Nathaniel Hawthorne, born on Independence Day of 1807, led an unorganized childhood, transferring schools frequently. Despite all of the chaos surrounding his early life, Hawthorne gained experiences that allowed him to craft novels and short stories which later earned places as classics of American literature.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born to Elizabeth Manning Hathorne and Nathaniel Hathorne, son of an infamous judge responsible for sentencing many young girls to death for witchcraft (Whitney). Because of this, Hawthorne changed his name from Nathaniel Hathorne to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne found the legacy left by his grandfather and father despicable and changed his name in an effort to distance himself from the name infamous in Salem’s tragic early history (Faculty of European Graduate School). Only four years after Hawthorne’s birth, his father contracted and died of yellow fever. After the loss of the family patriarch, the remaining family moved in with Elizabeth’s brothers. Nathaniel Hawthorne began his attendance at Worcester’s School before being seriously injured. The details surrounding this injury were never chronicled, but it appears that it was during this time Hawthorne acquired his love of reading. After recovering months later, Hawthorne began attending a boarding school in Stroudwater, Maine, in 1818. Nathaniel Hawthorne later returned to his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts, to attend Samuel Archer’s School in order to prepare for college. In 1820, Benjamin Oliver tutored Hawthorne in Salem right before Hawthorne’s admission and attendance at Bowdoin College. Throughout his attendance at Bowdoin College, Hawthorne’s social life often took center stage. Hawthorne became friends with the likes of Henry Wadswor...
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Faculty of European Graduate School. "Nathaniel Hawthorne - Biography." 2012. The European Graduate School. 9 April 2014.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Penguin Group, 2009.
Newberry, Frederick. "The Custom-House." 2006. American History Through Literature 1820-1870. 11 April 2014.
Whitney, Teri. "Nathaniel Hawthorne's Early Life: Introduction." 2 April 2014. Hawthorne in Salem. 9 April 2014.
—. "The Wife and Children of Nathaniel Hawthorne: Introduction." 2 April 2014. Hawthorne in Salem. 10 April 2014.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Enriched Classic ed. New York City: Simon & Schuster, 2004. Print.
Lathrop, G. P., ed. "Hawthorne, Nathaniel." The Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature. Binghamton, New York: Vail-Ballou, 1962. 439-40. Print.
When the news came of his father’s death, Hawthorne’s mother withdrew into her upstairs bedroom, coming out only rarely during the remaining forty years of her life. The boy and his two sisters lived in almost complete isolation from her and from each other (29).
“Nathaniel Hawthorne – Biography.” The European Graduate School. The European Graduate School, n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2014
Lang, H.J.. “How Ambiguous Is Hawthorne.” In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.
Swisher, Clarice. “Nathaniel Hawthorne: a Biography.” In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.
"Nathaniel Hawthorne - Biography." Nathaniel Hawthorne. The European Graduate School, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
One example of a strong, independent woman in Hawthorne’s life was his mother. She did not necessarily look outside of her home for her independence; hers was a forced independence. Elizabeth Hawthorne’s husband died when young Nathaniel was only four years old. She raised him and his siblings while displaying strength that single mothers are forced to produce on a daily basis. While some scholars say that Elizabeth Hawthorne withdrew from her family and society with the death of her husband, Nina Baym has a different insight into the woman that raised Nathaniel Hawthorne. She states that Hawthorne had a “deep attachment to his mother” (Baym 7). She also goes on to say that there are many discrepancies in how his mother is described. However, she believes with ample evidence that Elizabeth Hawthorne connected with her family and her children on a profound level
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, to a family that had been prominent in the area since colonial times. Hawthorne was very handsome and never had problems with looks. When Nathaniel was four, his father died on a voyage in Surinam. Hawthorne was extremely concerned with traditional values. From 1836 to 1844, the Boston-centered Transcendentalist movement, led by Ralph Waldo Emerson, was an important force in New England intellectual circles. The Transcendentalists believed that human existence transcended the sensory realm, and rejected formalism in favor of individual responsibility. The Scarlet Letter shows some Transcendentalist influence, including a belief in individual choice and consequence, and an emphasis on symbolism.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, the descendent of a long line of Puritan ancestors, including John Hathorne, a presiding magistrate in the Salem witch trials. After his father was lost at sea when he was only four, his mother became overly protective and pushed him toward more isolated pursuits. Hawthorne's childhood left him overly shy and bookish, and molded his life as a writer. Hawthorne is one of the most modern of writers who rounds off the puritan cycle in American writing
Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Man, His Tales and Romances. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1989.
III. Comparable aspects of Hawthorne's characterization in The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables
Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Man, His Tales and Romances. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1989.
BIOGRAM 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.
Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Man, His Tales and Romances. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1989.