Nathaniel Hawthorne A Balanced Approach to Transcendentalism

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Nathaniel HawthorneA Balanced Approach to
Transcendentalism

• Introduction to The Scarlet Letter
• AP English Language and Composition

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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

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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).

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The Life of Hawthorne

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

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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
  .

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The Life of Hawthorne

• This bureaucratic position stunted Hawthornes
  creativity.
• A change in administration, however, led to his
  termination in 1849.
• Hawthornes mother died at the same time.

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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.

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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).

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The Life of Hawthorne

• Hawthornes connection to Salem haunted him.
• His great-grandfather John Hathorne was the
  chief-interrogator of the Salem Witches.

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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.

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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.

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The Life of Hawthorne

• Other Published works
• Twice-Told Tales, The House of the Seven Gables,
  The Mable Faun, Our Old Home, and childrens
  books A Wonder Book, and Tanglewood Tales.

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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.

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Influences upon Hawthornes Work

• Marriage
• Sophia desired to paint, write, and pursue a
  profession
• She was limited by social constraints and
  motherhood

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Influences upon Hawthornes Work

• Female characters are often portrayed as
  sympathetic
• Idea of Female Purity
• Influence of Puritan heritage

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Influences upon Hawthornes 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

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Literary Themes

• Alienation a character is isolated due to
  self-cause or societal-cause
• Guilt vs. Innocence a characters sense of
  guilt caused by Puritanical values/heritage

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Literary Themes

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

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Imagery

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

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Romantic/Gothic Motifs

• Fantasies
• Dreams
• Reveries
• Open-ended endings and unanswered questions the
  open-ended possibilities of the idealistic
  Romantic

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Hawthornes 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.

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Hawthornes Views of Transcendentalism

• Hawthorne believed that human fulfillment was
  achieved through a balance between mind, reason,
  heart, spirit, will, and imagination.

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Hawthornes Views of Transcendentalism

• Hawthornes balanced approach placed him in
  opposition to other Transcendentalists Emerson,
  Thoreau, and Longfellow.

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Clash with Transcendentalism

• Hawthorne saw potential problems with Emersons
  idea of self-reliance.
• Self-reliance can lead to excessive pride.
• Hawthorne believed in determinism, or natural
  order.

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Clash with Transcendentalism

• Transcendentalists were overwhelmingly
  abolitionists Hawthorne wasnt entirely sure of
  his position.
• He questioned the motives and principles of the
  Northern authorities.

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Clash with Transcendentalism

• This point of contention was publicized in a
  series of articles by Hawthorne published in the
  journal The Atlantic, which was founded by
  Emerson and Longfellow.

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Clash with Transcendentalism

• The editorial staff of The Atlantic deleted large
  portions of Hawthornes articles which contained
  ideas that disagreed with the abolitionist
  beliefs of the founders of the journal.

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Clash with Transcendentalism

• Hawthorne also added sketches throughout his
  edited published articles, written from the
  perspective of a dimwitted editor to show the
  hypocritical nature of his transcendentalist
  editors.

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Clash with Transcendentalism

• Hawthornes Response
• "What a terrible thing it is to try to let off a
  little bit of truth into this miserable humbug of
  a world!"

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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.

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The European Romance

• The European Romance romanticized a rich past and
  historic culture.
• It involved archetypal adventures.
• It was escapist a means of escaping the here and
  now.

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The European Romance

• Classical Romance Characteristics
• Lovers who remain true to each other, while the
  woman's chastity is preserved
• An intricate plot, including stories within
  stories
• Exciting and unexpected chance events

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The European Romance

• Classical Romance Characteristics
• Travel to faraway settings
• Hidden and mistaken identity
• Written in an elaborate and elegant style

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European Romance vs. The American Novel

• America, however, had no rich culture or ancient
  history to draw from.
• It was primarily concerned with the here and now,
  and how to perfect it.

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European Romance vs. The American Novel

• While maintaining the elements of the European
  Romance, Hawthorne shifted the American Novels
  focus to the present.

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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.