Nathaniel Hawthorne is an author whose major fiction writing has influenced the literary world greatly during the course of the nineteenth century. His work during the Romantic period represents his world view through a specific style of writing. While his literature is particularly dark in tone, his short stories show a variety of symbols, themes, and characters. “The Minister’s Black Veil,” “The Birthmark,” and “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” are three of Hawthorne’s short stories that illustrate the similar and different nuances in tone and meaning seen in his writing.
One common theme found in these three short stories is experimentation. In each of the short stories’ plots, there is an experiment of some sort undertaken in order to improve the human condition. The most obvious of these is the experiment found in “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment.” Dr. Heidegger is an elderly doctor who calls together four old friends. Three are “white-bearded gentlemen, Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, and Mr. Gascoigne” (Hawthorne, “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” 12), and the other is “a withered gentlewoman, whose name [is] the Widow Wycherly” (Hawthorne, “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” 12). Dr. Heidegger calls them to his house so that he can try an experiment out on them. He first shows the elderly group a concoction he has and then pours it over an old and dried rose that his old lover gave him. Soon the flower grows its old color back and restores its previously vibrant qualities. The four elderly friends beg to try the mixture and soon they are back in the prime of life. At one point many years ago the three gentlemen had each been in love with Wycherly. After taking the mixture and becoming young again, the men return to their fight over the Widow...
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...tories that represent the similar and differing elements found in his writing.
WORKS CITED
Gorman, Herbert Sherman. "Hawthorn on Solitude” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. 15-16. Print.
Hawthorn, Nathaniel. "Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment." The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. 12-15. Print.
Hawthorn, Nathaniel. "The Birthmark." The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. 5-12. Print.
Hawthorn, Nathaniel. "The Minister’s Black Veil." The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. 1-5. Print.
Walsh, Conor. "Aminadab In Nathaniel Hawthorne's THE BIRTH-MARK." Explicator 67.4 (2009): 258-260. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Feb. 2012.
Throughout history individuals or groups of people have responded to power in a multitude of ways. Hoping for religious freedom, the Puritans left England for America starting in the 1620s. The Puritan community chose to withdraw in response to conflict with the higher power in England. Coincidentally, Hawthorne wrote about a Puritan Community in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during this period of migration, and in this community like all others there is always conflicts revolving around power. Hawthorne uses power imbalances in the Scarlet Letter to characterize and transform Hester, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth.
Both of these stories revolve around a lot of symbolism. These stories, since they really don't make a lot of sense on their own, force the reader to look deeper in an attempt to understand the ideas that Hawthorne tries to get across.
Since the beginning of time, people have lived by the expression, or at least heard
Deadly and helpful, science is a dual-edged sword. Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the first to emphasize this through his literary works. “Rappaccini's Daughter” and “The Birthmark” are two of his works where he teaches this lesson through the trials of his characters. Focusing on the motif of the “mad scientist”, Hawthorne brings to light the points that people struggle with humanity, learning to love themselves and others, and that science can be more harmful then helpful.
Fifteen years separate Washington Irving’s short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” with Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown.” The two share an eerie connection because of the trepidation the two protagonists endure throughout the story. The style of writing between the two is not similar because of the different literary elements they choose to exploit. Irving’s “Sleepy Hollow” chronicles Ichabod Crane’s failed courtship of Katrina Van Tassel as well as his obsession over the legend of the Headless Horseman. Hawthorne’s story follows the spiritual journey of the protagonist, Young Goodman Brown, through the woods of Puritan New England where he looses his religious faith. However, Hawthorne’s work with “Young Goodman Brown” is of higher quality than Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” because Hawthorne succeeds in exploiting symbols, developing characters, and incorporating worthwhile themes.
Waggoner, Hyatt H. “Nathaniel Hawthorne.” In Six American Novelists of the Nineteenth Century, edited by Richard Foster. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1968.
Hawthorne’s Romantic writing ability allures his readers into deep thought of the transforming characters creating himself as a phenomenon. His ability to transform Puritan society in a dark world “attracts readers not only for their storytelling qualities, but also for the moral and theological ambiguities Hawthorne presents so well” (Korb 303). In “Young Goodman Brown” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Romantic characteristics such as artificiality of the city, escape from reality, and the value of imagination.
Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. Often times scientific advancements attempt to recreate perfection and disregard nature’s way of being. “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne shows the disconnection and battle between science and Mother Nature. Hawthorne creates the character, Aylmer, to show the science side of the spectrum and to show the extent it could go to. The protagonist, Aylmer, believes that with science anything can be done. Aylmer is a very intelligent and famous scientist who has worked in various fields and on various projects. Although he is very successful He is consumed with his idea of scientific perfection and he lets it fog up his vision of his wife. His wife, Georgina, is described as being basically perfect except for a small red mark on her cheek that burdens her husband. The
Nathaniel Hawthorne's knowledge of Puritanism and his close relationship with the religion has impacted his views on those in the society. Hawthorne is critical of the Puritans and he thinks that they are hypocrites for having rules and morals that they do not follow. He sees the underlying sin that others may not. Through his many writings he makes known to his readers that everyone is guilty of sin. The Puritan's main goal was to save themselves from the sin in the world, but Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays their morals and society as troublesome through his works, "Young Goodman Brown," "The Minister's Black Veil," and The Scarlet Letter.
Nathaniel Hawthorne made out his life a source of inspiration. Every event that happened in his life made him think of a way to write about it. The Scarlett Letter was written after his mother died, and it focused on his society and it was used as a strong accusation against the Puritan Americans (Gollin 2605). His works were the results of long-term contemplations of humans and the society of his time, The Minister’s Black Veil is an example of this. A story about a man who decides to walk around his town cover in a black veil that symbolizes sin, and more importantly, “how the guilt we hide from one another and about the dangers of self-absorption” (Gollin 2604). Every major event in his life brought a new theme to his writings and that made it stand out. Just like Irving, he decided that he wanted to pursue of life full of
Fogle, Richard Harter. "Hawthorne's fiction: The Light and the Dark." Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Study of Short Fiction. Ed. Nancy Bunge. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993. 133-35
Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of America's most renowned authors, demonstrates his extraordinary talents in two of his most famed novels, The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. To compare these two books seems bizarre, as their plots are distinctly different. Though the books are quite seemingly different, the central themes and Hawthorne's style are closely related (Carey, p. 62). American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne is most famous for his books THE SCARLET LETTER and THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES, which are closely related in theme, the use of symbolism, characterization, and style.
Lathrop, G. P., ed. "Hawthorne, Nathaniel." The Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature. Binghamton, New York: Vail-Ballou, 1962. 439-40. Print.
There are numerous instances of ambiguity in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”; this essay hopes to explore critics’ comments on that problem within the tale, as well as to analyze it from this reader’s standpoint.
“The Tell-Tale Heart is one of Edgar Allan Poe’s greatest fictional short stories. It is known for its repulsive and insane homicide; a very wild and thrilling tale. Likewise, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s well-known novel, The Scarlet Letter, is famous for its directness on sexual conflict. Both writings possess similarities with regards to modified characters, connected symbolism, and significant midpoints. Due to these comparisons, it is quite certain that Hawthorne found inspiration in writing The Scarlet Letter after reading “The Tell Tale-Heart”.