Nathaniel Hawthorne, born on Independence Day of 1807, led an unorganized childhood, transferring schools frequently. Despite all of the chaos surrounding his early life, Hawthorne gained experiences that allowed him to craft novels and short stories which later earned places as classics of American literature.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born to Elizabeth Manning Hathorne and Nathaniel Hathorne, son of an infamous judge responsible for sentencing many young girls to death for witchcraft (Whitney). Because of this, Hawthorne changed his name from Nathaniel Hathorne to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne found the legacy left by his grandfather and father despicable and changed his name in an effort to distance himself from the name infamous in Salem’s tragic early history (Faculty of European Graduate School). Only four years after Hawthorne’s birth, his father contracted and died of yellow fever. After the loss of the family patriarch, the remaining family moved in with Elizabeth’s brothers. Nathaniel Hawthorne began his attendance at Worcester’s School before being seriously injured. The details surrounding this injury were never chronicled, but it appears that it was during this time Hawthorne acquired his love of reading. After recovering months later, Hawthorne began attending a boarding school in Stroudwater, Maine, in 1818. Nathaniel Hawthorne later returned to his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts, to attend Samuel Archer’s School in order to prepare for college. In 1820, Benjamin Oliver tutored Hawthorne in Salem right before Hawthorne’s admission and attendance at Bowdoin College. Throughout his attendance at Bowdoin College, Hawthorne’s social life often took center stage. Hawthorne became friends with the likes of Henry Wadswor...
... middle of paper ...
...lOverType=&query=&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Plot-Summary&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=true&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=SUIC&action=e&catId=GALE%7C00000000MP9T&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ2101301736&source=Bookmark&u=tel_s_tsla&jsid=ce076e7b96721ed7d42a042694146b00>.
Faculty of European Graduate School. "Nathaniel Hawthorne - Biography." 2012. The European Graduate School. 9 April 2014.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Penguin Group, 2009.
Newberry, Frederick. "The Custom-House." 2006. American History Through Literature 1820-1870. 11 April 2014.
Whitney, Teri. "Nathaniel Hawthorne's Early Life: Introduction." 2 April 2014. Hawthorne in Salem. 9 April 2014.
—. "The Wife and Children of Nathaniel Hawthorne: Introduction." 2 April 2014. Hawthorne in Salem. 10 April 2014.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Enriched Classic ed. New York City: Simon & Schuster, 2004. Print.
Lathrop, G. P., ed. "Hawthorne, Nathaniel." The Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature. Binghamton, New York: Vail-Ballou, 1962. 439-40. Print.
When the news came of his father’s death, Hawthorne’s mother withdrew into her upstairs bedroom, coming out only rarely during the remaining forty years of her life. The boy and his two sisters lived in almost complete isolation from her and from each other (29).
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodman Brown. Charlottesville, Va: University of Virginia Library, 1996. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 2 Mar. 2014.
Nathanial Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in the summer of 1804 to a family with a rich history in New England. After the death of his father in 1808, he spent his adolescent years in Maine on his uncle’s farm and was raised by his mother. At the age of seventeen, Hawthorne’s uncle insisted that he attend college. Hawthorne was not keen on the idea, but eventually gave in and attended Bowdoin College, located in Maine from 1821 to 1824 and was considered an average student. Hawthorne was an avid reader and began writing short stories and novels during his time in college. He published Young Goodman Brown in 1835.
Lang, H.J.. “How Ambiguous Is Hawthorne.” In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.
... Jo Kinnick. “Stories Derived from New England Living.” In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.
Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 4, 1804 (Magill 1; Campbell 1; “Nathaniel Hawthorne”; Eldred 1). He was born into the sixth generation of his Salem family, and was a descendant of a long line of New England Puritans, which contributed in his interest in the Puritan way of life. The family was originally known as the “Hathornes”, but Nathaniel added the “w” to his name so it would become “Hawthorne”. The Hawthornes had been involved in religious persecution with their first American ancestor, William. Another ancestor, John Hathorne, was one of the three judges at the seventeenth-century Salem witchcraft trials. Hawthorne’s father was a sea captain, and when he was four years old (1808), his father died on a voyage in Surinam, Dutch Guinea (Campbell 1). Hawthorne was left alone with his mother and two sisters. He spent his early years in Salem and in Maine, during which he showed an interest in his father’s nautical adventures and read his logbooks often, even after his death (Magill 1). His maternal relatives recognized his literary talent at such a you...
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in the year 1804 in the heart of Salem, Massachusetts, where to Salem witch trials were conducted. Hawthorne was born in an unforgiving time period, where life revolved around religion and family. Hawthorne’s father died of Yellow Fever in the year 1808. Nathaniel grew up fatherless, which had a lasting effect on who he later became to be. Education at the time was centered on reading and writing, with a heavy religious influence. “The education of the next generation was important to further "purify" the church and perfect social living” (Kizer). However, since his father passed away, there was no other man to instill the Puritan beliefs into young Nathaniel. Hawthorne later on was able to see the culture through a different lens than the people surrounding him, which made him slightly opposed to the Puritan way of life. He became intellectually rebellious; not thinking in the same way that his peers or family was.
Lang, H.J. “How Ambiguous is Hawthorne?” In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804. After his graduation from Bowdoin College in Maine, he quickly became a well-known author of literary tales concerning early American life. Between 1825 and 1850, he developed his talent by writing short fiction, and he gained international fame for his fictional novel The Scarlet Letter in 1850 (Clendenning 118). Rufus Wilmot Griswold...
Martin, Terence. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Revised Edition. Twayne’s United States Authors Series. G.K. Hall & Company. Massachusetts. 1983.
“Nathaniel Hawthorne – Biography.” The European Graduate School. The European Graduate School, n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2014
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. American Literature. Vol. 1. New York: Penguin Academics, 2004. 592-778. Print.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, the descendent of a long line of Puritan ancestors, including John Hathorne, a presiding magistrate in the Salem witch trials. After his father was lost at sea when he was only four, his mother became overly protective and pushed him toward more isolated pursuits. Hawthorne's childhood left him overly shy and bookish, and molded his life as a writer. Hawthorne is one of the most modern of writers who rounds off the puritan cycle in American writing