Comparing Individuality and Transcendence in Wordsworth,...

Individuality and Transcendence in Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Joyce The development of the scientific method started a revolution in thought that changed how people viewed the world. Scientists tested theories by creating experiments and carefully observing the results. The importance of scientific discoveries raised questions about the role of the observer. According to Ralph Koster, the importance of observation in science led to the rise of the individual and an awareness of subjectivity. Society realized that the individual could determine the outcome of an experiment and that people could interpret events differently depending on†¦show more content†¦As people began to experience reality as subjective, they became more isolated, and they longed to connect with others. Transcendence shifted away from grace to a process of joining with something outside of the self (Koster). In order to experience God, people had to break through their own individuality. Transcending the self became a central question for writers in the Romantic, Victorian, and Modern eras. As they worked, their writing did not advance in a linear progression, but more like a loop, traveling forward and backward. As the loop traveled in reverse, writers drew from the past, and as it went forward writers incorporated new ideas. New ideas were needed, for as time progressed society became more complex. During the Romantic era science and technology were expanding rapidly, but did not dominate. Discoveries in electricity and mechanics made it possible for the Industrial Revolution to begin in England around 1750, but it was not in full swing until the Victorian era. In addition, the French Revolution promoted individual freedom and filled people with the idea of unlimited possibilities. Hence, the failure of the French Revolution was disappointing to many English writers, including