I found that the Introduction to “The Scarlet Letter” to be particularly interesting because of its mentions and connections to things that Emerson talked about in his essays. There was specific talk about humans and nature that are interesting to compare to Emerson’s works. 

On page 437 part of a passage says, “[…] nor does nature adorn the human ruin with blossoms of new beauty.” Reading this sentence I thought of Emerson’s ideas of nature and its connection to a spiritual world. The idea behind the quote that nature is not able to make “human ruin” more attractive with a blossom of new beauty. Emerson talks a lot about connecting with nature and viewing nature in a progressive way. When discussing that he wishes to indicate the position of nature in regard to man he says, “nature is so pervaded with human life, that there is something of humanity in all,” (pg 205). Comparing and contrasting these two quotes, the Introduction to the Scarlet Letter takes a less progressive approach to nature, and separates in from human beings in a way that’s opposite of Emerson’s description of nature and humans being intertwined. Emerson makes the statement that, “the world proceeds from the same spirit of the body of man,” (pg 205). The points that Emerson make about nature are more progressive than the thoughts of The Custom House. 

Additionally, another quote which I found interesting was on page 440 when it says, “Nature, –except it were human nature, –the nature that is developed in earth and sky, was, in one sense, hidden from me; and all the imaginative delight, wherewith it had been spiritualized, passed away out of my mind.” This is interesting compared to Emerson discussing the ways that he was a “lover of uncontained and immortal beauty and how he talks about the spiritualization of nature as something that he is incredibly in tune with and is on his mind more so than the narrator describing nature/earth as being hidden from him. 

Another interesting quote to compare to the works of Emerson was on page 448 when it says, “for a man who felt it to be the best definition of happiness to live through the whole range of his faculties and sensibilities.” Emerson portrayed the message that people must believe in their intuition. He wanted people to follow their conscience, relating to the idea that for the best definition of happiness someone should rely on himself for sensibility.