Nathaniel Hawthorne A Balanced Approach to Transcendentalism

1. Nathaniel HawthorneA Balanced Approach to Transcendentalism Introduction to TheScarlet Letter AP English Literature and Composition

2. The Life of Hawthorne • Hawthorne was born on July 4th, 1804 in Salem, Mass. • Father: Nathaniel Hathorne Sr. was a sea captain. • Mother: Elizabeth Clarke Manning was a descendent of blacksmiths

3. The Life of Hawthorne • Hawthorne attended Bowdoin College • After his graduation he turned to writing. • He wrote several successful short stories which were collected in Twice-Told Tales (1837).

4. The Life of Hawthorne • Hawthorne returned to Salem where he met Sophia Peabody. • After a five year engagement, they were married in 1842.

5. The Life of Hawthorne • Unable to support his new family by writing, in 1846 Hawthorne accepted a political appointment to the Salem Custom House as Surveyor of the Port .

6. The Life of Hawthorne • This bureaucratic position stunted Hawthorne’s creativity. • A change in administration, however, led to his termination in 1849. • Hawthorne’s mother died at the same time.

7. The Life of Hawthorne • Suffering these losses, Hawthorne left Salem, which he called "that abominable city," saying that he now had no reason to remain. • He would never again return.

8. The Life of Hawthorne • Some critics have suggested that the loss of both his position and mother provided the creative impetus to write The Scarlet Letter (1850).

9. The Life of Hawthorne • Hawthorne’s connection to Salem haunted him. • His great-grandfather John Hathorne was the chief-interrogator of the “Salem Witches.”

10. The Life of Hawthorne • The story that Hawthorne added the "w" to his name to distance himself from his Hathorne ancestors has no clear evidence to support it.

11. The Life of Hawthorne • In 1830, however, he published "The Hollow of the Three Hills," under the name of Nathaniel Hathorne. • After this date his name appears as Nathaniel Hawthorne.

12. The Life of Hawthorne Other Published works: • Twice-Told Tales, The House of the Seven Gables, The Mable Faun, Our Old Home, and children’s books A Wonder Book, and Tanglewood Tales.

13. The Life of Hawthorne • Nathaniel Hawthorne died on May 18, 1864 in Plymouth, New Hampshire. • He is credited with writing the first truly American novel: The Scarlet Letter.

14. Influences upon Hawthorne’s Work Marriage • Sophia desired to paint, write, and pursue a profession • She was limited by social constraints and motherhood

15. Influences upon Hawthorne’s Work • Female characters are often portrayed as sympathetic • Idea of “Female Purity” • Influence of Puritan heritage

16. Influences upon Hawthorne’s Work Puritan New England • Many works are set in New England • Puritan belief in an “active evil” (Devil) • Salem communities are often viewed as hypocritical – Salem Witch Trials

17. Literary Thematic Concepts • Alienation – a character is isolated due to self-cause or societal-cause • Guilt vs. Innocence – a character’s sense of guilt caused by Puritanical values/heritage

18. Literary Thematic Concepts • Individual vs. Society • Self-reliance vs. Accommodation • Hypocrisy vs. Integrity • Fate vs. Free Will • Unconventional Gender Roles • Impossibility of Human Perfection

19. Imagery • Hawthorne makes use of the following patterns of images: • Light vs. Dark • Natural vs. Unnatural • Sunshine vs. Firelight or Moonlight and Reflections

20. Romantic/Gothic Motifs • Fantasies • Dreams • Reveries • Open-ended endings and unanswered questions – the open-ended possibilities of the idealistic Romantic

21. Romanticism • Started in Western Europe and migrated into America lasting from 1800-1855. (The end of the Puritans and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution). • Reaction against “Classicism” and “The Age of Reason”. • Inspired by the nation’s westward expansion, youthful optimism, and desire for literary independence.

22. Classic Traits of Romanticism • 1. Imagination reveals the depth of the human spirit. • 2. Enthusiastic about national life and the common man. • 3. Celebrates the beauty and mystery of nature. • 4. Celebrates and focuses on improving the individual. • 5. Fascination with supernatural, the afterlife, and the gothic. • 6. Sense of idealism and optimism or exaggeration.

23. European Romance vs. The American Novel • Hawthorne struggled against the European model of the Romance. • Through The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne developed the first truly American Novel.

24. The advent of the Industrial Revolution brought on a darker vision of American life. • These romantics examined the complex and mysterious forces that motivate human behavior. • Dark Romantics: In your notes write how each of these writers exemplified “dark romantic” trends in their literary work. • Nathanial Hawthorne - Scarlet Letter • Herman Melville - Moby-Dick & “Bartleby the Scrivener” • Edgar Allan Poe - Various poems and short stories • Split Romantic views led to the development of Transcendentalism

25. Hawthorne’s Views of Transcendentalism • Hawthorne did not conform to the Romantic focus on the emotions and abandonment of reason. • Hawthorne strove to create a balance between “head and heart.”

26. Hawthorne’s Views of Transcendentalism • Hawthorne believed that human fulfillment was achieved through a balance between mind, reason, heart, spirit, will, and imagination. • Hawthorne’s balanced approach placed him in opposition to other Transcendentalists – Emerson, Thoreau, and Longfellow.

27. Clash with Transcendentalism • Hawthorne saw potential problems with Emerson’s idea of self-reliance. • Self-reliance can lead to excessive pride. • Hawthorne believed in determinism, or natural order.

28. Clash with Transcendentalism • Transcendentalists were overwhelmingly abolitionists – Hawthorne wasn’t entirely sure of his position. • He questioned the motives and principles of the Northern authorities.

29. Clash with Transcendentalism Hawthorne’s Response: • "What a terrible thing it is to try to let off a little bit of truth into this miserable humbug of a world!"

30. The American Novel • Where the Romance incorporated the Gothic elements of crime, religion, ghosts, etc. as the focus of the story, Hawthorne used these elements as a means to support his story. • Hawthorne’s Novel was not a means of escape, but rather a means to examine society and life. • His novel invited criticism of the worlds he reflected – Puritanism.

31. Hawthorne’s Novel • Hawthorne’s novel found relevance as more than mere entertainment, but as something more prophetic and integral to the American Identity.