Free Essays on Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Allegorical Nathaniel Hawthorne For my research, I chose Nathaniel Hawthorne. The three short stories I read were, The Minister’s Black Veil, Young Goodman Brown, and Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment. I think that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s stories are interesting. The three that I read all had allegory and symbolism in them. All of the stories include some characteristic of death. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s stories seem to reply mainly about religion and the teaching of a lesson. In The Minister’s Black Veil, I noticed a lot of allegory and symbolism. Th main character, Mr. Hooper, seems to be based upon a real person that Nathaniel Hawthorne must of read about. The black veil over the minister’s face symbolizes a secret that he isn’t afraid to show anymore. The minister is testing his closest friends and loved ones to see if they are trust worthy of him when he starts to wear the veil. When he starts wearing the veil, everyone shuns him and talks about him. Somehow, the death of a young woman seems to be the reason for him to be wearing the veil, according to some of the town’s people. They think that he may have had something to do with her death, and that was his way to show it by wearing the black veil for the first time the day of her funeral. Everyone seems terrified of him with the veil on, but he cant figure out why. It isn’t until the wedding of a couple that he notices how dreary the veil really looks on him when he looks in the mirror at the reception. When his fiancà ©e asks him to take off the veil and he says no so she leaves him, which leaves the minister alone with no one to comfort him. Th town’s men and women treat him as an outcast and will not socialize with the minister any longer. On his deathbed, he realizes that Elizabeth had always loved him, even after she left him, and was faithful to him through all the years. When he is asked to remove his veil, he tells Reverend Clark no. H... Free Essays on Nathaniel Hawthorne Free Essays on Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter is based on the puritanical custom of affixing a giant red, letter â€Å"A† to anybody that committed adultery. The novel centers on the adulterous Puritan Hester Prynne. Throughout the novel, she loyally refuses to reveal the name of her partner. The novel is generally regarded as Hawthorne’s masterpiece and as one of the classics of American literature. However, it also reflects the typical, partriarchical attitude of both puritan society and of contemporary society. For instance, even the definition of the word, â€Å"Scarlet† carries with it sexist connotations. Scarlet as defined in Webster’s New World Dictionary is â€Å"sinful, specifically whorish† (Webster 532). In sum, the main plot of the novel is this: Hester Prynne is a women living in seventeenth-century New England. She is convicted of committing adultery. At the beginning of the novel, Hester is forced to wear a scarlet letter, A, on her dress as a sign of her guilt. She steadfastly refuses to reveal the identity of her adulterous partner. However, her husband eventually realizes who her lover is and takes revenge on him. Eventually, her dying lover publicly admits his part in the adultery. Primarily the novel centers on the theme of woman as seductress, woman as seducer. Again, this theme seems to harken back to the same stereotypical and sexist notions of woman as either Madonna or whore. Regardless of the fact that her lover ultimately is punished for his sins as well, it is Hester who is portrayed as the one to blame for his â€Å"fall.† In the novel, the public confession of her lover, Dimmesdale, the â€Å"sinful† priest seems to absolve him of his sins by making such a public confession. The same is not true for Hester. She is doomed at the end of the book to live a life full of loneliness and denial, and in no way does she come close to obtaining the freedom and love that she had desired. It seems as though... Free Essays on Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† widely regarded as one of his finest works, illustrates vividly how society and culture can influence one‘s sense of reality (53 ). Goodman Brown is everyman of general intelligence striving to live and achieve a better life (60 ). Faith and righteousness were daily themes in Puritan society, however when Goodman Brown faces change in his perception, the once solid foundation is washed away. The journey into the wilderness enlightens Brown to societal truths amidst his struggle within himself and against fellow men. It is a dreaded walk on the dark side of the human heart (26 ). Consuming most of Hawthorne’s tale is a test of faith. For three months Brown has been married to a young woman symbolizing his faith (60 ). She even carries this name and lets her role in the story tie to that aspect of her husband’s life. Brown calls for his wife three times as he stands before the devil at the alter. Goodman then cries, â€Å"My Faith is gone.†(9 ) As Brown is drawn into the deepest shadows of the forest and enters the devils sacred service, Hawthorne dramatizes his feeling that once commitment to evil has been made, its purpose must prevail by securing a shelf in Goodman’s soul. There is no struggle of power to oppose it and in this tale the power is so unequal that Faith, supposedly the Devil’s antagonist, is drawn into the camp of the enemy (11 ). She appears at the service as a baptismal candidate along with Goodman, a faint insinuation that Faith has her own covenant with the Devil. This also suggests that her complicity may be prior to and deeper than Brown’s, as Faith could’ve played a role in the path of her husband (12 ). Her possible involvement then brings on a submerged irony in the manner in which Faith comes to meet Goodman when he returns to the village, as if she had not been present in the forest. She greets him in a manner inn... Free Essays on Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne Hawthorne’s â€Å"Rap puccini’s Daughter† is a timeless short story that still easily applies to common fears of today. Like in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, Hawthorne uses literature to address the fascination many of us have with science verses religion. When Hawthorne describes Rappuccini’s creations in the garden, our imaginations could compare the likenesses to his daughter as well. He states, â€Å"Several, also, would have shocked a delicate instinct by an appearance of artificialness, indicating that there had been such commixture, and, as it were, adultery of various vegetable species, that the production was no longer of God’s making, but monstrous offspring of man depraved fancy, growing with only an evil mockery of beauty† (1296). In this description Hawthorne points out that Rappuccini has destroyed the boundaries of science by acting as a God-like figure. Rappuccini’s creations are evil concoctions that only illus trate his dark genius instead of a father’s or creator’s love. Hawthorne uses Beatrice as a symbol of Rappuccini’s obsessive love of science while also using her words to tell the reader the seriousness of his condition. Hawthorne write, â€Å"...and at the hour when I first drew breath, this plant sprang from the soil, the offspring of his science, of his intellect, while I was but his earthly child† (1303). In her comment Beatrice points out that her father’s love for manipulating nature far surpasses any love or connection he feels with his daughter. The evil science has consumed his personality and destroyed his humanity. In short, Hawthorne seems to be addressing the public to warn them about the dangers of excessive science. He seems to believe that the realm of God and God’s creations should not be manipulated by man. If we allow ourselves to become consumed with controlling nature, our evil creations will in a sense backfire and ruin even the best intentio... Free Essays on Nathaniel Hawthorne Although â€Å"The Birthmark† by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written in the mid-1800s, its themes and ideas are still a part of society today. The 19th century was a time of change, just as this, the millennium, is a time of great change. Hawthorne’s ideas about science, beauty, and life still play a major part in our lives, despite many improvements. Even today, people try to play â€Å"God† and change things that nature has put in place. It’s human curiosity; how much can be changed, how many things can be perfected? The themes in this short story religion, gender, and sciencewere relevant in Hawthorne’s day, and still are many years later. The theme of religion is hidden in the desire to erase the birthmark. In trying to â€Å"perfect† Georgiana, Aylmer is testing God’s creation. He doesn’t believe that how God created Georgiana is perfect, and he is obsessive about making her his idea of perfection. Aminadab, Aylmer’s ser vant, tries to tell his master to leave the birthmark alone. He tells Aylmer that if Georgiana were his wife, he wouldn’t worry about something so trivial. However, the scientific ideas on Aylmer’s mind won’t let him forget the birthmark. He believes he can remove it with the help of science. Even so, science has no part in creation, according to Hawthorne, and Georgiana’s death after the removal of the birthmark signifies that theory. Her death is Hawthorne’s way of showing that judgment and perfection are God’s dutiesnot man’s. In today’s society we still battle this idea; is perfection attainable through science? Maybe people think so- thousands have cosmetic surgery performed every year as a way of trying to make themselves more beautiful. Religion has taken a step back in society today, so the significance of perfection by God has also been moved to the back burner. But, underlying all the surgeries performed today, is the question: Is it right to change what was given to you by God?... Free Essays on Nathaniel Hawthorne The Allegorical Nathaniel Hawthorne For my research, I chose Nathaniel Hawthorne. The three short stories I read were, The Minister’s Black Veil, Young Goodman Brown, and Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment. I think that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s stories are interesting. The three that I read all had allegory and symbolism in them. All of the stories include some characteristic of death. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s stories seem to reply mainly about religion and the teaching of a lesson. In The Minister’s Black Veil, I noticed a lot of allegory and symbolism. Th main character, Mr. Hooper, seems to be based upon a real person that Nathaniel Hawthorne must of read about. The black veil over the minister’s face symbolizes a secret that he isn’t afraid to show anymore. The minister is testing his closest friends and loved ones to see if they are trust worthy of him when he starts to wear the veil. When he starts wearing the veil, everyone shuns him and talks about him. Somehow, the death of a young woman seems to be the reason for him to be wearing the veil, according to some of the town’s people. They think that he may have had something to do with her death, and that was his way to show it by wearing the black veil for the first time the day of her funeral. Everyone seems terrified of him with the veil on, but he cant figure out why. It isn’t until the wedding of a couple that he notices how dreary the veil really looks on him when he looks in the mirror at the reception. When his fiancà ©e asks him to take off the veil and he says no so she leaves him, which leaves the minister alone with no one to comfort him. Th town’s men and women treat him as an outcast and will not socialize with the minister any longer. On his deathbed, he realizes that Elizabeth had always loved him, even after she left him, and was faithful to him through all the years. When he is asked to remove his veil, he tells Reverend Clark no. H... Free Essays on Nathaniel Hawthorne Many people have had an effect on this country. The reason for this lies in our country’s youth. The United States formed at a time when technological advancements allowed many more people to leave a legacy in its dawning. These advancements led to a creation of literary history. I find it hard to say one person had a larger effect on anything than anyone else, but some people do seem to stand out more than others. In helping to form, or even by just translating how others helped to form this country, authors were able to compile a great deal of literature. This literature has left us a way to learn about our history and many of the important people in it. One of these important people, whom also happened to be an author, was Nathaniel Hawthorne. He wrote about his own experiences, including his observations of other people’s experiences. His life led him to the right places at the right times. Today anybody can pick up his works and take from them the knowledge of what it was like to live during his times. Anyone who reads his work inherits just a little bit of his style into their own writing. There is so much of his own work, on top of so much work pertaining to him, in this world that it is hard for him not to have made an impact on it. He has served as a translator, taking in the influences of his time and especially the people of his time, to in turn influence the future. Nathaniel Hathorne was born July 4, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts. Here alone is where he gained much of his influence, both through his family’s history, as well as in his own time. Much of his persona can be understood by knowing some facts of his life. His father died, while at sea, of yellow fever in 1808. Due to a leg injury in 1813 Nathaniel was unable to attend school and was thus home taught by Joseph Worcester for a short time. In 1819 he attended Samuel Archer’s School, in preparation for college. In 1820 he was tutored by Benjamin Oliver. ...