Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." This famous quote reflects the tension felt between the individual and society for some of the later Romantic writers and is apparent in their work. Transcendentalists, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and ... that prison is a place where "a free man can abide with honor" (Baym 972). Although not widely accepted at first, "Resistance to Civil Government" became a "world-famous essay on the relationship of the individual to the state" and inspired many influent...

• Word Count: 1963
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate