Representative Men
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1850
- Form
- Essay
- Language
- English
- Length
- Medium · 190 pp120 to 300 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendEssays and LecturesLibrary of America, 1983Prints Representative Men complete in the standard one-volume Emerson.
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Seven lectures, first delivered in 1845 and printed in 1850, on the uses of great men. An opening essay argues that we need great men not to worship but to use, because each one shows a capacity that is latent in everybody. Six portraits follow: Plato the philosopher, Swedenborg the mystic, Montaigne the sceptic, Shakespeare the poet, Napoleon the man of the world and Goethe the writer. Each is praised for the power he embodies and then measured against his limits, Napoleon most severely of all.
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The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Representative Men are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.