Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Projected Self in the Scarlett Letter

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Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the most influential authors during the Romanticism time period. Hawthorne is most commonly known for his novel, The Scarlett Letter. That novel continues to still be read all over. In fact, I just read it for my history class. Not only can the novel be read for an English, but for a history class as well because of the Puritan background. Nathaniel Hawthorne wasn’t just an author that blended in within his era, he stood out. Hawthorne was unique. He used identifiable contexts that influenced his work, and wrote in mediums such as short stories and novels.

In my opinion what made Hawthorne so unique is that he was not only just a writer but he was a very meticulous critic on himself as well. He didn’t allow others judgment of his work to affect him, but to have some type of meaning affecting his career. Hawthorne himself says, “seldom, if ever, show any design on the writer’s part to make them so. They have none of the abstruseness of idea, or obscurity of expression, which mark the written communications of solitary mind with itself.” (Twayne’s United States Authors) This quality really stands out to me in my opinion. I feel that a lot of authors may have relied too heavily on critics and others judgments to try and better their writing in any way possible. Not only should they be taking advice from other writers and critics, but also they should be confident enough in their own writing that they did a good job.

From what I noticed reading The Scarlett Letter was that Hawthorne was very interested in Puritans, the values they had and their beliefs. Nathaniel Hawthorne himself didn’t grow up under the Puritan life style, but he was a “descendant of a long line of New Englan...

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...reading. He is to always celebrated for is contributions. Hawthorne was unique. He used identifiable contexts that influenced his work, and wrote in mediums such as short stories and novels.

Works Cited

Crow, Charles L. American Gothic : An Anthology From Salem Witchcraft To H.P. Lovecraft. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 24 April 2014.

Idol, John L., Jr. "Nathaniel Hawtorne July 4, 1804-May 19, 1864." Gale Literary Databases. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

"Nathaniel Hawthorne." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2013): 1. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 April 2014.

"Nathaniel Hawthorne." Twayne's United States Authors. Web. 24 April 2014.

"Nathaniel Hawthorne Writing Style." Nathaniel Hawthorne Writing Style. Web. 24 April 2014. – I used this source because it specifically talked about the authors writing style.

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