A Critical Analysis of Jean Jaques Rousseau's Reveries of a Solitary Walker

The notion that one might rediscover his identity through “the study of nature and the contemplation of the universe” incarnates the bare essence of romantic thought (Rousseau, 50). World literature has historically echoed this concept and brought it to light through such characters as Shakespeare’s King Lear, who engages with nature and his own soul upon that famous heath. Alienated from the world and its deception, he retreats into the wild, unpredictable sanctuary of a storm and begins his journey back to reality. 

Even the biblical gospels expose this inherent magnetism towards nature: “In the morning, long before dawn, [Jesus] got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there” (Mark 1:35). Jean-Jacques Rousseau recognizes this tendency in his own individual experience and unfolds his personal encounter with nature as a response to “the torrent of this world” (Rousseau, 50). From this lonely, solitary place, Rousseau, in Reveries of a Solitary Walker, unveils the shining, sweet liberty of nature and the true impetus of every romantic’s engagement with his own heart and environment. 

Rousseau’s reveries betray his deep love for the natural world, and convey the real and imaginative engagement he experiences when he finds himself alone in its midst. During his third walk Rousseau neither toils nor endeavors, but rather stumbles upon himself in the unconfined, free world of nature: 

Lonely meditation, the study of nature and the contemplation of the universe lead the solitary to aspire continually to the maker of all things and to seek with a pleasing disquiet for the purpose of all he sees and the cause of all he feels. When my destiny cast me back into the torrent of this world, I found nothing there which could satisfy my heart for a single moment. Regret for the sweet liberty which I had lost followed me everywhere and threw a veil of indifference or distaste over everything around me which might have brought me fame or fortune (50)