The Scarlet Letter

1. A The Scarlet Letter Brady Haering Pd. AB

2. Nathaniel HawthorneJuly 4, 1804- May 19, 1864 Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts. His father died of yellow fever in 1808. He changed his name from Hathorne to Hawthorne to distinguish himself from his Puritan ancestors, whom he disagreed with in all aspects. His uncle wanted to fund his education, so that Hawthorne could be a doctor or lawyer. However, Nathaniel had no interest in these pursuits. About his college education, he said: “I do not want to be a doctor and live by men's diseases, nor a minister to live by their sins, nor a lawyer and live by their quarrels. So, I don't see that there is anything left for me but to be an author." It was ironic that he wanted nothing to do with the behaviors of humanity, considering that is what he most wrote about. He graduated in 1825 from Bowdoin College. While there, he met and befriended Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and future President Franklin Pierce. He continued to live with his mother in Salem, Massachusetts and researched his family history. His first book, Fanshawe, was published 1828 anonymously. Twice-Told Tales came in 1837. He married Sophia Peabody in 1842 and they moved to Concord, Massachusetts. In 1846 he published Mosses from an Old Manse. His literary pursuits had thus far been unsuccessful . Money was bad, so moved back with his mother, and worked in the Salem Custom House. In 1849 he found a letter A in his mom’s attic, it inspired the Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter was very successful. His wife and he then moved to Lenox, Massachusetts. They lived in a very secluded manner and were, ironically, solitary together. The House of the Seven Gables was published in 1850. Later in his life, he wrote several children’s stories based on Greek myths. His final book was the Marble Faun, published in 1860. He died of unknown causes in 1864 while on a trip with Franklin Pierce. About his death Ralph Waldo Emerson, long time critic and friend of Hawthorne, wrote: "I thought there was a tragic element in the event, that might be more fully rendered,—in the painful solitude of the man, which, I suppose, could no longer be endured, & he died of it."