Note: Hawthorne was extremely dismissive of women writers, calling them a "damned mob of scribbling women".
Nathaniel Hathorne (better known as Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1804-1864) was an author. Hawthorne is best known for his novel The Scarlet Letter.
Life[]
Born in Salem, Massachussets on Independence Day of 1804, Nathaniel was the son of a sea captain with whom he shared his first name. Nathaniel's father died of yellow fever while in "Dutch Suriname" (now regular Suriname) when Nathaniel was four years old. Nathaniel's mother moved back in with her family (the Mannings) and brought young Nathaniel with her. For most of his teenage years, Nathaniel lived in Maine (on the shore of Sebago Lake) with the Mannings.
At the age of nine, Nathaniel became bedridden due to an injury to his leg. It was during this time that his love for literature was established.
After being pressured into attending college by his uncle, Nathaniel attended Bowdoin College. While there, Nathaniel met several figures important to American history - most notably Franklin Pierce. Nathaniel graduated from college in 1825 and moved to Salem, Massachusetts (living with his mother). Shortly after graduating from college, Nathaniel changed his last name from "Hathorne" to "Hawthorne" to distance himself from an ancestor (John Hathorne) who served as a judge in the Salem Witch Trials.
In 1828, Nathaniel published his first novel Fanshawe anonymously. Throughout the 1830s, Nathaniel became a prodigious writer. Writing became a secondary concern to Nathaniel after he engaged Sophia Peabody in 1839 (whom he married three years later). During this time, Nathaniel became an inspector at the Boston Custom House before moving into a Transcendentalist commune for a brief time and then moving to Concord (where he earned a living through writing). Their first child was born two years into their marriage.
Seeking financial stability, the Hawthornes moved to Salem in 1846. The next year (thanks to his connections with Franklin Pierce, then a former senator) Nathaniel became a Surveyor of Customs at the Salem Customs House. This job ended due to political machinations and the election of the Whig Zachary Taylor to the White House. Nathaniel channeled his negative emotions from his (possibly) unjust termination into the writing of The Scarlet Letter. This novel became a success.
In the following two years, Hawthorne published numerous works - including The House of the Seven Gables, The Blithedale Romance, and Life of Franklin Pierce. This period ended once Franklin Pierce (elected President in 1852) appointed Nathaniel with the job of U.S. consul in Liverpool. Though this position ended in 1857, the Hawthornes remained in Europe (moving from Italy to England during this time) until 1860. During the last four years of Hawthorne's life, he suffered from gastrointestinal cancer and died in 1864 while on a short vacation with Franklin Pierce.
Writing style[]
A member of the Dark Romanticist movement, Hawthorne's works are heavy with symbolism and largely serve as allegories for the darkness of humanity - with a common theme being that human nature is vile and wicked but is driven by God through "unconditional election".
rest to be added
Notable works[]
- Life of Franklin Pierce - a biography of the titular politician which partially lead to his Presidency.
Novels/Romances[]
- Fanshawe - Hawthorne's debut novel, it was originally published anonymously and Hawthorne tried to burn every copy he could find.
- The Scarlet Letter - a romance (a term which in Hawthorne's day meant books with fantastical/symbolic elements) about Hester Prynne being branded with the titular letter.
- The House of the Seven Gables - a romance about a New England family with themes of guilt and supernatural elements. Influenced the works of H.P. Lovecraft.
- The Blithedale Romance - a romance about a commune.
- The Marble Faun (or Transformation) - Hawthorne's final romance. Notably, it is set in Italy.
Short story collections[]
- Twice-Told Tales
- Mosses from an Old Manse
- A Wonder-Book for Boys and Girls
- The Snow-Image, and Other Twice-Told Tales
- Tanglewood Tales
Short stories[]
- My Kinsman, Major Molineux - A tale set before the American Revolution
- Roger Malvin's Burial - A tale about two soldiers
- Young Goodman Brown - A tale about the Puritan times
- The Minister's Black Veil
- The Birth-Mark - A tale about a scientist who becomes obsessed with a woman's birthmark
- Rappaccini's Daughter - A tale about a doctor's daughter who becomes poisonous
- Ethan Brand - a fragment of a planned larger work
Works on Nathaniel Hawthorne[]
- Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Times by James R. Mellow
See also[]
- Herman Melville
- Edgar Allan Poe
- H.P. Lovecraft
Sources[]
- Wikipedia