Nathaniel Hawthorne is an author whose major fiction writing has influenced the literary world greatly during the course of the nineteenth century. His work during the Romantic period represents his world view through a specific style of writing. While his literature is particularly dark in tone, his short stories show a variety of symbols, themes, and characters. “The Minister’s Black Veil,” “The Birthmark,” and “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” are three of Hawthorne’s short stories that illustrate the similar and different nuances in tone and meaning seen in his writing.
One common theme found in these three short stories is experimentation. In each of the short stories’ plots, there is an experiment of some sort undertaken in order to improve the human condition. The most obvious of these is the experiment found in “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment.” Dr. Heidegger is an elderly doctor who calls together four old friends. Three are “white-bearded gentlemen, Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, and Mr. Gascoigne” (Hawthorne, “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” 12), and the other is “a withered gentlewoman, whose name [is] the Widow Wycherly” (Hawthorne, “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” 12). Dr. Heidegger calls them to his house so that he can try an experiment out on them. He first shows the elderly group a concoction he has and then pours it over an old and dried rose that his old lover gave him. Soon the flower grows its old color back and restores its previously vibrant qualities. The four elderly friends beg to try the mixture and soon they are back in the prime of life. At one point many years ago the three gentlemen had each been in love with Wycherly. After taking the mixture and becoming young again, the men return to their fight over the Widow...
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...tories that represent the similar and differing elements found in his writing.
WORKS CITED
Gorman, Herbert Sherman. "Hawthorn on Solitude” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. 15-16. Print.
Hawthorn, Nathaniel. "Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment." The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. 12-15. Print.
Hawthorn, Nathaniel. "The Birthmark." The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. 5-12. Print.
Hawthorn, Nathaniel. "The Minister’s Black Veil." The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. 1-5. Print.
Walsh, Conor. "Aminadab In Nathaniel Hawthorne's THE BIRTH-MARK." Explicator 67.4 (2009): 258-260. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Feb. 2012.
Lathrop, G. P., ed. "Hawthorne, Nathaniel." The Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature. Binghamton, New York: Vail-Ballou, 1962. 439-40. Print.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. �Young Goodman Brown.� Responding to Literature: Stories, Poems, Plays and Essays. Fourth Edition. Ed. Judith A. Stanford. Boston, 2003. 161-171.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writings have been read for many years, and many of his books have been on the required reading lists in the school curricula. His works convey themes of psychology and human nature through his crafty use of allegory and symbolism. These were essential tools in addressing topics that were too radical to be publicly addressed in the nineteenth century (Magill 1). He used these techniques to criticize some part of society, which is evident in his use of satire in the religious world (Hilton 1). Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writings impacted his contemporary society, despite the fact that his criticism and ideas weren’t widely popular and accepted.
Hawthorne’s Romantic writing ability allures his readers into deep thought of the transforming characters creating himself as a phenomenon. His ability to transform Puritan society in a dark world “attracts readers not only for their storytelling qualities, but also for the moral and theological ambiguities Hawthorne presents so well” (Korb 303). In “Young Goodman Brown” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Romantic characteristics such as artificiality of the city, escape from reality, and the value of imagination.
There are numerous instances of ambiguity in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”; this essay hopes to explore critics’ comments on that problem within the tale, as well as to analyze it from this reader’s standpoint.
“The Tell-Tale Heart is one of Edgar Allan Poe’s greatest fictional short stories. It is known for its repulsive and insane homicide; a very wild and thrilling tale. Likewise, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s well-known novel, The Scarlet Letter, is famous for its directness on sexual conflict. Both writings possess similarities with regards to modified characters, connected symbolism, and significant midpoints. Due to these comparisons, it is quite certain that Hawthorne found inspiration in writing The Scarlet Letter after reading “The Tell Tale-Heart”.
Fogle, Richard Harter. "Hawthorne's fiction: The Light and the Dark." Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Study of Short Fiction. Ed. Nancy Bunge. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993. 133-35
Edgar Allen Poe wrote that he could see that imagination is a part of many of Hawthorne’s works (Poe). It is as if imagination is built in to Hawthorne’s work as almost an ingredient to a cake. When describing Hawthorne’s work in the Encyclopedia of World Biography, they state that Hawthorne’s work is “broadly allegorical but infused with imaginative passion.” Hawthorne’s imagination was infused in his work. Such things as the experimentation in “The Birthmark”, the journey and hidden themes in “Young Goodman Brown” or the fictional youth in “Dr.Heidegger’s Experiment.” Poe wrote that Hawthorne’s stories “are the product of a truly imaginative intellect ” and that “ “Dr. Heidegger’s experiment” is exceedingly
The man Nathaniel Hawthorne, an author of the nineteenth century, was born in 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts. It was there that he lived a poverty-stricken childhood without the financial support of a father, because he had passed away in 1808. Hawthorne was raised strictly Puritan, his great-grandfather had even been one of the judges in the Puritan witchcraft trials during the 1600s. This and Hawthorne’s destitute upbringing advanced his understanding of human nature and distress felt by social, religious, and economic inequities. Hawthorne was a private individual who fancied solitude with family friends. He was also very devoted to his craft of writing. Hawthorne observed the decay of Puritanism with opposition; believing that is was a man’s responsibility to pursue the highest truth and possessed a strong moral sense. These aspects of Hawthorne’s philosophy are what drove him to write about and even become a part of an experiment in social reform, in a utopian colony at Brook Farm. He believed that the Puritans’ obsession with original sin and their ironhandedness undermined instead of reinforced virtue. As a technician, Hawthorne’s style in literature was abundantly allegorical, using the characters and plot to acquire a connection and to show a moral lesson. His definition of romanticism was writing to show truths, which need not relate to history or reality. Human frailty and sorrow were the romantic topics, which Hawthorne focused on most, using them to finesse his characters and setting to exalt good and illustrate the horrors of immorality. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s experiences as a man, incite as a philosopher and skill as a technician can be seen when reading The Scarlet Letter.
It is no secret that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” is a parable. Hawthorne intended it as such and even gave the story the subtitle “a parable.” “The Minister’s Black Veil,” however, was not Hawthorne’s only parable. Hawthorne often used symbols and figurative language to give added meaning to the literal interpretations of his work. His Puritan ancestry also influenced much of Hawthorne’s work. Instead of agreeing with Puritanism however, Hawthorne would criticize it through the symbols and themes in his stories and parables. Several of these symbols and themes reoccur in Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil,” “Young Goodman Brown”, and The Scarlet Letter.
Martin, Terence. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Revised Edition. Twayne’s United States Authors Series. G.K. Hall & Company. Massachusetts. 1983.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. American Literature. Vol. 1. New York: Penguin Academics, 2004. 592-778. Print.
Nathaniel Hawthorne made out his life a source of inspiration. Every event that happened in his life made him think of a way to write about it. The Scarlett Letter was written after his mother died, and it focused on his society and it was used as a strong accusation against the Puritan Americans (Gollin 2605). His works were the results of long-term contemplations of humans and the society of his time, The Minister’s Black Veil is an example of this. A story about a man who decides to walk around his town cover in a black veil that symbolizes sin, and more importantly, “how the guilt we hide from one another and about the dangers of self-absorption” (Gollin 2604). Every major event in his life brought a new theme to his writings and that made it stand out. Just like Irving, he decided that he wanted to pursue of life full of
Gothic writing is related to a style of fiction that deals with the mysterious or grotesque; Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Ministers Black Veil” is classified as a dark romantic work because it contains the themes of sin, guilt, and looking at the darker side of human life. He had trouble from his early life, his dreary adulthood, and his fascinations with common man. His early and more unsuccessful work is from his silent and productive years.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of America's most renowned authors, demonstrates his extraordinary talents in two of his most famed novels, The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. To compare these two books seems bizarre, as their plots are distinctly different. Though the books are quite seemingly different, the central themes and Hawthorne's style are closely related (Carey, p. 62). American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne is most famous for his books THE SCARLET LETTER and THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES, which are closely related in theme, the use of symbolism, characterization, and style.