Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American writer and novelist who was a prominent figure in the literary movement known as dark romanticism. Dark romanticism was a subgenre of romanticism that emerged in the early 19th century and was characterized by its focus on emotions, the supernatural, and the inner turmoil of the human psyche.
Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804 and was heavily influenced by the Puritan heritage of his hometown. He was a master of using symbolism and allegory in his writing, and his works often explored themes of sin, guilt, and the consequences of society's rigid moral codes.
One of Hawthorne's most famous works, "The Scarlet Letter," tells the story of Hester Prynne, a woman who is punished by the community for committing adultery. The novel explores the theme of repression and the consequences of societal expectations on the individual.
Another well-known work by Hawthorne is "The House of the Seven Gables," which tells the story of a family cursed by greed and selfishness. The novel delves into themes of inheritance and the corrupting influence of power and wealth.
In addition to his novels, Hawthorne also wrote short stories, including "The Minister's Black Veil," which explores the theme of secrecy and the power of the human imagination.
Overall, Nathaniel Hawthorne's contributions to dark romanticism have had a lasting impact on literature and continue to be studied and admired by readers today. His use of symbolism and allegory to delve into themes of sin, guilt, and the human psyche have made him a crucial figure in the literary world.
Dark Romanticism & American Renaissance: Context
Heidegger has an oaken closet that contains a skeleton that symbolizes his secrets from his past that he keeps hidden. Hawthorne knew that everyone, even a respected doctor, could have secrets they are not proud of. In 1865, the Civil War ended, Lincoln was assassinated, slavery was abolished. It is impossible to view Rappuccini as a normal and loving human because his garden is evil and unnatural. Hawthorne knew that everyone, even a respected doctor, could have secrets they are not proud of.
Free Essay: Nathaniel Hawthorne: Dark Romantic
Each member of the congregation, the most innocent girl, and the man of hardened breast, felt as if the preacher had crept upon them, behind his awful veil, and discovered their hoarded iniquity of deed or thought. The forest symbolizes his secrets which can be opened at any second by the villagers thus placing his high standing at risk. Perfect, flawless, and a religion based on following God? Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism Vols. When all four characters are given a second chance to drink the water from the Fountain of Youth represents second chance , they waste it and go back to their old ways. The metaphor is evident, namely nature is invincible as well as the human sinful nature. Their works acted as a foil to the more optimistic bent of Transcendentalist literature. Haverhill, Massachusetts: Trustees of the John Greenleaf Whittier Homestead, 1985: 293.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
In fact, the entire plot demonstrates the easy ways for the social harmony to disappear. So deep a stain, indeed, that his dry old bones, in the Charter Street burial-ground, must still retain it, if they have not crumbled utterly to dust! His use of symbols adds depth to his stories and helps to reveal different aspects of his characters. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Purify that inward sphere, and the many shapes of evil that haunt the outward, and which now seem almost our only realities, will turn to shadowy phantoms and vanish of their own accord; but if we go no deeper than the intellect, and strive, with merely that feeble instrument, to discern and rectify what is wrong, our whole accomplishment will be a dream, so unsubstantial that it matters little whether the bonfire, which I have so faithfully described, were what we choose to call a real event and a flame that would scorch the finger, or only a phosphoric radiance and a parable of my own brain. Beatrice represents Eve while Giovanni represents Adam. Some writers in America who drew from the Romantic tradition were James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, and the transcendentalists Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. An allegorical story is a story with characters and objects that stand for abstract ideas and moral qualities.
