Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

2000

Thesis Director

Stephen Swords

Abstract

Although Doris Lessing writes during the twentieth century in England and Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote during the nineteenth century in America, they both explore the complexity of human existence through their work. Both authors visualize the possibility of an "ideal reality," or human evolution, and believe human beings are capable of transforming ordinary, or actual, reality into ideal reality. The human potential for the creation of the ideal, however, depends on the development of that potential to its fullest extent. Lessing and Emerson believe only the individual is capable of completely developing human potential. Through a series of steps, or experiences, the individual develops his or her potential and ultimately becomes capable of transforming ordinary reality into ideal reality.

In probing the more complicated aspects of human existence in their work, both Lessing and Emerson aim to instruct and educate readers. The two authors use their art to model their own beliefs and behavior as well as to effect transformation among all readers. Lessing and Emerson expect from readers active rather than passive reading--readers must alter their behavior based on what they read instead of merely reading a work and forgetting about it. The art of writing, for Lessing and Emerson, represents a vehicle through which they transmit their ideas and cause people to act, or to work for human evolution.

Though Lessing and Emerson write from very different and very distinct environments, neither can easily be categorized as a certain type of writer. While Lessing expresses ideas mainly through fiction and Emerson through essays, both authors examine the various philosophical issues central to human existence. The authors transcend all categories in their attempts to explore and explain the human condition and, in transcending those categories, redefine the role of the artist. Art, for Lessing and Emerson, does not represent merely a form of entertainment. Art represents the human condition, and the two authors consider their art essential to the evolution of humanity.

While Lessing and Emerson appear, on the surface, to be very different from one another--a twentieth-century English female novelist and a nineteenth-century American male essayist--they contemplate many of the same philosophical ideas important to people of any century or country. Emerson is regarded as one of the greatest writers/thinkers of the nineteenth century as a result of his ideas about the human condition. His ideas transcend all boundaries and hold meaning for all humans. Lessing's career of exploring human existence aligns her with the transcendental Emerson, making her one of the wisest and most observant writers/thinkers of the twentieth century. Lessing's vision transcends all boundaries and incorporates all of humanity, and ultimately points toward the evolution of the human race.

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