Subjects:
expressed as symbolism which exhibits the weakness he found in all mankind. The ease in
which one can understand his symbolism has influenced American Literature.
Hawthorne’s cynical themes of human nature were represented in The Ministers Black
veil, The Birthmark, and Rappaccini’s Daughter. Hawthorne’s preoccupation with
scientific and Puritan religious values shows his belief in mans shortcomings through the
The solitary character, found in Hawthorne’s short stories, was based on his own
life. He lived a reclusive life starting at four when his father died of yellow fever. His
mother, Elizabeth Clark Manning Hathorne, and her three children were forced to move
back to her father’s house. In a house filled with thirteen others and a mother who
mourned her husband in seclusion Nathaniel found it necessary to spend as much time
alone as possible. His interest in reading began at seven when he injured his foot in a ball
game and recuperating for several years instilled in him the love of literature (Hart 320).
Being alone was a habit for him and deepened when he would spen
. . .
in “his youth, had made discoveries in the elemental powers of nature .
After Hawthorne published Twice - Told Tales, thanks to Franklin Pierce, he
enjoyed a brief period of employment at the Boston Common House (Bowmen). Then Giovanni tells her that he has
heard how smart she is, she denies it by saying “methinks I would fain rid myself of even
that small knowledge . d time alone at his
family’s lake in Maine ( Rivendell’s). He names Puritans as hypocrites when
Father Hopper says “Tremble also at each other! . The men
of scenic in both stories have put their love of science before everything including their
lives and loves.
Hawthorne reveals his feeling toward science and men of higher learning in The
Birthmark and Rappaccini’s Daughter. Hawthorne calmed his own anxiety about marriage when he wrote The
Ministers Black Veil. will pass away like a dream” (Lauter 2239 - 2255).
Hart, James (1965) The Oxford Companion to American Literature, Forth and Fifth
Edition New York: Oxford University Press pg. His ancestors were William Hawthorne who in
1630 ordered the whipping of a Quaker woman and 1692 John Hathorne was a judge in
the Salem witch trials (Magill 197).
After the writing of these short stories he wrote the novel that has made
him famous for his symbolism.
Essay's Topics
All research is for reference purposes only.