Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Nathaniel Hawthorne 1804 - 1864
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• Nathaniel Hawthorne
• His writings
• His life
• His philosophy

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• His Writings
• Novels (Romances)
• The Scarlet Letter (1850)
• The House of the Seven Gables (1851)

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• His Writings
• Short Stories
• Young Goodman Brown
• Rappacinis Daughter
• The Ministers Black Veil

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• His Writings
• Subject matter and style
• Love stories and mysteries with gothic flavor
• Symbolism
• Puritan past
• Interior of the human heart, especially morals

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• His Life
• Born in Salem, descendant of the witch trial
  judge
• Prominent family
• Father, a ships captain, died young

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• His Life
• Bowdoin College
• Classmates Longfellow and Pierce
• Seclusion in Salem after college, twelve years
• First success with Twice Told Tales, 1837

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• His Life
• Brief stint at Brook Farm
• Married in 1842
• Concord, Mass. for a time
• Salem Custom House

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He lost this government job and then wrote The
Scarlet Letter.
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The Old Manse in Concord, Mass.
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• His Life
• Fame and fortune after The Scarlet Letter and The
  House of the Seven Gables
• Friendship with Melville
• Political appointment after Pierce became
  president

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• His Philosophy
• Fascinated with sin and guilt, even inherited
  guilt, perhaps because of Puritan ancestry
• Believed in humanitys capacity for evil, unlike
  Transcendentalists

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• His Philosophy
• Pride, self-righteousness, obsession, and
  isolation pose danger to moral character