ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -The transparent eyeball is a philosophical metaphor originated by American transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. In his essay Nature, the metaphor stands for a view of life that is absorbent rather than reflective, and therefore takes in all that nature has to offer without bias or contradiction.

Detailed explanation-2: -The “transparent eyeball” represents the value of intuition and having personal experiences in nature; the interconnectedness of all things; and the ability to see and understand that interconnectedness.

Detailed explanation-3: -Under what circumstances, according to Emerson, does “mean egotism” vanish? When he is standing on bare ground in the wind and uplifted into infinite space-aka completely enveloped by nature, and becomes a transparent eyeball.

Detailed explanation-4: -What does he mean when he says “I become a transparent eyeball"? The effect that nature has on Emerson is that it gives him peace. He says “ I become a transparent I am nothing, I see all.” It means that when he is in nature he sees and recognizes every part of nature and how peaceful it is.