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Nathaniel Hawthorne. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Born in Salem, Mass. July 4, 1804 5 th generation American, from Puritan ancestors 1816, at age of 12, his mother, a widow, sent him away to live in Maine with his uncle, her brother.
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Nathaniel Hawthorne • Born in Salem, Mass. July 4, 1804 • 5th generation American, from Puritan ancestors • 1816, at age of 12, his mother, a widow, sent him away to live in Maine with his uncle, her brother. • Hawthorne was clearly enamored with Salem, and returned there to prepare for college.
Nathaniel Hawthorne • 1821 to 1825 attended Bowdoin College • Became friends with Longfellow (poet) and Franklin Pierce (future US President). • From 1825 to 1837 lived with his mother in Salem. • Spent this time reading and writing – focused on studying and chronicling the character and spirituality of the Puritans. • Also traveled extensively throughout New England.
Nathaniel Hawthorne • Published his first stories beginning in 1832. • 1837 published a collection of these stories called Twice Told Tales. • Very few critics understood what he was trying to do with his literature – Poe was one of the few who liked his work. • 1838, secretly became engaged to Sophia Peabody. • 1838, took a job at the Boston Custom House because his writings were not selling very well.
Nathaniel Hawthorne • Lived for 7 months at Brook Farm with Ralph Waldo Emerson. • Brook Farm was a socialistic cooperative operated by and for writers – especially the Transcendentalists. • 1842 married Sophia, they settled in Concord, Mass. • They lived at “Olde Manse,” the ancestral home of Emerson. • Lived there for 4 years, writing and publishing.
Nathaniel Hawthorne • 1846 published Mosses from an Olde Manse, another collection of short stories. • This was a bit more successful, but sales were still low. • 1846 he took a job at the Salem Custom House as surveyor. • 1846, Daughter Una was born • 1849 when the Democrats won the state election, he lost his job. • 1850 he published The Scarlet Letter, -- it was a commercial success. • This was America’s first symbolic novel.
Nathaniel Hawthorne • 1852, settled at “Wayside” in Concord, Mass. – this would become his permanent home. • 1850-1853 was his most productive literary period: • 1851 House of Seven Gables • 1851 The Snow Image • 1852 The Blithedale Romance • 1852 The Wonder Book • 1852 The Life of Franklin Pierce • 1853 Tanglewood Tales
Nathaniel Hawthorne • 1853 Pierce names him Consul to England • 1853-1857 Hawthorne lives in Liverpool, England • During these years, he travels extensively through Europe, writing in his journals. • These journals form the basis of his later writings • Died May 18, 1864 while on a walking tour
Hawthorne’s Philosophy • Most of his writing focuses on Puritans and colonial New Englanders. • He was fascinated by the concepts of evil, moral responsibility, and destiny. • He gets at these themes by using realistic and historical settings, characters and conflicts.
Hawthorne’s Philosophy • Notable themes: • The effects of social separation on both the society and the individual. This separation can be real (physical or emotional), imagined, or symbolic. • He attacks/criticizes a number of human traits he finds to be damaging to society and the individual: intolerance, hypocrisy, greed, cynicism, suspicion, arrogance, and perfectionism.
Hawthorne’s Philosophy • He does not seem to want to create or live in a world without sin, but he does want humanity to be free of the damaging effects of Puritan guilt.
