Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the greatest American authors of the nineteenth century. He published his first novel Fanshawe, in 1828. However, he is widely known for his novels The Scarlet Letter and The House of Seven Gables. His novel, The Scarlet Letter, can be analyzed from historical, psychological and feminist critical perspectives by examining his life from the past, as well as his reflections while writing The Scarlet Letter. In order to understand the book properly, it’s necessary to use these three perspectives.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4th, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts. His ancestors were comprised of businessmen, judges, and seamen, all who were Puritans with a strict religious discipline. His father died while on a voyage when he was four years old, leaving his mother to raise three children on her own, with the help of some relatives. When Nathaniel’s wealthy uncle discovered his talents with writing, he was sent to Bowdoin College from 1821 to 1825.
In 1846, Hawthorne managed to obtain a position as a surveyor in the Salem Custom House; however, two years later in 1848, he was dismissed because of his affiliation with politics. As quoted in Encyclopedia of World Biography, “Hawthorne obtained in 1846 the position of surveyor (one who maps out new lands) in the Salem Custom House, but was relieved of this position in 1848 because of his political ties” (Advameg, Inc, 2010). However, his dismissal from the Custom House gave him a chance to write his biggest success, The Scarlet Letter.
Nathaniel’s Puritan family background had greatly influenced his novel The Scarlet Letter. One of the early Puritan settlers, Major William, arrived with Governor Winthrop in 1630. As quoted in Britton, “William believe...
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...ght, believing that they are stronger than the stereotypes they receive. Upon analysis, the novel is best understood through a view of historical, psychological and feminist perspectives.
Works Cited
Advameg, Inc. (2010). Nathaniel Hawthorne. Encyclopedia of world biography. Retrieved
(2010, March 22) from http://www.notablebiographies.com/Gi-He/Hawthorne-
Nathaniel.html
Hawthorne, N. (1850). The Scarlet letter. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Seabrook, A. (2008 , March 2). Hester prynne: sinner, victim, object, winner. Retrieved from
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87805369
SparkNotes Editors. (2003). SparkNote on The Scarlet Letter. Retrieved March 15, 2010, from http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/scarlet/
Vishakh. (2003, Jan 23). Women in colonial america. Retrieved from
http://everything2.com/title/Women+in+Colonial+America.
Nathanial Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in the summer of 1804 to a family with a rich history in New England. After the death of his father in 1808, he spent his adolescent years in Maine on his uncle’s farm and was raised by his mother. At the age of seventeen, Hawthorne’s uncle insisted that he attend college. Hawthorne was not keen on the idea, but eventually gave in and attended Bowdoin College, located in Maine from 1821 to 1824 and was considered an average student. Hawthorne was an avid reader and began writing short stories and novels during his time in college. He published Young Goodman Brown in 1835.
The novel “The Scarlet Letter” was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850 and is probably the book for which he is most famous. He was a prolific writer and wrote many short stories, a few collections, and several novels during his writing career. Nathaniel Hawthorne was injured as a child and became an avid reader and decided that he wanted to be a writer. Though he was a lackluster college student, after graduation he returned to his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts and began his writing career in earnest. Not only did Nathaniel Hawthorne have one of his ancestors who had been one of the three judges involved in the Salem witch trials (of which he was not too proud, but it probably helped his career because it was depicted in his writings), but also he had many influential friends to include President Franklin Pierce, Henry David Thoreau (Author), and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Poet), Herman Melville (Author) and he had actually rented the “Old Manse” mentioned in “The Scarlet Letter” from Ralph Waldo Emerson (Essayist). The “Scarlet Letter” is a work of non-fiction, but the preface is loosely based on Hawthorne’s actual life due to the fact that he actually did work at the Customs House in Salem and did lose his job there, which gave
Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 4, 1804 (Magill 1; Campbell 1; “Nathaniel Hawthorne”; Eldred 1). He was born into the sixth generation of his Salem family, and was a descendant of a long line of New England Puritans, which contributed in his interest in the Puritan way of life. The family was originally known as the “Hathornes”, but Nathaniel added the “w” to his name so it would become “Hawthorne”. The Hawthornes had been involved in religious persecution with their first American ancestor, William. Another ancestor, John Hathorne, was one of the three judges at the seventeenth-century Salem witchcraft trials. Hawthorne’s father was a sea captain, and when he was four years old (1808), his father died on a voyage in Surinam, Dutch Guinea (Campbell 1). Hawthorne was left alone with his mother and two sisters. He spent his early years in Salem and in Maine, during which he showed an interest in his father’s nautical adventures and read his logbooks often, even after his death (Magill 1). His maternal relatives recognized his literary talent at such a you...
One main event that triggered him to begin writing The Scarlet Letter was the election of former president, Zachary Taylor. During this time period Hawthorne was in a hole financially. However, through some connections he got a job being the Surveyor of the Port at the Salem custom house. After Taylor’s inauguration, his party members accused Hawthorne of corruption and fraud. Because of this, he was fired from his position in June of 1849. As if being fired was not enough, his mother passed away less than two months later. After these two horrible catastrophes, he shut everything else out and began writing The Scarlet Letter. If he was not fired from his surveyor job, many believe he would not have written this novel, simply because he would not have had the time. Also, if his mother did not pass, it is believed that he would have not had a reason to shut up self out, thus not writing the novel.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in the year 1804 in the heart of Salem, Massachusetts, where to Salem witch trials were conducted. Hawthorne was born in an unforgiving time period, where life revolved around religion and family. Hawthorne’s father died of Yellow Fever in the year 1808. Nathaniel grew up fatherless, which had a lasting effect on who he later became to be. Education at the time was centered on reading and writing, with a heavy religious influence. “The education of the next generation was important to further "purify" the church and perfect social living” (Kizer). However, since his father passed away, there was no other man to instill the Puritan beliefs into young Nathaniel. Hawthorne later on was able to see the culture through a different lens than the people surrounding him, which made him slightly opposed to the Puritan way of life. He became intellectually rebellious; not thinking in the same way that his peers or family was.
A multitude of literary works possess much more information than an initial review reveals which is no accident on the author’s part. One author who epitomizes this method of writing is Nathaniel Hawthorne and his book The Scarlet Letter. Following a thorough review of the book, the underpinnings of literary elements reveal the way in which he incorporates his dynamic tone throughout the story, and, with extensive research, conclusions can be made as to why he wrote the novel. Exploring the latter topic allows analysts of all kind gain further insight on his character and its relation to the books content.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804. After his graduation from Bowdoin College in Maine, he quickly became a well-known author of literary tales concerning early American life. Between 1825 and 1850, he developed his talent by writing short fiction, and he gained international fame for his fictional novel The Scarlet Letter in 1850 (Clendenning 118). Rufus Wilmot Griswold...
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804. Descended from a staunch Puritan family, Hawthorne?s father was a presiding judge over the Salem Witch Trials. Hawthorne?s father died when he was young and he spent much time alone during his childhood. He had an introspective nature and was an avid reader. He began to write while he was in college and following graduation, returned to Salem where he entered a twelve-year literary apprenticeship. His first collection of short stories, Twice-Told tales, was published in 1837. Soon afterwards, he joined for a short period an experimental utopian community outside of Boston called Brook Farm in 1841. In 1842, Hawthorne married Sophia Peabody and they moved to Concord, Massachusetts. There Hawthorne wrote many pieces including his next collection of stores in 1846 called ?Mosses from an Old Manse.? From 1846 to 1849, Hawthorne worked in a Salem customhouse. Following his dismissal was a two-year period of intense productivity after which he wrote very little fiction, although he did keep notebooks. Hawthorne died in 1864 following several years of inability to complete any of this writings. Much of Hawthorne's work is set in colonial New England and many of his short stories have been read as moral allegories influenced by his Puritan ancestry. He believed that the misfortunes of his immediate family were the result of d...
With his father dead, his upbringing was left to his mother. Hawthorne was not interested in a higher education, and enrolled at Bowdoin College in 1821, a choice which he protested greatly upon. And at seventeen quoted as already knowing his vocation, “I do not want to be a doctor and live by men’s diseases, nor a minister to live by their sins, nor a lawyer and live by their quarrels. So I don’t see that there is anything left for me to be an author.” Being an avid reader and writer he didn’t care much for schooling. He was an average student, graduating in 1825 (Nathaniel Hawthorne - Biography, 1).
One of Hawthorne’s best novels was The Scarlet Letter which presents a stable and sad tale of love and betrayal it was set in the context of the seventeenth-century, Puritan, New England. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s authorial intentions were to be the first American writer to explore hidden motivations of characters. His intentions of his beliefs were to show people that witchcraft wasn’t real and that Puritans were paranoid. Even though he had a Puritan descent he hated them with a passion he was ashamed of what his grandfather was and he added the w to his name through the shame of his history. Nathaniel Hawthorne wanted to present the puritans with a negative stigma. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. His family descended from the early Puritan settlers in America and had lived in Salem since the 1600s. One of his ancestors was a judge in the Salem witchcraft trials where many women were executed. Hawthorne's father was a captain of a ship, he died when Nathaniel was aged 4, and his mother became a virtual recluse. Hawthorne attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, where his best friends Franklin Pierce, who later became a president of the United States.
The Scarlet Letter is a well-known novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this novel Hawthorne wrote in depth about the Puritans’ reception to sin, in particular, adultery. He also includes brilliant visuals of the repercussions that occur when the town of Salem hears of Hester’s adultery. There are many relationships within the book, from a lover to a beautiful yet illegitimate daughter. Symbolism runs throughout, even a simple rose bush outside of a jail holds so much meaning. Hawthorne reveals themes all through the novel one in particular, was sin. Although sin does not occur often in the Puritan lifestyle Hawthorne shows the importance and change this one deceit makes for the town of Salem.
Jacobson, Gary. The Critical Response to Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. New York: Greenwood, 1992.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter silhouettes the human experience as being intricately woven with equal parts loving bliss and guilty anguish. He describes, from different characters’ perspectives, that only through one does the other have meaning. That living is a sensation fully encountered exclusively from naked emotion which is tended toward, the liberty to articulate those truths, and solidarity. Pearl becomes the embodiment of the former, who is described from the very beginning as an unearthly “creature”, the second by Arthur Dimmesdale, slowly killed by his secret sin, and the latter by both as they discover the lawless triumph of pleasure and pain. Over the course of the novel’s
Hawthorne turned to writing after his graduation from Bowdoin College. His first novel, Fanshawe, was unsuccessful and Hawthorne himself disavowed it as amateurish. However, he wrote several successful short stories, including "My Kinsman, Major Molyneaux," "Roger Malvin's Burial" and "Young Goodman Brown." However, insufficient earnings as a writer forced Hawthorne to enter a career as a Boston Custom House measurer in 1839. After three years Hawthorne was dismissed from his job with the Salem Custom House. By 1842 his writing amassed Hawthorne a sufficient income for him to marry Sophia Peabody and move to The Manse in Concord, which was at that time the center of the Transcendental movement. Hawthorne returned to Salem in 1845, where he was appointed surveyor of the Boston Custom House by President James Polk, but was dismissed from this post when Zachary Taylor became president. Hawthorne then devoted himself to his most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter. He zealously worked on the novel with a determination he had not known before. His intense suffering infused the novel with imaginative energy, leading him to describe it as the "hell-fired story." On February 3, 1850, Hawthorne read the final pages to his wife. He wrote, "It broke her heart and sent her to bed with a grievous headache, which I look upon as a triumphant success.
The Scarlet Letter is a fictional novel that begins with an introductory passage titled ‘The Custom-House’. This passage gives a historical background of the novel and conveys the narrator’s purpose for writing about the legend of Hester Prynne even though the narrator envisions his ancestors criticizing him and calling him a “degenerate” because his career was not “glorifying God”, which is very typical of the strict, moralistic Puritans. Also, although Hawthorne is a Romantic writer, he incorporates properties of Realism into his novel by not idealizing the characters and by representing them in a more authentic manner. He does this by using very formal dialogue common to the harsh Puritan society of the seventeenth century and reflecting their ideals through this dialogue. The Puritans held somewhat similar views as the Transcendentalists in that they believed in the unity of God and the world and saw signs and symbols in human events, such as when the citizens related the meteo...