Nathaniel Hawthorne
The objective of this work is to examine Nathaniel Hawthorne's works and to conduct a comparison of the life of Hawthorne to his short stories and to examine how his life and his works paralleled one another.
The life of Nathaniel Hawthorne many times was played out in his stories as his life events and experiences bled forth into his works demonstrating the struggles that the writer faced within himself and his own life. Running through the threads of the stories of Hawthorne is the theme of Puritanism and this is clearly perceived as one reads the stories of Hawthorne entitled "The Scarlet Letter," "The Minister's Black Veil and "The Birthmark." In order to understand Hawthorne's view it is necessary that one understand what Puritanism is, believes, and represents.
Puritanism
Puritanism was first presented in the works of William Tyndale (1495-1536) as well as in the work of John Hooper (d.1555) who had held that the English reformation was far too slow in advancing. During the time between the reign of Elizabeth I and Oliver Cromwell's death, was the time that Puritanism bloomed forth evidenced in the work of Cartwright (1535-1603 and Perkins (1558-1602) two Puritan philosophers. That which served to differentiate Puritanism and the Anglican Church was formulated during this time as well.
Puritans, upon their failure in the English reformation made a decision to construct a Puritan community that could serve as a model. The location chosen was that of New England which began the 'Great Migration' in 1620 as these 'extremists' set out for Plymouth. (Rummel, 1996, p.1) In actuality, the Puritans were successful in reforming both England and the English church but it was too much too soon and things turned on the movement of Puritanism. The parliamentary opposition of the Puritans against the royal court in what is described as "...open warfare against Charles I in 1640 resulted in the Puritans loss of both "their power and influence." (Rummel, 1996, p.1)
The Puritans were persecuted along with the Republicans, Presbyterians and Quakerians, their services prohibited and Puritans were banned from visiting the universities. In fact, approximately 100 individuals who attended Puritans services in 1567 were arrested with 15 being sentenced to prison. The Puritans migrated from England so they could freely practice their religion. The Puritans believed in predestination for salvation and that while man could not save himself that he could make improvement to his own soul. Puritans were hard workers and attempted to live morally with many of them quite wealthy due to their zest for work. Puritans valued education highly. While religiously strict, the Puritans were very tolerant. The example stated by Rommel is that Puritans "condemned the drunkard, but not the consumption of alcohol itself.
This is all-important as Nathaniel Hawthorne was born into a long line of Puritans. The cruelty of his own family affected Hawthorne greatly as he attempted to disseminate the beliefs of the Puritans and the fact that his ancestors had participated in the Quaker (witch) persecution and participated in torture and sentence accused witches to death. Specifically stated in the work of Rummel, Hawthorne "tried to find distance from this face of Puritanism and lived Puritan ideology and philosophy in his own way." (Rummel, 1996, p.1) Hawthorne believed that the "devil was evil in everybody. It makes people blind so they are not able to recognize the evil in themselves." (Rummel, 1996, p.1)
Hawthorne also is reported to have lost his father at the age of four when his father, "a sea captain was lost at sea." (Kesterson, nd, p.1) This resulted in Hawthorne being "denied a father for a goodly part of his youth." (Kesterson, nd, p.1) Hawthorne did however, have two uncles, specifically, Robert and Richard Manning, who served as surrogate fathers. It is reported that Melville reviewed Hawthorne's works stating that Hawthorne's nature and spirit evinced in the tales "argue such a depth of tenderness, such a boundless sympathy with all forms of being, such an omnipresent love, that we must needs say that this Hawthorne is here almost alone in his generation." (Kesterson, nd, p.1) Melville goes on to say that Hawthorne has
"a great, deep intellect which drops down into the universe like a plummet." (Kesterson, nd, p.1)
Melville then proposes:
"this great power of blackness in him derives its force from its appeal to that Calvinistic sense of Innate Depravity and Original Sin, from whose visitations,...
Religion features prominently as a theme in literature. In fact, some of the earliest works of literature are rooted in their religious and cultural traditions, including the ancient literatures of the Middle East and Mesopotamia. As the role of religion in society changed, so too did the role of religion in literature. Modern literature, including work by Nathaniel Hawthorne, often offers scathing critiques of religion, whereas postmodern literature allows religion to play
Work Alienation Alienation and Organization behavior Objective viewpoint Solutions to Alienation Results and effectiveness of solutions The management of the employment relationship has become an area of priority for the managers in organizations as companies and organizations strive to gain better output and productivity. This enhanced output and productivity is now focused on being obtained from increased engagement of the human resources in a company as organizations worldwide understand the need to maximize the potential
When first offered the snakelike staff, Young Goodman Brown refuses to accept it although his does later accept a new staff instead. This symbolizes his simultaneous fear of evil and his temptation to embrace it (Miller, 1991). The staff itself likely represents a tool of evil (Miller, 1991). Similarly, the way that Young Goodman Brown takes the first steps toward the evil ceremony also symbolizes the inevitability of the fall
Brown sees the initiation of a new "soul" into the devil's dark group, and this symbolizes the disintegration of Brown's own soul. He may not have "danced with the devil" in the forest, but the devil has still corrupted his soul. Another critic notes, "The devil, in the form of doubt and duplicitous thoughts, has done his work within the heart and soul of Goodman Brown, even if the physical
American Lit Definition of Modernism and Three Examples Indeed, creating a true and solid definition of modernism is exceptionally difficult, and even most of the more scholarly critical accounts of the so-called modernist movement tend to divide the category into more or less two different movements, being what is known as "high modernism," which reflected the erudition and scholarly experimentalism of Eliot, Joyce, and Pound, and the so-called "low modernism" of later
..There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil; for thee is this world given...come Indian powwow...here comes Goodman Brown...You may as well fear him as he fear you." This exclamation of subtle doubt and manifest fear demonstrated the fear of the White Man of the American Indian; that the White Man's oppression of the latter is the result of the fear that he has
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now