Representative Men

Representative Men is a 1850 collection of essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson which uses six prominent historical figures—Plato Swedenborg Montaigne Shakespeare Napoleon and Goethe—to explore different aspects of genius and the human spirit. Emerson presents these men as representative men individuals who embody qualities or ideas significant to their time and culture serving as lenses through which readers can better understand themselves and the broader human experience. The work is a celebration of human potential individualism and self-reliance arguing that by studying these exemplary figures others can be inspired to cultivate their own unique contributions to society.