Compare and Contrast the ways in which Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson demonstrated attitudes that were counter to Puritan ideals. What evidence to you see that each was aware of Puritan dogma, and how does each show his or her opposition to that dogma?

EMILY DICKINSON - WALT WITTMAN AND PURITANISM

Puritanism is a religious movement that was started in England in sixteenth century to initiate reforms in the doctrines and structure of the church . This essay will espouse the Principles of Puritanism and how it established its sway in the sixteenth century and how Walt Whitman in 18th to 19th century defied the conventions of Puritan ideals in his poems and emphasized on the Freedom of Man , physically , morally and spiritually and how Emily Dickinson 's poetry been interpreted as the last breath for New England

Puritanism

Reformation in the sixteenth century gave rise to various organizations in Christendom , emphasizing Protestantism and espousing evangelical principals . These principals lays stress on nature , justification of the sinner by faith alone , free offer of the Gospel to all and plenary inspiration and exclusive authority of the church . During the reign of Elizabeth I , some members of the Established Church of England and the Stuarts proposed that the State Church should get rid of certain ceremonial rituals . These members , comprising a group within the state church , were originally called the Puritans

During the revolution of 1640-60 , Puritans opposed the theory of the divine rights of the kings and parliamentary authority became a puritan principle . The word Puritan is commonly used to denote strict morality in conduct and anyone that professes severe morality and advocates purity is known as Puritan . The doctrine of Puritanism was expressed in the Cambridge platform in 1646 . It included the theological features of Calvinism and the Church polity of congregationalism , which became the major principles of Puritanism . Puritanism showed that the man is by nature decadent and is not able to exercise free will , God never approves sin , but limits , restrains and overrules it for good . God 's anticipatory grace is available only to the elect , those who are elected and predetermined to be saved preserve in the path of holiness , Man 's hereditary corruption , partially atoned by the Christ leaves scope for the power to attempt to obey God 's will as revealed through the Bible (Puritanism , Puritanism and Providence , Para . 1-4

In other words , Universe is centered not on man but on God , and that all man 's energies must be devoted towards God service , and God 's will as reflected in the Bible can never be challenged

Puritanism with these ideologies created a strong influence on social political , ethical , and theological ideas of England and America . They were against the ornaments and ritual practices " The Puritans believed in the hierarchical structure among men as the from the divine which means mankind has to follow certain traits in the Society that follows certain pattern like first of Family , Secondly Church and Thirdly Common-wealth

Later between 1819-1892 , the Puritanism sunk into deep freeze when Walt Whitman , a poet of Freedom and Democracy shook the American senses and sensibilities towards more liberal approach towards God , life and nature . Walt Whitman brought into his verses the common people and the working class , greeted even...