The Romanticism in American Literature

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The Romanticism in American Literature

• The Renaissance in or the flowering of American
  literature. Writers tried self-consciously to be
  new and original.
• The decade of 1850-59 is unique in literary
  production. American authors, published
  remarkable works in such a concentration of time.

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Works by European American Writers
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Nathaniel Hawthorne (1806-1864) His Life

• Born on July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts.
• In 1813 , injured while playing ball The reasons
  for the lengthy recovery may be psychological
• Attended boarding school in Stroudwater, Main
• 1821 1825 studied in Bowdoin College in Maine.

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Nathaniel Hawthorne (1806-1864) His Life

• Married Sophia Peabody in 1842.
• lived in Concord, but returned to Salem late in
  1845, and in 1846 , took the position of Surveyor
  of the Port.
• In 1853, Consul in Liverpool, England.
• Hawthorne's last home was at the Wayside in
  Concord. He was in failing health in his final
  years.

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Nathaniel Hawthorne (1806-1864) His Works

• Best known for the novel, The Scarlet Letter
• Many readers also know him for his short stories,
  including "Young Goodman Brown," "The Minister's
  Black Veil," "The Birth-mark," "The Artist of the
  Beautiful. Hawthorne wrote over 100 short
  stories and sketches, however, 16 of these are
  uncollected stories the rest are in three
  collections Twice-told Tales, Mosses from an Old
  Manse, and The Snow Image and Other Twice-told
  Tales.

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The Elements of Fiction Plot (I)

• Plot the sequence of events or incidents of
  which the story is composed.
• Conflict is a clash of actions, ideas, desires or
  wills.
• person against person.
• person against environment - external force,
  physical nature, society, or "fate.
• Inner conflict-conflict with some element in
  her/his own nature maybe physical, mental,
  emotional, or moral.

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Discussion Questions

• 1. How many episodes does the story consist of?
• 2. What are the major conflicts in the story?
  Whats the major issue of conflict?

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What are the major conflicts in The Ministers
Black Veil

• Minister Hooper his Parishioners
• Minister Hooper his fiancee
• Within Minister Hooper
• On his wearing a black veil

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Main Conflicts (I)

• What are the congregations reactions to the
  veil? Why does Mr. Hooper wear the veil in their
  opinion?
• What is the subject of Mr. Hoopers sermon on the
  first day he wears the black veil?
• Are the descriptions of a funeral and wedding
  significant? Why are there different attitudes
  towards the veil at the wedding the funeral?

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Main Conflict (I)

• Why do you think Minister Hooper did not allow
  the Reverend Mr. Clark to take off the veil. Who
  is competent to do this job in Minister Hoopers
  mind?

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Astonishment Wonder
Uneasiness
Pathos Awe
A bugbear Tortured for some great crime
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Main Conflicts (II)

• What does Minister Hooper tell Elizabeth the veil
  is? What two possible explanations for wearing
  the veil do they discuss?
• What reasons does Hooper give Elizabeth not to
  desert him?

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What is a covenant

• A covenant is a mutual agreement and commitment,
  to which the consent of both parties is critical.

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The Three Covenants

• The Covenant of Works held that God promised Adam
  and his progeny eternal life if they obeyed moral
  law.
• The Covenant of Redemption. Christ, who chose to
  sacrifice himself for fallen man, bound God to
  accept him as mans representative. Having
  accepted this pact, God is then committed to
  carrying out the Covenant of Grace.
• The Covenant of Grace. God promises redemption
  in return for human faith.

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The Covenant of Grace in Human Experience

• Puritans believed that the elect individual would
  generally experience certain stages
• Baptism
• Preparation a true sight of sin
• Vocation/Callingoften identified as conversion
• Justification the point at which God acquits
  the individual of guilt for Adam's sin and for
  the individual's own, and imputes Christ's
  righteousness to him or her.
• Sanctification
• Glorification

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• Tremble also at each other! Have men avoided me,
  and women shown no pity, and children screamed
  and fled, only for my black veil? What, but the
  mystery which it obscurely typifies, has made
  this piece of crape so awful? When the friend
  shows his inmost heart to his friend the lover
  to his best beloved when man does not vainly
  shrink from the eye of his Creator, loathsomely
  treasuring up the secret of his sin then deem me
  a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have
  lived, and die! I look around me, lo! On every
  visage a Black Veil!

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Image, Metaphor Symbol

• Image, metaphor, and symbol shade into each other
  and are sometimes difficult to distinguish.
• In general, however, an image means only what it
  is
• a metaphor means something other than what it is
  
• and a symbol means what it is and something more
  too.

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The Veil as the Symbol

• Whats the literal meaning
• -- Two folds of crape

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What effects does the veil have?

• Give a darkened aspect to all living inanimate
  things. (P51, p5)
• Distanced Mr. Hooper and his parishioners. (P52)
• The Earth had on her Black Veil. (P54)
• Making the wearer a very efficient clergyman.
  (P58, p2)

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The Elements of Fiction Irony

• A. Verbal irony - the opposite is said from what
  is intended.B. Dramatic irony - the contrast
  between what a character says and what the reader
  knows to be true.C. Irony of situation an
  event or situation turns out to be the reverse of
  what is expected or appropriate
• The narrator/the character/ the audience
  perceives more or less than another irony
  potentially present

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What is the irony in this story?

• Secret Sin
• Mr. Hooper
• The Narrator
• The Reader
• The Parishioners including Elizabeth

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What does this irony reflect?

• 1. Is it possible for people to be honest
  according to this novel? Why or why not?
• Is it possible for people to understand each
  other, why or why not?
• Is it possible for us to be close to God as we
  have thought?

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Theme

• The Hypocrisy of human and human religion