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Nathaniel Hawthorne's writing style and how it reflects his time period
Hawthorne and transcendentalism
Influence of nathaniel hawthorne on american authors
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During the nineteenth century, some of the most renowned classics of contemporary American literature were written by history’s most cherished writers, one of them being Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne was a dark romantic writer who spent a great deal of time in the company of several other influential writers of his time, many of whom were transcendentalists. Although Hawthorne himself was not a transcendentalist, he lived in community with several of them, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and the Alcott family in Concord, Massachusetts (“Nathaniel”). However, Hawthorne was exposed to transcendentalist views even before this. For six months in 1841, he was a resident at the experimental utopian community of Brook Farm, which …show more content…
In fact, he chose the title of the novel because, according to him, his time at Brook Farm was “the most romantic episode of his life” (Hawthorne, IV). Additionally, the setting, characters, and events of the novel are based mainly on Brook Farm, its residents, and events that occurred while Hawthorne was there. The setting of the novel is the Blithedale Farm, an agrarian commune whose inhabitants cultivate the land. The protagonist, Coverdale, is the representation of Hawthorne and his doubts about the success of the experiment, as well as his disappointment at not having the time to write (Turner, 43). Zenobia, another main character, is said to be a prototype of Margaret Fuller. “Like Margaret Fuller, Zenobia had written stories and tracts ‘in defense of her sex’ and had made lectures on the stage, and she was determined to continue advocating women’s rights” (Turner, 49). The character of Hollingsworth embodies the traits of multiple men that Hawthorne knew, including George Ripley’s unsuccessful attempts to convince others of his ideals (Turner, 50). Events in the novel that parallel reality can first be found in Coverdale’s arrival at Blithedale in an April snowstorm, which correspond exactly with the conditions that Hawthorne arrived at Brook Farm in (Turner, 54). Other smaller accounts found in
The Transcendentalist ideas that come from philosophers, artists, and religious thinkers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson play a role in shaping the way people think and behave in modern society. The novel Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer and the film based off of this book are about Chris McCandless's separation from his habitual life. This story demonstrates transcendental ideas and the impacts they have on both individuals and society as a whole. He pondered questions such as how world hunger exists and why people are so obsessed with material objects. Chris went from just graduating college, constantly surrounded by people to being completely alone in Alaska. He did not agree with the acquisitive society that we live in and he wanted an escape from his toxic family life.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's knowledge of Puritanism and his close relationship with the religion has impacted his views on those in the society. Hawthorne is critical of the Puritans and he thinks that they are hypocrites for having rules and morals that they do not follow. He sees the underlying sin that others may not. Through his many writings he makes known to his readers that everyone is guilty of sin. The Puritan's main goal was to save themselves from the sin in the world, but Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays their morals and society as troublesome through his works, "Young Goodman Brown," "The Minister's Black Veil," and The Scarlet Letter.
Many people have theories and philosophies about life in general. There have been hundreds of thousands of books published by many different people on the ideas of people in the past and the present. Transcendentalism falls in amongst all of these ideas. There have been articles, essays, poems, and even books written about this subject. Transcendentalism has effected many people since the philosophy was first introduced. The idea was complex and hard to grasp for many commoners and therefore it was understood by few people, and some would think that the idea was not understood at all and that was part of the idea. Henry David Thoreau once stated about himself, “I should have told them at once that I was a transcendentalist. That would have been the shortest way of telling them that they would not understand my explanations” (Reuben 1).
Throughout America in the 1830's, the religious and literary philosophy of Transcendentalism flourished. This period of time is difficult to describe in a simple definition, but the general ideas are expressed through poetry, essays and books of these three talented Transcendental authors; Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, and Henry Thoreau. From Emerson's dramatic expressions of thinking for one’s self and not conforming, to Whitman's belief of living stress free and experiencing life, to Thoreau's explanation of the purpose of sucking the marrow out of life and constant reminder of simplicity; the writing of these free thinking authors with these ideas show the overall meaning of Transcendentalism. The lessons of the Transcendental era are expressed in the modern day movie Dead Poet's Society directed by Peter Wier. As a literature professor at Welton Academy, a preparatory school for boys, Mr. Keating has rather unorthodox methods of teaching which include interactive lessons to inspire his students to learn. Rather than a normal class of reading from books and writing essays, Mr. Keating taught life lessons which are different from your average lecture. The storyline of the film focuses on one class composed of boys who are on their 4th and final year of education at this academy. Mr. Keating is successful in teaching all the boys the ideas of Emerson, Whitman and Thoreau during his period of time as their literature teacher. This teachers class changed the boys perspective on life forever, which is more than what most high school students can say from their ed...
Giovanni and Aylmer demonstrate manipulation of authority over women in order to pursue their unhealthy infatuation with scientific experimentation. The capability to exercise this desire while controlling another human’s life threatens the Romantic ideal of love for the natural world.
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31) The manner in which Goodman Brown based his faith is a very good example of how not to base one’s faith. The strength of Goodman Browns faith was based on his wife’s faith, his trust in his neighbors, and his personal experiences. The strength of one’s faith is one of the most important aspects of any person, and it is especially important in the story Young Goodman Brown.
Thoreau, among the most heralded writers of the North American continent, may have lived on his little as possible, but the grandeur of his writing style suggest quite the opposite. This does coincide with a key part of Transcendentalism - putting matters of the mind and spirit far above any materialistic preference. Chapter 5 of Thoreau’s memoir Walden explains his reasonings for isolation through several rhetorical strategies that emphasize the splendor of aloneness and nature.
On April 28th, 1841, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote to his wife: “ I feel the original Adam reviving within me” (Hawthorne 233). This was when he lived in The Brook Farm as one of the founding fathers with the beliefs inspired by transcendentalists. Their goal was to establish utopian communal living. Not long after Nathaniel Hawthorne withdrew from the community, he began to write a fiction based on his experience at The Brook Farm. This book, The Blithedale Romance, was eventually published in 1851.
Characters in The Scarlet Letter do display Transcendental qualities but not in a way that illustrates Hawthorne’s underlying adherence to Emerson’s philosophies through Hester Prynne, Pearl, and Roger Chillingworth. To begin, Hester Prynne’s relation to Transcendentalism is shown through her capability to shy away from societal norms. Emerson writes in Self Reliance, “Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members.” What Emerson is trying to say is that everyone is pushed by society to conform, but once you stop listening to the voices and follow your own path, you transcend. When confronted with her sin she proudly stitched the A on her bosom and stood valiantly on the platform. Hawthorne writes, “In
Hawthorne was extremely concerned with conventionality; his first pseudonymously published short stories imitated Sir Walter Scott, as did his 1828 self-published Fanshawe. Hawthorne later formally withdrew most of this early work, discounting it as the work of inexperienced youth. From 1836 to 1844 the Boston-centered Transcendentalist movement, led by Ralph Waldo Emerson, believed that human existence transcended the sensory realm, and rejected formalism in favor of individual responsibility. Hawthorne's fiancee Sophia Peabody drew him into "the newness," and in 1841 Hawthorne invested $1500 in the Brook Farm U...
Hawthorne uses the complexities of New England’s Puritan roots as a backdrop for his story. The first line of the story reveals that the tale is set in the Puritan town of Salem Massachusetts (Hawthorn, 148). In this story, Goodman, the main character, dares to question his rigid Puritan faith. He looks to an appointment in the woods to settle his doubts concerning his faith as is revealed through his thoughts concerning his wife faith whom he has left alone
From the light of Transcendentalism, which preached the beauty of nature and learning from its example, came about a genre of literature that seemed to twist all preconceptions of its predecessors; that is, Dark Romanticism (Ray, “Dark Romanticism: Nathaniel Hawthorne”). Authors like Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne thrived in this subgenre, exposing and exploring morality and a perverse hypocrisy rooted in Puritan influences in America (Ray, “Dark Romanticism: Nathaniel Hawthorne”). With this in mind, it is safe to say that Dark Romanticism was akin to a counter-movement for Transcendentalism, making strides to shock the public with harsh, unflattering truths about the reality of themselves and the world they inhabited. Whether they
In the 1840’s, Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of several founding members at Brook Farm, a community of transcendentalists that sought to live connected with nature and God. Hawthorne evidently did not enjoy his time there, as he resigned and withdrew his initial investment only a year later. His poor experience in the presence of other transcendentalists may have been the cause for his anti transcendentalist thoughts, many of which are on display in a short story targeted at Emerson and his peers known as “Young Goodman Brown.” In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” Hawthorne deliberately focuses his attention on the evil that resides in nature, the existence of a Devil, and the fact that evil is inherent in all people to mock Emerson’s
Modern literary works have in the past years the changed the way some of the writers and literature fans and enthusiasts change the way they view the world and the religious notions as a whole. In the past centuries, most of the individuals have held on strongly to certain believes and myths. As a result, most of their actions and life was defined by these myths and beliefs. In the 20th century, however, some of these beliefs have been shaken up by literary works. Ideas and thoughts brought forward by writers have changed the way some individuals think and view the world, leading to loss in transcendental certitude. Transcendental certitude usually is a belief in something that cannot be topped. Most of the individuals around d the world have
“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.”-anonymously. This quote explains exactly what Robert Frost did to create his poetry. To begin, He went into nature to receive inspiration, nature helped him out in more ways than any other human being could do for him. Also, nature was the biggest part of Frost’s poetry, it started when he was young. Frost was a farmer when he was younger, but focused more on poetry. Another major reason why Frost used nature because nature helped him find more ways to use metaphors. In fact, nature was also used in his poetry because Robert was a transcendentalist. In the early nineteenth century Robert Frost showed us how he uses nature in his poetry. Although, he was an ordinary person before becoming famous, Frost had poetry to help him raise his family and have a successful life.