Mind Over Matter in Poe and Hawthorne

Paper Summary:

The paper explores the similarities between the characters Roderick Usher in Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" and Arthur Dimmesdale in Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter." The paper analyzes how the concern of mind over matter is realized in different ways by both Poe and Hawthorne and shows how for Poe, decay incorporates the idea of madness as the inevitable condition of the human mind, while for Hawthorne, decay represents the sinfulness of the people in general. The paper illustrates how both stories follow the connections between physical and mental or spiritual decay and the way in which matter itself hints at a higher, transcendental reality.

From the Paper:

"Nineteenth century American literature is pervaded by a late Romantic current promoted by a few very original writers. Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne are two of the most representative writers of the first half of the nineteenth century. The authors' names often appear together in criticism, since their works share primarily in the laden atmosphere and grotesque style of the period. Their novels and short stories are imbued with a grim mood and their heroes are tragic personages who undergo transcendental and all-together transforming experiences. While Poe is more concerned with what he calls the psyche and the intellect however, Hawthorne investigates the realms of spirituality and religious experience."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bloom, Harold. The Tales of Poe. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.
• Boyd, Molly. "'The fall of the house of usher,' Simms's Castle Dismal, and The Scarlet Letter: literary interconnections." Studies in the Novel 35.2 (Summer 2003): 231(13).
• Gerlach, John. Toward the End: Closure and Structure in the American Short Story. Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 1985.
• Granger, Ingham. "Arthur Dimmesdale as Tragic Hero," in Nineteenth-Century Fiction, Vol. 19, No. 2, September, 1964, pp. 197-203.
• Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Vintage, 1980.

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• Analytical Essay # 44895 : "The Structure of Symbolism in Poe and O'Connor"

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