Thomas Carlyle and Existentialism

Thomas Carlyle and Existentialism
Thomas Carlyle, though a Victorian author exhibits some facets of existentialism in his work “Sartor Resartus”. Though the term existentialism was not coined until well into the 20th century when such French authors as Camus, Sartre and DeBeauvoir began writing. Basic concepts within the school of existentialist thought include the rejection of God as a higher power in place of Self; Self being the ultimate power within one’s own life. Without the inclusion and asserting of Self the world becomes more absurd. By living and reacting to one’s own decisions one’s life can have some meaning, without exercising your right as a human being to choose your own life then you really aren’t living, but simply existing. Some Victorian literature has a taste of existentialism in it. The rejection and uncertainty of the concept of religion and God, the general dread and anguish expressed by the characters and the concept of the importance of Self above society all factor into both Carlyle’s work and the later existentialist pieces. Some chapters in general encompass the very core of existentialism “The everlasting No” “Centre of Indifference” and then “the Everlasting Yea” all have an element of existentialism. “The everlasting No” and then “the Everlasting Yea” contradict one another, the absurdity of the piece is shown right there. Absurdity and the absurdity of the human life is an element of the school of existentialism. There however are some great differences between the Victorian Literature of Thomas Carlyle and the true existentialist of the 20th Century. The differences and similarities within the pieces will be examined.
In Carlyle’s piece Sartor Resartus the main character Professor Diogenes Teufelsdröckh as well as the fictitious Editor are almost an extension of Carlyle himself and therefore this work can almost be seen as an autobiography of sorts. The importance of Self or the concept of Self was a thought just emerging in the...