Essays on Nathaniel Hawthorne

Gothic Literature Gothic novel originated in England, in the last quarter of the XVIII century. It opens up a world, freed from the everyday plausibility. This world is fantastic, with a gloomy color and plot, covered with historical and geographical romance and sinister atmosphere. Gothic novel is more than two hundred years; it has changed, has become modern, but have not lost its essential characteristics – pleasant horror, tension and excitement.

British Gothic Novel

Gothic novel in England has been very popular since the XVIII century. The “father” of this genre of literature is considered to be Horace Walpole, with the novel The ...

The story The Birthmark is about Aylmer who is a scientist and philosopher. He is married to Georgiana. One day Aylmer asks her is she had ever thought about removing the birthmark that is on her face. At first Georgiana thinks he is joking, but when she realizes that he is serious, she tells him that she and many others see her birthmark as a blessing and charm. He says that it takes away from her face, which is almost perfect except for the birthmark. The birthmark is a small hand-shaped red mark that disappears when she blushes. Women ...

Introduction

The novel, The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850, has a protagonist named Hester Prynne who was forced to live in solitude for her act of adultery. The novel is phased in the era of 1960s which is almost two centuries prior to its year of publication and aims at explaining the plight of a woman who was forced to live with the imposed consequences by the members of the Puritan community in the city of Salem, Massachusetts. With respect to the analysis of her character in the novel, there are some stark contradictions affixed to her ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is one of the most famous novels by the American romantic writer. While the novel is well-known for its depiction of the relationships between the characters, and the romantic plots and subplots, the novel also has great value as a historical study of the Puritan period. Puritan society was a highly gendered society, with strict gender roles for men and women, and a well-established patriarchal society. Explorations of the novel, and of the depiction of Hester’s character, her punishment, and her actions in the novel can help reveal whether Hawthorne was realistically ...

Central to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing of The Birthmark is the unexplained mark that was on “Georgiana’s left cheeka little [similar] to the human hand, though of the smallest pygmy size” (Hawthorne par.7). Initially, the mark had brought Georgiana much admiration with some lovers asserting that the impression on her face was subject to a “fairy” whose tiny hand had somehow landed on the woman’s cheek when she was young (par. 7). The problem is, Aylmer, who happens to the story’s protagonist and Georgiana’s husband, fails to see the appeal of such a mark on ...

A great writer Nathaniel Hawthorne is a person who uses different themes and characters in his writings. He is a romantic writer who uses different literary devices, such as metaphor, irony, symbols in order to make his works more understandable and reaching to the reader. He himself as a person has a very interesting family history. His father died and he was forced to live with his relatives, mother and sister. Every writer’s storyline influences their writings and Nathaniel Hawthorne was not an exception to the rule. Hawthorne’s family history shaped the theme of his writing including ...

Romanticism is an element that has played a crucial role in the development of literature from the 18th century. This philosophy has had a noticeable effect on many literature works including Nathaniel’s The Scarlet Letter. It is easy to identify its influence in the novel because it is very clear that Nathaniel Hawthorne was a supporter of romanticism and that is the reason he presents many issues with the philosophy of romanticism in the novel. The Scarlet Letter is a gothic romanticism novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne during the romanticism period. The book features the story of two ...

The first chapter of Leo Marx’s book ‘The Machine in the Garden. Technology and the Pastoral Idea in America’ is named Sleepy Hollow. This name is derived from one of Nathaniel’s Hawthorne’s writings whereby he describes a small space scooped out among the woods which is used for farming Indian corn and which according to Hawthorne “is like the lap of a bounteous Nature, filed with bread stuff”(Marx 12). Hawthorn observes various elements of nature and appreciates the ability of nature to provide a calm and serene environment to think and be imaginative. The nature ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novels can be perceived as significant and resilient records of the contemporary Puritan society, disclosing the social and religious order prevalent at that time. His novels portray the clash between the individual and moral values and virtues and social goodness and ethical codes. Laurence Sargent Hall says: “The moral problem to be found wherever the individual’s mal- adjustment to society culminates in sin furnished Hawthorne with his major tragic themes. In the main this problem is worked out through some resolution by the individual of his mal- adjustment, an expiation of sin, by coming to ...

Throughout the history, there have been noteworthy literacy movements, many of which have been over and done. Two of the most important literacy movements throughout the time have been transcendentalism and romanticism.

Transcendentalism was a literacy form in the 19th century. Under this literacy form, many writers have contributed in its movement. Among the major pioneers in this literacy form include Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Bronson Alcott Theodore Parker. Based on the works of these great transcendentalists I will elucidate the differences that exist between Romanticism and Transcendentalism.

Romanticism draws outs strong feelings and demonstrates significant actions. It is about a ...

RESEARCH PAPER

- What is your thesis? (This statement should be only one sentence long and must have three things in it: the name of the primary source author(s), the name of the primary source/story or stories, and the main idea that you are trying to prove. If possible, you may also provide a plan of development and list your 3-4 major points.) The paper tries to analyze whether the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story, Young Goodman Brown, is a hero or a dupe. It will show how Brown’s weaknesses, including conceit, leads to his demise. The analysis will ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne explores the idea of gender comprehensively in his work, The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne tells the sad story of love and betrayal in families. His story is based on the 17th century Puritan New England. The cultural values and morals observed by Hawthorne’s community influences the social and gender expectations of the narrative. Hawthorne develops an interesting tale by basing his perspective on the 17th century world, which significantly affects the development of characters. The Scarlet Letter highlights that community and individual characters observe strict codes that provide guidelines on how individuals are supposed to live. Furthermore, ...

Introduction

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown, like all good stories, has all the ingredients that keep the reader interested. The Story starts off when an innocent young man goes on a journey across the forest. He is a married man from the village of Salem who takes pride in the community and its leaders. His illusions regarding his society are refuted when he realizes that many of the people in his town, including his wife and the religious leaders are going to attend a Black Mass. Although one is not able to tell whether the story is a nightmare or a true story, it ...

“Young Goodman Brown,” “The Birthmark” and “Ethan Brand” are all notably published works from the dark romanticism sub-genre era published by Nathaniel Hawthorne that have lead characters embracing the concepts of morality and isolation. Hawthorne is an American author well-known mostly for his writings in this particular classification of stories from 1839 to 1860. Hawthorne typically incorporates such topic as isolation, sin, and the devil in his writings. These topics can generate and fester sinister feelings and ideas of alienation, guilt, and gloom. Hawthorn draws influence from multiple aspects of his life, for example, incorporating the use of his ...

Conflict is a violent dispute or incompatibility of views positions between individuals or groups. Conflicts are normal and inevitable and inherent feature of human existence. For conflicts to be present, key issues must be taken into consideration since the analysis of issues gives or assist in the identification of parties to the conflict hence the meaning of the systems in the conflict. As such conflict situations involve cases where individuals or parties have divergent views or incompatible aims which motivate and influence their behavior. As such, the behavior shown by the parties is what will determine the issues in ...

Classic English Literature

Test of Faith in Young Goodman Brown In the short story "Young Goodman Brown," the author Nathaniel Hawthorne makes use of mystery and suspense in order to grasp the readers’ attention. This story is apparently a parable, bursting as it is filled with symbolism of the obscurity within the hearts of common people. The predominant message that Hawthorne intends to deliver through the story is about the powerlessness of the human race, and in order to convey the same, the author has used numerous literary techniques in an entertaining manner to the readers. The story seem to be predominantly ...

One of the finest American writers during the 18th century, Nathaniel Hawthorne was a confident man and utterly skilled in his craft. Most of his stories contain allegorical devices that captivated readers of all generations. Likewise, he was odds with Edgar Allan Poe, who was more freeform with his words, indulging in prose that explored the recesses of his imagination without becoming moralistic or allegorical (Hawthorne, v-vii). Aside from The Scarlet Letter a novel recollecting a feverish nightmare, thus suffocating the reader with its dark prose and allegory. On the other hand, The Birthmark, Hawthorne tries to recreate the 18th century nuptials ...

Exploring he theme of Isolation in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories; “The Minister’s Black Veil”, “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Birthmark” Nathaniel Hawthorne is the author of many short stories in which he portrays his characters with some dilemma where they must make up their minds about what is wrong from what is right. His stories end with morals that can be learned through his characters’ actions. Most of the stories he wrote are filled with themes of guilt and there are many themes of loneliness and sadness. His main characters are reclusive and lived sheltered lives. ...

Thesis Statement 1: Society has a way of punishing people they envy by emphasizing the latter’s weakness and making a ridicule out of that individual only to boost their personal worth. - Claim: When the beautiful and poised Hester Prynne arrived at Boston, she came alone awaiting for the arrival of her husband Roger Chillingworth, however, to everyone’s knowledge. This made the women of Boston threatened by her.

Interpretation: That left the young, beautiful and poised Hester Prynne the interest of men. This grew the displeasure of the women of Boston. - Claim: Many believed that Hester ...

The Popol Vuh is the Mayan story of creation. The Mayans believe that Hero Twins Xbalanqué and Hunahpú created them. It provides a narrative that accounts for the creation of all living beings in the world. Like the biblical creation story, Animals were first related, and then human beings. While the Popol Vuh is interesting for it’s insight into the ancient Mayan people, it is also interesting in it’s context of other mythical stories which emerged from other cultures after they had grown to the size of a full-blown civilization. One of the most important stories of any people ...

Nowadays, people tend to care too much what other people may think about them, sometimes making sacrifices beyond their possibilities, for the sake of appearances. The story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant teaches us a very good life lesson regarding this issue and in another order of ideas, we can call it the deceptiveness of appearances. The main character of the story, Mathilde, never felt that the normal life she had fits her, and she always dreamed on being wealthy and making part of the social class. She had her change to bright for a couple of hours at a social ...

An Explanation of How Hester Prynne Portrays the Author’s View

of America’s Transition from Puritanism to Romanticism 3 pages, double-spaced

Times New Roman, 12 pt

869 words Page set up: U.S. Letter 5 citations

MLA format

The novel, The Scarlet Letter, was written by the author Nathaniel Hawthorne and was published in 1850 (1). It is a story about the Puritan settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, set around 1650 (2). The story is written in the third person with the narrator being the author. The common thread that runs through this novel is Hawthorne’s apparent understanding of the beliefs and culture of the Puritans in America at that time. But ...

A well-known American writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on the 4th of July 1804. Salem in Massasuchetts, a city, was the place of birth of the novelist. Nathaniel’s forefathers, the Hathornes, are well known in New England history. Nathaniel changed his second name adding a ‘w' to make it Hawthorne with the intention of hiding his relations to his father and the forefathers. Why would he want to hide his relations to his forefathers? Nathaniel came from a rather long line of puritan ancestors. The ancestors, including his father, were involved in witch trials that frequently took place in Salem, which ...

“Instructor’s name’

‘Subject’ “The Birth-Mark” and “The Cask of Amontillado” – A comparative study Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne are two important contributors of the nineteenth-century American literature. Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most celebrated authors, posthumously though, of the past century. Some of his stories are almost autobiographical, and though he lived in a previous era, his ideas were far ahead of his time. Nathaniel Hawthorne is an author, whose works are even today cited for seeking ethical guidance. His stories urge the reader to analyze his moral confusions. This essay is an attempt to compare and ...

Literature: Essay

Blithedale Romance written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1852 is called one of his un-humorous fictions. The Novel covers the age of mid 1800s in the community of Blithedale. There are few characters projecting a mix of feelings about their viewpoint of the world. The hero of the novel is Miles Coverdale, who is desirous of improving the life standards of the community through agrarian lifestyle. The fictional story is somewhat confusing as it projects the darker side of the individuals and the reader feels like going into a depression due to the strange twist of events and sudden appearances and re-appearances ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne, Toni Cade and Alice Walker are the perfect descriptions of talented literary commentators and writers of the ancient or classical times. However, there is a cutting edge and the common denominator in all the three stories. They resonate well with the strength of the human spirit and how they strive to overcome injustices and unfair treatment. For instance, Alice Walker did an interesting and eye-opening short story which highlighted the struggles of the black community in the United States of America. The story was titled The Colour Purple. This is an interesting piece which highlights the plight of ...

Young Goodman Brown is a moral story about a Puritan minister, which is told by one religious leader. The author of the story is Nathaniel Hawthorne, who used unimportant concepts in order to show the story’s alternative meaning. In his allegorical story he symbolized the things and feelings in people’s life, like faith, love, fear and others, and different characters and setting are used to represent these feelings. The main character of the story, Goodman Brown ventures on a journey into the local forest and meets a devil, who tempts the man for different things. Young Brown must refuse that the ...

Characters make up all stories; it is what makes them interesting. The character in the story is a figure around which action revolves. Be it humans, figures, animals, the author can make a character out of anything (Josephs, 1995). The aspects that make an individual identify a character as such, are the aspects to which the author reveals to them, either diegetically or mimetically (Josephs, 1995). In a diegetic characterization, the author reveals to the readers the character by explicitly telling them who he is. This achievement uses the third person where the author is in the observer’s position and reveals his/ ...

Literature often deals with various conflicts involving people; wars, families, cultures, nations, and many other factors pit one or more people against each other. However, pivotal moments in literature often occur within the characters themselves. A character may struggle within himself, and this internal struggle can reveal much about the character and therefore the aim of the literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” and James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” are short stories that deal intimately with the internal conflict of their protagonists, which reveals much about the characters. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown,” ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birth-Mark is a short story examining obsessions with human perfection. The romantic short story was first published in 1843. It tells of the life of Aylmer, an intelligent scientist and philosopher who abandons his experiments and career to marry Georgina. Georgina is physically perfect save for a red birthmark on her neck in the shape of human hand. Aylmer becomes excessively obsessed with the birthmark on Georgina’s cheek as the story progresses. One night, the philosopher and scientist dreams of cutting the birthmark on his wife’s cheek and progresses all the way to the heart ...

Literature

The American literature in the 19th century produced colorful plays, novels, fiction, poetry, essays and native literary pieces. The boundaries of the 19th century American literature were restrictive and presented three challenges to explain the narrow understanding due to the prolonged 19th century, the expansion of literature among genre and the asymmetry of the U.S. and America (Castronovo 1). In the case of famous writers Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, a comparison of their works has given their audience the opportunity to play with their imagination by feeling a mix of emotions that may bring them to an eerie, sublime, ...

Introduction

Nathaniel Hawthorne ranks among the world’s major authors. His proficiency in the art of literature, particularly short fiction is unmatched. Two of his most famous works are Young Goodman Brown and The Minister’s Black Veil. In these two short fictional stories, Hawthorne portrays a romantic view of sin and people. Like many other romantic literature pieces, the setting of the stories is dark and gloomy. Religion plays a huge role in both stories. History reveals that the American nation was partly founded through the ideals of religion. From its inception, religion has helped to shape and define the modern ...

Poe’s theory major statement pertaining his work is considered to be “The Poetic Principle.” He first delivered it in the 1848 in Rhodes Island when he was giving a lecture on it. This presentation was reported to have drawn an audience of two thousand people. It later took two years for the lecture to be printed on paper and where he never saws the prints as he had died the year before. In his theory, he read and briefly summerized or rather discussed a few poems by other writers. It also included several statements where he restated the purpose of ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 novel depicting the treatment of adulterous Hester Prynne in Puritan-era Boston, after her sin is discovered. This depiction of Puritan America is close to the author's heart; having been born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804, Hawthorne was likely fascinated by his region's Puritan past (particularly his ancestor John Hathorne, who was one of the judges during the Salem witch trials of 1692 (Miller 20-21). In investigating the attitudes and anxieties of the people living in colonial New England, Hawthorne explores the xenophobia, religious intolerance, and daily struggles of the people who ...

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the claim made on the greatly renowned classic novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter. I would claim that the novel portrays various characters where it would be acceptable to mention and link them to the very controversial topic Women and Honor Killings. This paper clarifies how the story of the Scarlet Letter is a fine example of how women and honor killings occur in different societies and cultures and also with proper evidences it will be made further clear how this claim can be interrelated with the Hawthrone’s story and characters of ...

Classic English literature: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Introduction There has been a lot of growth and development in the American literature docket over centuries, and it is necessary to note the fact that each phase has had various impacts, not only on the scholars in the American literary field and abroad, but also on the American people, themselves. Literature is one of the tools that have been used over the years to intrigue people’s way of thinking, and most essentially, their approach and opinion towards various aspects that affect their day to day activities and surroundings. This is one of the reasons why literature, as a ...

In “Young Goodman Brown,” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses a variety of literary devices in creating a story with a strong theme and characters which are fully rounded and believable. Of these devices, his use of symbolism and imagery are rife. This is of the more well-known stories exploring 17th Century Puritanism and, even on a first read, it is clear why. Hawthorne depicts the chosen situation carefully and convincingly to the reader, not only entertaining them but also informing them as well. As with many of Hawthorne’s works, this story has been discussed by many academics in the field over the years since it ...

This paper will discuss the relevance of studying the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne in the twenty first century. The paper commences by providing a brief history on Nathaniel Hawthorne. Thereafter, it will provide a chronology of some of his primary works. It will also provide reasons as to why Nathaniel Hawthorne is still popular very many years after his death . In addition, the paper will discuss some of the major themes contained in his literary works. Also, the paper will look into the symbols and settings that Hawthorne used; taking note of the significance of the aspects in his writings. ...

In the early pages of The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne observes that, when a town is founded, two institutions are needed first – a graveyard and a prison. According to Hawthorne’s Anti-Transcendentalist world view, human nature was anything but good, which meant that the first two certainties that would strike any new human settlement would be death and violation of the law. There are, of course, many kinds of prisons in the modern world. In addition to the traditional correctional facility, there are also forces at work in terms of cultural and social prejudice that keep members of different groups from reaching ...

This essay deals with the question of irony in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown,” where one man’s journey into the forest, late at night, and the sights he witnesses there, change his life forever. Seeing that all the people he thought devout, pious and morally upright, are actually devil worshippers, even his own wife Faith, Brown loses his own faith in humanity and becomes an estranged person.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown” conveys an attack on the eccentric Puritan dogma, which utilized a strong moral concept, simultaneously brutally punishing all those who disobeyed. The ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s renowned novel The Scarlet Letter exemplifies America’s Puritan past and exposes this community as marred by religious intolerance, highly vindictive spirit and the suppression of all things connected to Nature, as opposed to eternal salvation that is the result of a chaste life. Hawthorne opens up about his ancestral guilt with a darkness no optimism can illuminate, retaining the realism of his work and baring the true face of Puritanism, rendering it repressive and authoritarian, but simultaneously utilizing this community as an analogue for the general human condition. His personal religious beliefs were shaken on his having ...

“Our parson has gone mad!” cried Goodman Gray (Hawthorne, 2001, 26). The young minister, Mr. Hooper, shocked his parishioners one Sunday morning by wearing a black veil while he gave the sermon. Then to make the shock even worse the minister did not remove the veil even for his daily activities. He wore it all the time even though his fiancé broke their engagement and others cringed to see him coming.

The minister’s new look made a visible impression on those around but he would not explain to anyone the reason he started wearing a black crape veil over his eyes. ...

Federico’s Ghost by Martin Espada is an intriguing poem of advocacy which attempts to give a voice to those who do not have a chance to speak and who are alone in the world. This suggests an intertwining of aesthetics and politics especially in this poem which refers to the ghost of a child who appears to help those which are currently oppressed. The poem deals with the story of a young boy who is called Federico and who works tilling the land in tomato fields, back breaking work for almost no pay in a desperately poor family who do not have ...

In “Young Goodman Brown,” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses a variety of literary devices in creating a story with a strong theme and characters which are fully rounded and believable. Of these devices, his use of symbolism and imagery are rife. This is of the more well-known stories exploring 17th Century Puritanism and, even on a first read, it is clear why. Hawthorne depicts the chosen situation carefully and convincingly to the reader, not only entertaining them but also informing them as well. As with many of Hawthorne’s works, this story has been discussed by many academics in the field over the years since it ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is the narrative of a fallen woman whose story is not the result of her own innate character, but of social forces which execute their power upon her and the subsequent transformations that these forces evoke. Thus, the personal opinion of this reader is that Hester Prynne truly is a courageous heroine who, prone to flaws like all human beings, makes a choice, which changes her life forever. Whether it was a wrong choice or a feat any of us would endeavor upon is questionable, because as it was said, it is not so much Hester’s instinctive ...

Nathanial Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” was published in a collection of short stories in 1845. The writer has used three dimensional characters which allow him to explore his themes of human perfections and of how women can be shaped by men’s interpretations. Through the use of language, tone and character, Hawthorne has created a fascinating, and deeply gripping’ story. “The Birthmark” covers a variety of different themes. The tone of this short story is dark and, at times, haunting. However, it the strong use of dialogue gives it a subtlety that other narratives with dark atmospheres do not have. Dialogue aside, the ...