Nathaniel Hawthorne ( ) “Like EdgarAllan Poe, Hawthorne took a dark view of human Nature.”

Hawthorne’s Background Born in Salem, Massachusetts Puritan background Ancestor of John Hawthorne——one of the three judges in the Salem Witch Trials Began writing after college at Bowdion College in Maine Spent many years in seclusion——starving artist

Hawthorne’s Background Held many jobs including writer, publisher, working at a custom house, and consult in England Married Sophie Peabody in 1825 Befriended Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, and President Franklin pierce

Themes in Hawthorne’s Writings Moral allegories——a story where everything is symbol, used commonly to instruct especially in religious matters The sinful man Hypocrisy The Dark side of human nature Religious in nature

Hawthorne’s Major Works Two collections of short stories: Twice-told Tales + Mosses from an Old Manse The Scarlet Letter His masterpiece, which established him as the Leading American native novelist of the 19 th century

Hawthorne’s Major Works The House of the Seven Gables The Blithedale Romance The Marble Faun Short stories: Young Goodman Brown The Minister’s Black Veil The Birth mark

Hawthorne’s Point of View Hawthorne is influenced by Puritanism deeply. He was not a Puritan himself, but he had Puritan ancestors who played an important role in his life and works.

Hawthorne’s Point of View 1)Evil is at the core of human life. 2)Whenever there is sin, there is punishment. Sin or evil can be passed from generation to generation. 3)Evil educates 4)He has disgust in science. One source of evil is overweening intellect. His intellectual characters are villains, dreadful and cold-blooded

Hawthorne’s aesthetic ideas 1) he took a great interest in history and antiquity. To him these furnish the soil on which his mind grows to fruition. Trying to connect a bygone time with the very present, he makes the dream strange things look like truth.

Hawthorne’s Writing Style A man of literary craftsmanship, extraordinary in The use of symbol: symbols serve as a weapon to attack reality. It can be found everywhere in his writing. Revelation of characters’ psychology: he is good at exploring the complexity of human psychology. There isn’t much physical movement going on in his works The use of supernatural mixed with the actual

Hawthorne’s Writing Style His stories are parable(allegory)——to teach a lesson Use of ambiguity to keep the reader in the world of uncertainty——multiple point of view

Hawthorne’s Aesthetic Ideas 2) he was convinced that romance was the best form to describe America The poverty of materials+the avoidance of offending the puritan taste—— romances rather than novels to tell the truth and satirize and yet not the offend