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Preface and The Student

• Richardson characterizes Emerson's personality as embodied in the moment when he opened his dead wife's casket.
• As a child, Emerson was the silly brother, and he was poor when he worked his way through Harvard.
• Emerson was inspired by relatives and by teachers at Harvard to see the world for himself.

Divinity

• Alone among his brothers, Emerson pursued a career in divinity, but strained his eyes, and traveled south to recuperate.
• Emerson fell in love with Ellen Tucker and at the time they were married, Emerson was ordained as the minister of the Second Church of Boston.
• After Ellen died of tuberculosis, Emerson inherited money from her estate, and traveled to Europe.

The Inner Light

• In Europe, Emerson was defensively American, but he saw a great deal of Europe, and met a number of prominent writers, among them Carlyle and Wordsworth.
• Returning to America...

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