's Pierre and Transcendental Rebellion," considers Pierre as the quintessential expression of Melville's dissatisfaction and disillusionment with Transcendentalism, along with exploring Melville's marginal notations in his copies of Emerson's Essays. Chapter Six, "Naked Nature Aboard the San Dominick: "Benito Cereno," Emerson, and the Gothic," analyzes "Benito Cereno" as a reactively Gothic anti-Transcendental work attacking Emersonian optimism. Chapter Seven, "The Endless, Winding Way: Melville's Engagement with Emerson in The Whale's Wake," locates Melville's later works---"Bartleby, the Scrivener," The Confidence-Man and Billy Budd, Sailor---in the continuum of Melville's relationship as an author to Emerson and Transcendentalism. Finally, the Appendix collects, annotates, and assesses secondary works treating the Emerson-Melville relationship