Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Born Salem, Massachusetts, July 4, 1804.

• From a prominent Puritan family.• Earliest American ancestor was

William Hawthorne—1630—he was a soldier and magistrate.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

• William mainly remembered for having condemned a Quaker woman to be led around by carts and whipped through the streets of Boston and other towns.

• This creates conflicting attitudes: solid accomplishment vs. great guilt

Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Themes: Solid accomplishment vs. great guilt

• His works deal with guilt and the Puritan moral code as well as human loneliness and sin.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Married Sophia Peabody—happy marriage.

• She in many ways was Hawthorne’s model for Hester Prynne.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

• One of the first writers to create a truly psychological novel.

• Issues and Themes in TSL• Psychology• Puritanism• Evil• Symbols• Sin• Romance• Heart

Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Hawthorne’s fiction is fueled by an awareness of the guilt that accompanies a Puritan conscience.

• His familial background contributed to his darkness.

Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism: a 19th century movement in the Romantic tradition which held that every individual can reach ultimate truths through spiritual intuition, which transcends reason and sensory experience.

Transcendentalism

Basic tenets of Transcendentalists1. God is present in every aspect

of Nature, including every human being.

2. Everyone is capable of apprehending God through the use of intuition.

Transcendentalism

3. The belief that all of Nature is symbolic of the spirit.