GLR September-October 2023

ESSAY Emerson’s Manifesto, Thoreau’s Nature M ITCHELL S ANTINE G OULD

Mitchell Santine Gould, a gay historian with a spcial interest in Whitman and Quakerism, lives on the coast of Oregon. Live no longer to the expectation of these deceived and de ceiving people with whom we converse. Say to them, “ O fa ther, O mother, O wife, O brother, O friend, I have lived with you after appearances hitherto. Henceforward I am the truth ’ s. ... I shall endeavour to nourish my parents, to support my fam ily, to be the chaste husband of one wife, — but these relations I must fill after a new and unprecedented way. I appeal from your customs. I must be myself. I cannot break myself any longer for you, or you. If you can love me for what I am, we shall be the happier. If you cannot, I will still seek to deserve that you should. I will not hide my tastes or aversions. ... If you are true, but not in the same truth with me, cleave to your companions; I will seek my own. I do this not selfishly, but humbly and truly. It is alike your interest, and mine, and all R ALPH WALDO EMERSON ’ S 1841 essay “ Self-Reliance ” contains one of the most stir ring coming-out challenges ever written. This is not the traditonal reading of the great Amer ican essay, to be sure, but I believe that “ Self Reliance ” must be understood in the context of Emerson ’ s awareness of unconventional sexual desire, bolstered by his intimate friendship with Henry David Thoreau. Emerson was born in Boston in 1803 and died in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1882. “ Waldo ” was ordained as a Unitarian minister in 1829, and the response to his eloquence and per sonal charm promised job security. But secretly, Emerson was experiencing a crisis of faith, and his sermons minimized doc trine to focus on personal spiritual experience, arguing that each seeker ’ s unique encounter with a universal moral law was what really mattered. His first book, Nature , appeared in 1836, and in 1841 and 1842, he published Essays : First Series and Es says: Second Series .The First Series includes his most impor tant essay, “ Self-Reliance. ” “ L OVE M E FOR W HAT IA M ” T RANSCENDENTALISM , the philosophical movement that Emer son did so much to develop and promote, captured the attention not only of theologians and thinkers but also of the general pub lic, largely because it provided people with pragmatic guidance for “ the conduct of life. ” “ Self-Reliance ” brilliantly explores this theme: “ Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. ... Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. ” Everyone agrees that “ Self-Reliance ” is an indictment of mindless conformity and a challenge to think for oneself. But it has rarely been recognized as one of history ’ s first manifestos for people to be honest about their sexual nonconformity. To quote a key passage at length:

men ’ s, however long we have dwelt in lies, to live in truth. Does this sound harsh to-day? You will soon love what is dic tated by your nature as well as mine, and, if we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last. Hiding in plain sight since 1841, this mandate to be true to oneself may speak forcefully to contemporary LGBT people who have had the experience of coming out as gay. On the other hand, the speaker swears to remain “ the chaste husband of one wife. ” Emerson was married and sworn to fidelity to his (second) wife. However, it seems quite likely that his first marriage — to a beautiful woman who was dying of tuberculosis — involved tender affection but not sexual relations. His second marriage produced four children. By 1833, Emerson seems to have calculated that he was

Henry David Thoreau

TheG & LR

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