Title: Unit 7 Literature of American Romanticism
1Unit 7 Literature of American Romanticism
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4I. Historical Introduction
- 1. History of the Age (p52)
- The census
- The Westward Movement (frontier egalitarianism)
- Industrialization (contrasting riches and
poverty) - The life style
- Education (literacy)
5I. Historical Introduction
- 2. Literary Characteristics
- American Romanticism
- American Transcendentalism
- American Renaissance
6American Romanticism
- 1. Historical Background
- The first half of the 19th century
- Radical changes in all aspects of American life
- burgeoning industrialism
- great immigration
- westward expansion
- a variety of foreign influences (derivative)
- playground for romantics magazines
7Foreign Influences
- 1. Sir Walter Scott(???.???)
- Border tales and Waverly(???) romances
American historical romance - 2. Byron (??)
- Oriental romances American Indian romance
- Imagination for lyrics of love and passion and
despair. - 3. Robert Burns (???.??)
- Imagination for lyrics of love and passion and
despair. - 4. William Wordsworth(??.????)
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge (???.??.????)
- Lyrical Ballads(?????)
8American Romanticism
- 2. General characteristics
- A rebellion against the objectivity of
rationalism. (subjective) - The feelings, intuitions and emotions were more
important than reason and common sense. -
- Not think of the world as a ticking watch made by
God thought of the world as a living, breathing
being. - Emphasized individualism, placing the individual
against the group, against authority. - Affirmed the inner life of the self (subconscious)
9American Romanticism
- Cherished strong interest in the past, especially
the medieval. - Attracted by the wild, the irregular, the
indefinite, the remote, the mysterious, and the
strange. - Interested in variety.
- mystery, romance and adventure
- literary forms ballad, lyric, sentimental
comedy, problem novel, historical novel, gothic
romance, metrical romance, sonnet and critical
essay
10American Romanticism
- 3. Distinct Features
- Tended to be moralize, to edify(?????)rather than
to entertain. - Presented an entirely new experience alien to
European culture - the westward expansion
- wilderness
- axe
- exotic landscape
- quaint civilization of a primitive race
(Indians) - the myth of a New Garden of Eden in America
- American Puritanism
- Convention an escape from society and a return
to nature
11American Transcendentalism
- 1. Historical Background
- Flourished in New England from 1830s to the Civil
War. - Romantic idealism on Puritan soil.
- A system of thought originating from
- Unitarianism
- New-Platoism
- German idealistic philosophy
- The revelations of Oriental-mysticism
12American Transcendentalism
- The Transcendental Club (The movements center)
- Delighted in abstract discussion
- Published their journal The Dial (1840-1844)
13American Transcendentalism
- 2. Transcendentalism
- Derived from the Latin verb transcendere
- Defined as the recognition in man of the capacity
of acquiring knowledge transcending the reach of
the five senses, or of knowing truth intuitively,
or of reaching the divine without the need of an
intercessor
14American Transcendentalism
- 3. General characteristics
- intuition by means of the five senses and beyond
- spirit (oversoul) first (matter second)
- nature symbolic of spirit or God
- a healthy and restorative
influence on human - mind
- individual
- self-reliant and unselfish
15American Transcendentalism
- feeling/heart thinking
- over reason and head thinking
- religion
- an emotional communication between an
individual soul and the universal Oversoul
(Emerson) -
16American Transcendentalism
-
- Oversoul is an all-pervading unitary
spiritual power of - goodness, omnipresent and omnipotent,
existing in nature - and in humanity alike and constituting the
chief element of - the universe
17American Renaissance (1836-1855)
-
- American Romanticism culminated around the
- 1840s in what has come to be known as New
- England Transcendentalism or American
- Renaissance
18American Renaissance
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19Unitarianism
- Represents a thoughtful revolt against orthodox
Puritanism - Believes God as one being, rejecting the doctrine
of trinity, stressing the tolerance of difference
in religious opinion, and giving each
congregation the free control of its own affairs
and its independent authority - Lays the foundation for the central doctrines of
transcendentalism
20II. The Beginning of American Romanticism
(1810-1840)
- Washington Irving
- (followed Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774))
- James Fenimore Cooper
- (emulated Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832))
- William Cullen Bryant
- (learned from William Wordsworth
(1770-1850)) - Edger Allan Poe
- (high romantics)
21Washington Irving (1783-1859)???.??
- 1. Reputation
- The first (p60-61)
- Father of American
- Short Stories
- Father of American
- Literature
222. Life Story
- born on Wall Street, New York City, (a rather
wealthy - merchant family)
- 1799 studied law
- 1804-1805 in Europe for his health
- 1809 first book A history of New York from the
Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch
Dynasty ???? - 1809 his fiancee Matilda died at 17, and he
remained a bachelor - 1812 editor of The Analectic Magazine(????) in
Philadelphia - 1815 went to England (taking up authorship as a
profession)
232. Life Story
- 1819-1820 The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon,
Gent ???? - 1826 to 1829 attache(????) to the American envoy
to Spain - 1829 to 1832 served as secretary to the American
legation(??? - ????) in London
- 1832 returned to America
- traveled extensively
- settled down in his home Sunnyside, at
Tarrytown by the - Hudson River
- 1842-1846 appointed Minister to Spain
- 1850 went to England
- 1859 died
243. Washington Irvings Works
- 3.1 essays
- 3.2 history and biography
- 3.3 tales or short stories
- Sketch Book(1819-1820) ????
- published in England
- 33 stories
- artistic material (of his native New York)
- fascinating wilderness
- legends and folktales
- won him international popularity
25Sketch Book????
- Rip Van Winkle??.?.???
- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ????
- Setting a fictional ground of New England in
which reality and imagination converge. - Theme distinctly American
- Characters archetypes like Rip Van Winkle and
Ichabod Crane
26Rip Van Winkle??.?.???
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- Rip Van Winkle1.???????
- 2.????
27The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ????
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28The Authors Account of Himself ????
- Para 1-2 fondness of new scenes and strange
characters - and manners. (????,????)
- passion in books
- Para 3-5 this inclination is more reasonable
- beautiful natural scenes in America
- Europes charms
- historical relics
- gigantic race
- Para 6 exotic materials in his works
294. Style of His Works
- 4.1 graceful, refined, fluent and dignified
- models of perfect English
- allusions to Shakespeare's works, Bibles and
- mythology
- 4.2 sentimental, romantic, retrospective
- 4.3 humorous, ironic
- 4.4 theme change, mutability (upset the natural
order - of things)
30The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- 1. Summary of the short story
- 2. Analysis of the short story
- 2.1 Setting
- 2.1.1 Tarry Town
- the eastern shore of the Hudson river
- one of the quietest places in the whole
world - 2.1.2 After American Revolutionary War
- 2.2 Atmosphere
- isolated, tranquil, retired, unchanged, dreamy,
cozy, - gothic (hollow, old tree, creek, bridge, dark
night, - graveyard, ghost and goblin), mysterious
31The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- 2.3 Plot
- Conflict Crane versus another suitor Brom
Bones - Crane versus the
inhabitants in Sleepy Hollow - change versus old tradition
- city versus
countryside - Climax Para 61-65
- Denouement an air of mystery
32The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- 2.4 Character
- Archetype??
- An archetype is an original model of a person,
ideal example, or a prototype after which others
are copied, patterned, or emulated a symbol
universally recognized by all. - Ichabod Crane pretentious intellectualism
- Ichabod meaning inglorious in Hebrew
- the glory is departed from
Israel
33The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- New Englander
- appearance bizarre, effete(???)
- a city-slicker(??????)
- hypocritical, shrewd, commercial (money
worship), avaricious(???)superstitious,
narrow-minded
34The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
35The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- Brom Bones anti-intellectualism
- Herculean the greatest of the Greek heroes, a
paragon (??)of masculinity (para 26) - a country bumpkin(???)
- rough, vigorous, boisterous(???), arrogant
- inwardly very good-hearted, clever
36The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- Katrina (androcentric????? narrative type)
- a country coquette
- blooming, plump,
- whimsical(???) and capricious (?????)
37The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- 2.5 Theme
- On the surface, it is a romantic love story
- To be sorrowful over the changes that were taking
place in the countryside, in the life of the
cities.
38The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- 2.6 Technical devices
- 2.6.1 point of view
- The first-person-at-the-second-hand point of view
- omniscience----spectator
- Narrator
- 1 Geoffrey Crayon
- 2. Diedrich Knickerbocker
- 3. a pleasant, shabby, gentlemanly old fellow
39The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- 2.6.2 symbolism
- bosom, hollow
- 2.6.3 imagery
- vivid description
- 2.6.4 style
- 2.6.5 tone
- humorous, ironic
40? ? ? ?
Film Clip
41Questions for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and
its Movie Version The Sleepy Hollow
- Master storyteller Tim Burton(??.??, Batman,
- Edward Scissorhands) directs the eerie,
enchanting - version of the classic tale.
- What is the profession of the protagonist Crane?
Is he welcome to the village? - What is the personality of Crane? And Katrina?
- Does the headless horseman exist?
- Does Crane leave the sleepy hollow and how?
- What is the style of the short story and the
movie? Is there anything in common. If there is,
what is it? - Do you prefer the original story or the movie?
Why?
42Quiz
- 1. Washington Irving is hailed as Father of
. - And his book titled won
him international - popularity , in which and
are - the two stories well known to the readers.
- 2. As archetypes, what do Rip Van Winkle and
Ichabod - mean respectively?
- 3. What do you think of Washington Irvings
writing style?
43Summary of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow takes place
in Tarrytown, NY. It is about a Schoolteacher
(Ichabod Crane), who falls in love with the
beautiful Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter of a
farmer. Katrina Van Tassel, has but another
suitor--the muscular, strong, handsome Brom
Bones, who brags about the number of fights he
has fought, and runs around on strong horses with
his gang, causing trouble and mischief.
44Summary of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- When Crane was invited to a party at
the Van Tassel's house, he rode there, on a
spirited horse called Gunpowder that he borrowed
from his friend Hans Van Ripper. When he got to
the Van Tassel's house, everyone there sat down
to dinner. After the lovely feast of Dutch food
such as cakes, pies, preserved fruits, and all
sorts of broiled, smoked and roasted meats, the
music began. Everyone danced about. Ichabod Crane
danced with Katrina Van Tassel.
45Summary of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- Brom Bones sat in a corner glaring at
the dancing couple. Then everyone sat down to
listen to stories. The tales were fascinating!
They were haunting and exciting! They were
stories about ghosts and goblins. The favorite
tale was about the headless horseman, who haunted
the graveyard at night.
46Summary of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- After the party, Ichabod Crane heads
home through the graveyard. On his way, the
headless horseman chases him. He chases him to
the bridge, where Ichabod believes that the
horseman's head is thrown at him.
47Summary of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- The next morning, Gunpowder appeared at
his master's (Hans Van Ripper) house without
Ichabod Crane. The town issued a search for
Ichabod, but instead of finding him, they found
Gunpowder's saddle. When they looked near the
bridge where Andre was captured, they found
Ichabod Cranes hat, and a few yards away they
found a smashed pumpkin.
48Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)???.??.?
- 1. Reputation
- Established a new symbolic poetry
- Formulated the new short story in the detective
and science fiction line - Developed an important artistic theory
- Laid foundation for analytical criticism
492. Life Storya short life of poverty, anxiety,
and tragedy
- Born in Boston of actor parents
- 18 months after his birth, his father
left the family - Poes mother died of tuberculosis
- Lived with his foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. Allan
in England and Scotland till 1820 - They returned to Richmond, Virginia where Poe was
privately tutored till 1826 - Entered the University of Virginia in Feb
- In Dec, withdrew from the university
because of a - debt of 2,000 in drinking and gambling
502. Life Story
- Enlisted in the U.S. Army in May
- Appointed to the U.S. Military Academy in West
Point in July 8 months later provoked a
dismissal by deliberate neglect of duties - Lived as a hack writer (????)in Baltimore till
1835 - Turned to write short stories
- 1835 worked as an assistant editor for the
Southern - Literary Messenger till 1837
- 1837 fired
- moved to Philadelphia and edited several
- newspapers and magazines
512. Life Story
- His wife died
- Moved back to Richmond
- Died on October 7 of congestion of the brain
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623. Edgar Allan Poe s Major Works
- 3.1. Poems
- To Helen ??? (1831)
- The Raven ?? (1845)
- (his most famous narrative poem)
- Annabel Lee ?????
- 3.2. Short stories
- Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque
????(Ligeia ???) - The Fall of the House of Usher ??????
634. Subjects and themesof Poes Poetry and
Fiction(exotic)
- 4.1. Subjects
- dying ladies
- sickness
- abnormal love
- 4.2. Themes
- estrangement (??)
- disappearance
- silence
- oblivion (??)
- all ideas which suggest non-being
645. Poes Literary Theories
- 5.1 A theory of poetry
- short poems
- sustain the level of emotion in the reader
-
- purpose of poetry
- the creation of beauty ?????????????
- potential topic
- the death of a beautiful woman
- The immediate object of poetry
- indefinite pleasure, not truth
655. Poes Literary Theories
- Music is essential
- alliteration, assonance, and repetition
- Tone
- awesome, sad and melancholy
- Melancholy was the most appropriate tone for
poetry and that the death, then, of a beautiful
woman is, unquestionably the most poetical topic
in the world, because it provokes the deepest
melancholy. (The Philosophy of Composition) - ????????????????,??????????????????????,
???????????????? (????)
665. Poes Literary Theories
- 5.2 A theory of Tale (short stories)
- brevity
- unity of impression and thematic totality
- decide the effect first and then determine the
- incidents
- aim of the tale truth rather than beauty
- The merit of a work of art judged by its
- psychological effect upon the reader
67To Helen (classical beauty)
- Helen's unconventional birth
- Leda and the Swan
- the daughter of Zeus and Leda
68To Helen (classical beauty)
- Marriage to Menelaus
- Helen and Menelaus (??
- ??) When he finally found
- Helen in Troy, Menelaus
- raised his sword to kill her. He
- had demanded that only he
- should slay his unfaithful wife
- but, when he was ready to do
- so, she dropped her robe from
- her shoulders, and the sight of
- her beauty caused him to let
- the sword drop from his hand.
- A flying Eros(??) and
- Aphrodite (?????)
- (on the left) watch the scene.
69To Helen (classical beauty)
- Seduction by Paris (a
- Trojan prince)
- The Love of Helen and
- Paris a love that soon
- fainted, when Helen
- realized that Paris is not a
- man of courage and strong
- character.
70To Helen (classical beauty)
- Helen was described by
- Christopher Marlowe as
- having "the face that
- launched a thousand ships.
71To Helen (classical beauty)
- Odysseus is most famous
- for the ten eventful years
- he took to return home
- after the ten-year Trojan
- War and his famous
- Trojan horse trick.
72The Shrine
- This shrine to the deified
- Menelaus and Helen was
- build on the hill of Profitis
- Ilias (?????????? )
- about 5 kilometers
- southeast of Sparta.
73The Odyssey
- Odyssey mainly centers on
- the Greek hero Odysseus (or
- Ulysses, as he was known in
- Roman myths) and his long
- journey home following the
- fall of Troy. It takes
- Odysseus ten years to reach
- Ithaca after the ten-year
- Trojan War. In his absence, it
- is assumed he has died, and
- his wife Penelope and son
- Telemachus must deal with a
- group of unruly suitors
74To Helen (classical beauty)
- 2. Outline
- Stanza 1,2
- Helen beauty, an impression of a real beautiful
woman - Hyacinthus
- Naiad
- Helens beauty is soothing. (provides security
and safety)
75To Helen
- Stanza 3
- god-Psyche the goddess of the soul in Greek
- mythology.
- inaccessible image of the
hearts desire - The poet associates Helen with Psyche.
- Psyche becomes a far-off idealized, unreal woman
- (window-niche, statue-like)
76To Helen
- 3. Poe uses allusions to classical names and
places, as well as certain kinds of images in
Greek myths and epics (hyacinth, Naiad, Psyche
barks of yore, wanderer)
77Hyacinthus
- In the myth, Hyacinthus
- was a beautiful youth loved
- equally by the god Apollo
- and the West Wind, Zephyr.
- Jealous that Hyacinth
- preferred the radiant archery
- god Apollo, Zephyrus blew
- Apollo's discus off course, so
- as to injure and kill Hyacinth.
- When he died, Apollo didn't
- allow Hades to claim the
- young man rather, he made
- a flower, the hyacinth, from
- his spilled blood.
78Naiad
- Naiad????,
- ????????
- ????????
- a type of nymph
- who presided over
- fountains, wells,
- springs, streams,
- and brooks.
79Cupid and Psyche
- Psyche ???,?Cupid?
- ?
- In Greek and Roman
- mythology, Psyche was the
- personification of the
- passion of love
80The Raven(the beauty of the form)
- 1. Raven
- A talking bird whose only utterance is
Nevermore - Take the idea from Charles Dickenss novel
Barnaby Rudge (1841) ????? - Grip the ravens seemingly
nonsensical(???) comments often reveal greater
truths to the reader than to the characters
(serve a more symbolic prophetic purpose). - Draw on the traditional association of the bird
with ill-omen and death
81The Raven(the beauty of the form)
- 2. Outline
- Lines 16 One night when I was half reading and
half napping, I heard a tapping on the door. - Lines 712 The tapping woke me up and I realized
that I had been trying to find something that
could ease my sorrow for the lost Lenore. - Lines 1318 I tried to calm down and to convince
myself that it was something late visitor coming. - Lines 1924 I apologize for not hearing the
gentle rapping because I was nearly napping.
82- Lines 2530 On opening the door, I found only
darkness. I could not help murmuring the name of
my lost lover and I heard an echo of that name. - Lines 3136 Upon returning into the chamber, I
heard a louder tapping. I decided to find out who
it was - .
- Lines 3742 I opened the window and found a
raven perching upon a bust of Pallas.
83- The Raven perching upon a bust of Pallas
- Pallas (Pallas Athena)is
- the goddess of wisdom,
- peace, strategy,
- handicrafts and reason.
- She is the virgin patron
- of Athens, which built
- the Parthenon(????
- ?)to worship her.
84- Lines 4348 I began to smile and asked the name
of the raven. It answered Never more for the
first time. - Lines 4954 I was greatly surprised at seeing
such a talking bird. - Lines 5560 The bird spoke only that word
Nevermore. - Lines 6166 I tried to persuade myself that the
bird could only say this word. He did not mean to
answer my question.
85- Lines 6772 Then I began to ponder why the bird
frequently utter the word. - Lines 7378 Without speaking, I engaged myself
in guessing the meaning of the word. At the same
time, I thought of my lost Lenore who would not
touch my velvet chair any more. - Lines 7984 I could not find a proper answer, so
I wanted to drink nepenthe (???) so that I could
forget my Lenore.
86- Lines8590 I asked the bird whether there was
balm in Gilead??(???????????) to find out where
the bird was from. - Lines 9196 I asked whether I could see my
Lenore in Heaven, but he answered nevermore.
The answer reinforces the melancholy atmosphere
and thus pushes the poem naturally to a climax.
87- Lines 97102 I grew angry and asked the bird to
leave, but the bird replied nevermore. - Lines 103108 The raven remained unmoved and I
could not escape from the deep sorrow any longer. - It took Edgar Allan Poe four years to complete
this poem. It reads very rhythmical. It is the
most rhythmical poem in American literature.
88The Raven(the beauty of the form)
- 3.Theme
- Literally, the poet expressed his lament over the
death of his beautiful beloved woman - Comprehensively he expressed his sadness over the
life
89The Raven(the beauty of the form)
- 4. Symbolism
- Raven
- An ominous symbol of bitterness, distress, and
desperation - Knowledge and divine providence
90The Raven(the beauty of the form)
- 5. Rhyme
- Lines rhyme
- Internal rhyme (Line 9, 10)
- Alliteration
- Assonance (Line 11)
91The Raven(the beauty of the form)
- 6. Rhythm
- Octameter trochee ?????
- Line 1 ???
- Line 2 ???
- Line 3 ???
- Line 4 ???
- Line 5 ???
- Line 6 ???,refrain
92The Raven(the beauty of the form)
- 7. Figure of Speech
- Personification
- Onomatopoeia (rap, tinkle)
93The Raven(the beauty of the form)
- 8. Mood
- grotesque
- melancholy, gloomy, solemn
94- Annabel Lee
- by Edgar Allan Poe
95Annabel Lee
- 1. Introduction
- Published two days after Poes death
- an idealized account of Poes child wife,
Virginia Clemm, who died at the age of 25
96Annabel Lee
- 2. Brief Summary
- I and Annabe Lee lived in this kingdom by the sea
and loved each other - Annabel Lee died
- Why?
- the angels in heaven envied
- The poet was also shut off from her by her
relatives who carried her off for burial - Their love was so strong that neither the forces
of heaven nor of hell could separate the two
lovers - The poet continued to commune with her through
dreams
97Annabel Lee
- 3. Verse Form
- 3.1 Ballad
- A ballad is a simple storytelling poem that is
meant to be - sung or recited.
- This poem has the following qualities which are
similar to a - ballad
- A storytelling poem
- supernatural elements
- About love, dealing with the common people
98Annabel Lee
- the same basic rhyme and meter (although Poe
varies the length of his stanzas to some extent) - refrains or repeating passages
99Annabel Lee
- 3.2 Rhyme
- Lines rhyme
- Internal rhyme a word within a line rhymes with
the word at - the end of the line.
- Line 34 (beams, dreams)
- Line 36 (rise, eyes)
- Line 38 (tide, side)
100Annabel Lee
- 3.3 Meter
- Most of the lines consist of four feet (stressed
syllables) - alternated by three feet.
- Some variations in line length occur in stanza
five and six. - L34-37 anapestic rhythm ????
- Like a drumbeat as the poem reaches its
emotional climax.
101Annabel Lee
- 4. Figures of Speech
- alliteration
- s in this kingdom by the sea
- h not half so happy in heaven
- b never beams, without bringing me dreams/Of
the - beautiful Annabel Lee
- m many and manymaiden there lived
- l loved with a loveAnnabel Lee
102Annabel Lee
- symbolism
- Wind symbolizes Annabel Lees fatal disease
- In a larger sense, represents a sudden
tragedy or the - influence of fate
- repetition refrains (??)
- ANNABEL LEE
- In this kingdom by the sea
103Annabel Lee
- 5. Mood
- Stanza1,2 quiet, mournful
- Stanza 3, 4 more emphatic
- Stanza 5defiant
- Stanza 6solemn
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106Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)????.??
- 1. Reputation
- A romantic writer (concerned about the American
past, esp. Puritanism) - A master of psychological insight into moral
isolation and human emotion - The first major novelist in English to wed
morality to art
1072. Life Story
- Born on July 4 to a family with a long Puritan
tradition in Salem, Massachusetts (His ancestor,
Judge Hathorne presided at the notorious Salem
witch trials) - 1808 his sea-captain father died of yellow fever
- 1821-1825 studied at Bowdoin college in Maine (a
friend of the poet Longfellow and Franklin
Pierce, the 14th U.S. President) - returned to Salem to live in his mothers house
and began his literary career - Engaged to Sophia Peabody
- A surveyor at the Boston Custom House
- 1842 Married and went to live at the Old Manse
in Concord
1082. Life Story
- 1846-1849 Surveyor of the Customs at Salem
- 1853-1857 U.S. consul in Liverpool (Pierce was
elected President) - Returned home in Concord and spent the last four
years in illness and depression. - Died on May 19 and was buried in Sleepy Hollow
Cemetery in Concord
1093. Nathaniel Hawthornes Novels
- 1. Twice-Told Tales ???????(first collection of
short stories) (1837) - 2. Mosses From an Old Manse ????(collection of
short stories) (1846) - 3. The Scarlet Letter ?? (1850)
- The Custom House ?? (the introductory
chapter) - 4. The House of the Seven Gables
?????????(1851) - 5. The Blithedale Romance ???? (1852)
- 6. The Marble Faun ???? (1860)
- Note 6 was about Americans in Rome whereas all
of his other works had - been set in Puritan New England.
1104. Some of Nathaniel Hawthornes short stories
- Vivid and symbolic images to embody great moral
questions - 1. Ethan Brand ??.???
- 2. Young Goodman Brown ??????.??
- 3. Dr. Heideggers Experiment????????
- 4. The Ambitious Guest ????
- 5. The Great Stone Face ????
1115. Themes of his Works
- 1. The consequences of pride, selfishness and
secret guilt - 2. The conflict between lighthearted and somber
attitudes toward life - 3. The impingement (??)of past (esp. the Puritan
past) upon the present - 4. The futility of comprehensive social reforms
- 5. The impossibility of eradicating sin from the
human heart - 6. Alienation and solitude
- 7. Nature and natural impulses
- 8. Unconscious fantasy and dream
1126. Style of his Works
- 1. Romance
- imagination to reach psychological truth
- 2. Symbols and setting
- reveal the psychology of the characters
- 3. Stories with narrative interest, ease in
transition, coherence, and complexity - 4. Soft, flowing and almost feminine
- 5. Ambiguity
- or enjoys high frequency in his stories
- multiple point of views
- interpretation of symbols
1137. Nathaniel Hawthornes Ideas
- 1. Touch the deepest roots of mans moral nature
(???????????,????) - 2. Focus on sin, which exists inside the man.
Sin is the source of all the misfortunes. - 3. Pessimistic
114The Scarlet Letter
- 1. The Story (P201)
- 2. Analysis of the novel
- 2.1 Setting
- Time Middle of the seventeenth century
- Place Boston, Massachusetts (Puritan society)
- 2.2 Character
115The Scarlet Letter
- Hester Prynne - the public sinner
- Physically tall, young,pretty
- The young woman was tall, with a
figure of perfect elegance, on a large scale. She
had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it
threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a Face
which, besides being beautiful from regularity of
feature and richness of complexion, had the
impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and
deep black eyes.
116The Scarlet Letter
-
- ?????????,??????? ????
- ????????,???????????????
- ??????????????,?????????
- ??????????,???????
117The Scarlet Letter
- Spiritually strong defiance(??)of convention
self- - reliance intelligent,
compassionate - From sinner (a fallen woman)
to an able woman -
118The Scarlet Letter
- Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale - the secret sinner
- Dimdark and weak
- Dalevalley
- Dimdale dim-interior of the minister.
- Physically young, pale, delicate
- Intellectually well educated, devoted to God,
passionate in - his religion, and effective
in the sermon. - hypocritical, self-centered
119The Scarlet Letter
- Pearl - a symbol
- a reminder of Hesters love and passion
(adulterous act) -
- moody, mischievous (??? )
- more perceptive and more honest than adults
- On the scaffold just before her fathers death,
Pearl kisses him and at that point she ceases to
be a symbol and becomes a flesh and blood person
at the end.
120The Scarlet Letter
- A girl of rich and luxuriant beauty
-
- ????????????,??????????????????,??????
??????????????????????,?????????????????????????,
?????????????????????????,?????????????????????
121The Scarlet Letter
- Her mothers treasure
-
- But she named the infant Pearl, as
being of great price, purchased with all she
had, her mothers only treasure! - ??????????,??????????,?????????????,?
??????????!
122The Scarlet Letter
- Roger Chillingworth the real sinner
-
- a man lack of human warmth
- distorted soul
- interested in revenge, not justice
- calm in temperament, but keep evil intentions
- He turns from a victim to a sinner.
123The Scarlet Letter
- He was small in stature, with a furrowed
visage, - which, as yet, could hardly be termed aged. There
- was a remarked intelligence in his features, as
of a - person who had so cultivated his mental part that
- it could fail to mould the physical to itself,
and - become manifest by unmistakable tokens.
- ?????,????,???????????
- ?????????????,?????????
- ?????????????,?????????
- ??????
Film Clip
124(No Transcript)
125The Scarlet Letter
- 2.3 Point of view (the narrator)
- an unnamed customhouse surveyor who writes some
two hundred years after the events he describes
took place. - omniscient
- a subjective narrator. He is clearly sympathetic
to Hester and Dimmesdale.
126The Scarlet Letter
- 2.4 Themes
- 2.4.1 Sin, Knowledge, and the Human Condition
- A reminder of the story of Adam and Eve
- In both cases, sin results in expulsion and
suffering. - Sin results in knowledge, specifically, in
knowledge of what it means to be human.
127The Scarlet Letter
- 2.4.2 The Nature of Evil
- True evil arises from the close relationship
between hate and love. - Evil is not found in Hester and Dimmesdales
adultery, nor even in the cruel ignorance of the
Puritan fathers. - Evil, in its most poisonous form, is found in the
carefully plotted and precisely aimed revenge of
Chillingworth, whose love has been perverted
(????).
128The Scarlet Letter
- 2.4.3 Identity and Society
- Hester desires determine her own identity rather
than to allow others to determine it for her. -
- Hester stays, refiguring the scarlet letter as a
symbol of her own experiences and character.
129The Scarlet Letter
- 2.5 Symbols
- The Scarlet Letter
- Originally stands for Adulterer, Arthur,
Agony - Then Alone and alienation
- Eventually comes to stand for Able,
Admirable and Angel - The Meteor(??)
- Pearl
130(No Transcript)
131The Scarlet Letter
- The Rosebush Next to the Prison Door
- ??,??????,??????,??????????,??????,??
??????????,??????,???????????????????????????????,
???????????????,?????????????.
132Questions for the Scarlet Letter
- Please name the four main characters in The
Scarlet Letter. - Where does The Scarlet Letter take place?
- What does Hester live on?
- Where do Hester and her child Pearl live after
Hester is released from prison? - How does Hester dress Pearl and herself?
133??????,?????
- For Emerson and Thoreau, nature was
mans true home, and the age-old torment over
sin, predestination and damnation was needless. - ????????????????????,???,?????.