Abstract This paper examines and analyzes Nathaniel Hawthorne's "House of the Seven Gables", and "The Marble Faun". It presents the author's criticism of both works and supports that criticism with published criticism.
Abstract This paper compares of the ideas of Cotton Mather and the themes of Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story,"Young Goodman Brown."
From the Paper " From the perspective of it is difficult to credit such an idea until one is reminded of the fundamentalist zeal of Nazis or religious fanatics who blather about great Satans and howl for death to this ..."
Abstract The paper provides an analysis of four critics' views on Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, "Ethan Brand." The paper reviews the plot of the story and examines Brand's innate value system and the value system of his society. The paper concentrates on Brand's quest to commit the "unpardonable sin."
From the Paper "Critical Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Ethan Brand." Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Ethan Brand" is the tale of a man who upsets the balance between his own innate values system and that of a society whose applause he craves. He is presented by Hawthorne as having a heart of marble, impenetrable by real morality and solidified by the workings of pride. The Biblical concept of the Unpardonable Sin is used as the target of the protagonist's quest to locate himself in a world steeped in intellect and reason."
Abstract A look at Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Birthmark". The author analyzes and interprets the theme of human nature in the novel and other symbolic elements around this concept.
From the Paper "The Birthmark" explores a very intriguing and deep theme: man's attempts to transform nature in order to make it more perfect than it already is. Hawthorne goes into details into the subject of human mortality and the spiritual aspects of the scientific experimentations with the Nature's laws. He shows us that human intrusion into the universal wholeness and attempts to take control over nature can be unpredictable and often fatal.
Abstract This paper analyzes Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story about a minister's life. This minister preaches his regular sermon in church usually in an uninspiring way until one Sunday, he shows up with a black veil on his face. This paper discusses the effects this had on his congregation and its symbolism. It details how Hawthorne's story, and the veil itself, is a metaphor for all of our sins and transgressions.
From the Paper "Hawthorne's short story is deceptively simple. He tells the tale of a minister, Parson Hooper, who comes to church one Sunday wearing a black veil over his face. Nothing else about him has changed, but this veil frightens the worshippers, and sets off all kinds of rumors, including that Parson Hooper has gone mad. ?Such was the effect of this simple piece of crepe, that more than one woman of delicate nerves was forced to leave the meetinghouse. Yet perhaps the pale-faced congregation was almost as fearful a sight to the minister, as his black veil to them.? As he preaches his sermon, the congregation seems to find this sermon special, and somehow it touches each one. Hawthorne says that Hooper was normally a rather "uninspired" preacher, and today was no exception, but the people perceive his words differently. They frighten many of them. ?Each member of the congregation, the most innocent girl, and the man of hardened breast, felt as if the preacher had crept upon them, behind his awful veil, and discovered their hoarded iniquity of deed or thought.? Perhaps Hooper's words are hitting a little close to home, and people are seeing some of the things they cover up in their own lives, as Hooper covers his face with the veil."
Tags: minister, black, veil, Nathaniel, Hawthorne, congregation, preach, sermon, sins
Abstract This paper begins with a discussion of the Romantic Period, and then turns to Nathaniel Hawthorne, a writer of that time. Three of his works, "Young Goodman Brown", "The Minister's Black Veil", and "The Scarlet Letter" are discussed as examples of writings of the Romantic Period.
From the Paper "The Romantic Period can be characterized by four things, "a return to nature and to belief in the goodness of humanity; the rediscovery of the artist as a supremely individual creator; the development of nationalistic pride; and the exaltation of the senses and emotions over reason and intellect" (Encyclopedia.com). Nathaniel Hawthorne is one writer whose work is generally classified as Romantic. By looking at three of his important works, we can see how Hawthorne meets the criteria of a Romantic and also how Hawthorne goes beyond this definition, not only making a comment on the place of humans, but actively encouraging all humans to reconsider their place in the world."
Abstract A critical biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne. The writer shows why Hawthorne is considered to be the epitome of the American Romantic writer. Discusses his life, and early works, his upbringing and education and how these influenced the development of his unique writing style. Discusses his works "The Birthmark" and "The Scarlet Letter".
From the Paper "Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of early America's greatest authors. He was born on July 4, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts, where he spent his childhood with his mother and two sisters. When Hawthorne was four years old, his father died of yellow fever, leading to a somber childhood. His mother became overly protective and pushed him toward more isolated pursuits. Hawthorne's childhood left him overly shy and bookish, and molded his life as a writer."
Abstract Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Blithedale Romance", is the first person narration of a man bent upon joining a world that has no need of him by imposing an arbitrary order upon his reality. Blithedale, is a novel of polarities. Just as Coverdale imposes order on reality, Zenobia, the feminine voice of creation, understands reality as a fragmented thing that cannot have order forced upon it. We see in the novel oppositions in communities, in social order, and in place. But, Hawthorne also gives us a richly crafted story about what it is that defines community and the common spirit or communal soul. The romance, of this book, is not just that of man and woman, but of the romantic ideals of society and of order. Coverdale, who is the namesake of the primary translator of the King James bible, is a man bent upon making the world be what he wants it to be. Hawthorne's, The Blithedale Romance, provides the reader with a set of beliefs, ideals, and aspirations, that become ideologies that actually mask reality thus pitting the utopian hopes of Blithedale against actual human behaviors - which makes for a difficult conflict at best.
Abstract This paper argues that Nathaniel Hawthorne made a contribution in the reevaluation of the place of Puritanism in American history. The author uses Hawthorne's stories "Young Goodman Brown", "Rappaccini's Daughter", and "The Birth Mark" to support the argument.
Abstract This paper discusses the life of Nathaniel Hawthorne and the writer seeks to reveal Hawthorne's accomplishments in literary history. By looking into his personal motivations for his work, the author reveals much about Puritan society.
Abstract This paper examines how Nathaniel Hawthorne was a prolific writer of short stories, novels, and children's books, and how his works cover a variety of different subjects. It looks at how there are several themes that recur in his works and how one of these themes relates to sin and depravity. It shows how it is one of the major themes of his best known work, "The Scarlet Letter", and how the same theme also surfaces in a number of other works, including the short story, "Young Goodman Brown", and the short story, "The Minister's Black Veil." It explores how, in all of these works, Hawthorne communicates a similar view of human nature as it relates to sin and depravity and how he always shows sin and depravity as natural parts of human nature, parts that people must constantly battle.
From the Paper "As Hawthorne's best known work, it is fitting that the analysis begins with The Scarlet Letter. As well as being his best known work, The Scarlet Letter, is also a work with sin as the central theme. One source describes it as "an outstanding study of attitudes to sin and guilt, and of human psychology" (Kamm 204). Another source creates the link between the themes of sin and the study of human psychology by stating that the story is really about the character's personal battle between good and evil (Van Doren 10). This view of the story recognizes that the tendency toward sin is part of every person, where sin can also be described as evil. The good side of the person battles to control this desire to sin, but often the battle cannot be won. In the story, this is seen with the characters of Chillingworth, Dimmesdale, and Hester."
Abstract This paper looks at how Nathaniel Hawthorne was an Eighteenth-century American author who, through his works, explored the subject of human sin, punishment, and guilt. It examines how themes of pride, guilt, sin, punishment, and evil are evident in all of his works and how the wrongs committed by his ancestors play a particularly dominant force in Hawthorne's literary career, including in his most famous piece, "The Scarlet Letter" .
From the Paper "Regarding his workroom, Hawthorne once wrote, "This deserves to be called a haunted chamber, for thousands and thousands of visions have appeared to me in it" (Nathaniel Pp). He was one of the first American writers to explore the hidden motivations of his characters, such as in the ?Scarlet Letter,? a story describing the early victims of Puritan obsession with spiritual ferocity and the effect of guilt, anxiety and sorrow as its central theme (Nathaniel Pp). "The House of the Seven Gables" focused on a family that has inherited a curse by one of the victims of the Seventeenth Century Salem witchcraft trials (Nathaniel Pp). Hawthorne based this story on the legend of a curse that was pronounced upon his own family by a woman who was condemned to death during the Salem trials (Nathaniel Pp)."
Abstract This paper examines how, in the two works "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" and "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main characters Robin and Young Goodman Brown go on personal journeys to seek their individual goals. Robin seeks a kinsman who can help him establish his future livelihood, and Brown searches to restore his faith and the evil in his heart. It shows how they each reach a goal, yet not the one expected.
From the Paper "In this new urban world, Robin wonders at the "gay and gallant figures" who wear ?garments of showy colors, enormous periwigs, gold-laced hats, and silver-hilted swords." He sees ?imitators of the European fine gentleman of the period, (treading) jauntily along, half dancing to the fashionable tunes which they hummed, and making Robin ashamed of his quiet and natural gait." He even confuses a prostitute for a maiden. Hawthorne thus depicts the old and the new ways of life in New England, and they are very different, especially from what Robin has experienced."
Abstract This paper discusses the ideas expounded by Nathaniel Hawthorne, often thought of today as a reflection of Puritan values, although in Puritan times, he would have been recognized as a reformer at best and a heretic at worst. The paper discusses several of his works, "The Scarlet Letter," "The House of Seven Gables," "Young Goodman Brown,, "The Birthmark," and "Rappaccini's Daughter," claiming they show evidence of countless examples of a stretching of strict values. The paper contends that, by rejecting the ideals of the Puritan and the Victorian eras, Hawthorne acts as a soothsayer of the coming age of cyclical relaxation that can be seen, respectively, in the Flapper Era and in the 1960s.
From the Paper "Much of Hawthorne's message in his most well known work, The Scarlet Letter is one of feminine independence. The structure of Hester's society was such that she was challenged by her circumstances and even more challenged by the community in which she lived. Her social standing fell to that of a relative harlot when her very public fall from grace was revealed by her pregnancy, a pregnancy clearly begotten outside of her marriage bed. As has been clearly pointed out countless time the work is steeped in the biblical traditions of the Puritan Era and Hawthorne himself interweaves countless analogous meanings in his work."
Abstract This paper explains that, in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown", the two important characters are the protagonist, Brown and his wife Faith, whose role in the story is small but significant and symbolic. The author relates that the story revolves around a man's journey into the heart of darkness to discover the strength of his own faith, which is a weak power that easily can be suppressed by evil forces. The paper asserts that Hawthorne aptly named the wife Faith because, throughout the story, she acts as the force that stands opposed to evil and because references to Faith depict the various stages and forms of Brown's faith at different points in the story.
From the Paper "Faith is a pretty young woman who recently got married to Brown. She is an innocent person and pink ribbons are symbolically used to depict her beauty and purity. "And Faith, as the wife was aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the soft ribbons of her cap." Faith wants Brown to postpone his journey so the two can enjoy each other's company. At this point in their relationship, the power of Faith should be the strongest since they are newlyweds. It is that power which delays his journey by a few hours. When questioned by his evil companion, Brown confesses: "Faith kept me back a while.""
Tags: protagonist, symbolic, journey, evil, opposition
