Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne Background and Details

Background: • Born in Salem, Massachusetts • Puritan Background • Ancestor of John Hathorne – one of the three judges in the Salem Witch Trials (rumors about added W) • Attended Bowdoin College • His life at home he viewed as lonely in a haunted house…but in reality he did have many social engagements.

His Themes in Writing • Moral allegories • The sinful man • Hypocrisy • The Dark side of Human Nature • Religion • Often based on the history of his Puritan ancestors and the New England of his day.

Dark Romanticism • According to Dark Romantics, even good men and women drift towards sin and self-destruction, and there can be unintended consequences that arise from well-intended social reforms.

D.R. Continued • The genre of "Dark Romanticism" is thought to have emerged from the Transcendental Movement in 19th century America. Whereas Transcendentalists felt perfection and their own divinity as innate qualities of mankind (they thought utopian communes would work), Dark Romantics believed humans gravitate to evil and self-destruction (striving for a utopian society is a waste of time). • As such, Hawthorne disputed a lot of the works of Emerson and Thoreau.

Focus in Literature of Dark Romanticism: • Dark Romantics focus on human fallibility, self-destruction, judgement, punishment, as well as the psychological effects of guilt and sin.

Allegory: • What is an allegory? • A story where everything is a symbol to create a 2nd layer of meaning • Used commonly to instruct especially in religious matters • Think about names, colors, people, events, objects • In other words, you name it and it could be a symbol for something

Allegory of the Cave: Plato • Allegory Ted Ed

Fountain of Youth Background • Juan Ponce de León (1474-1521) accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World in 1493, and became the first governor of Puerto Rico 16 years later. There he was said to have heard from the local tribes about a remarkable place called Bimini where a natural spring bestowed youth and prosperity on those who drank from it. His search for these miraculous waters was said to have been one of the reasons he sailed north from Puerto Rico on March 4, 1513 on a voyage of exploration. He had in his pocket a grant from the King of Spain giving him the right to rule whatever lands he should find.

Fountain of Youth Continued • Sailing northward along islands in the Bahamas, he then turned west and crossed open water until he reached what seemed to be a large island that he named La Florida, the land of flowers. What he had found was the future United States of America. So perhaps it could be argued that he did indeed find the promised land of youth and prosperity. He is believed to have reached Florida in the vicinity of St. Augustine or somewhere further south. This is also the site of one of the claimants to possession of the actual Fountain of Youth.

Finally: • Ponce de León's Fountain of Youth National Archaeological Park can be found at 11 Magnolia Avenue, St. Augustine, FL 32084, and stands on 15 acres of parkland. It even has a fountain, where people dutifully drink the water. Whether that has done them any good is not known.

Title and Content Layout with List • Add your first bullet point here • Add your second bullet point here • Add your third bullet point here

Title and Content Layout with Chart

Two Content Layout with Table • First bullet point here • Second bullet point here • Third bullet point here

Two Content Layout with SmartArt • First bullet point here • Second bullet point here • Third bullet point here

Add a Slide Title - 1

Nathaniel Hawthorne