The Raven And The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe are considered masters of American gothic fiction. They used similar gothic elements in their writing and used it to build up a sense of impending doom. Even today numerous readers enjoy, study, and discuss the gothic elements both utilized in their work. Gothic writing is a style that is concerned with the dark side of society, an evil that lies within the self. Poe and Hawthorne contributed stories which contained dark struggles between characters and society with its rules of order of the time. Gothic writing is fantasy meant to entertain despite the fact that it depicts the political and social problems

Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne were writers of the American gothic genre. They both used the elements of horror and mystery in their writing styles, writing about the dark side of humanity and the evil that lives within the human mind. Gothic writing focuses on the dark side of humanity and both Poe and Hawthorne captured this style well in their use of themes, symbols, and narration that focused on darkness and evil with their characters fighting various psychological issues. However, Poe’s stories are told in the first person narrative and he focuses on one human psychological effect, looking at man’s thoughts from within his mind and how his behavior then affects his surroundings. He also tends to build a sense on impending doom somewhat stronger than Hawthorne. Hawthorne, on the other hand uses the third person and focuses more on how man’s thoughts and behaviors are the results of what is happening around him. His stories also tend to be more of a romantic nature than Poe’s and he tends to create stories of conflicting interpretations to share lessons of life.

During this time period literature had a dominance of black women writers. Their writings focused on five major traits: dominance of black women writers, intertextuality, revisiting the past, reoccurrence of historiography, and broadening of horizons. Among the major writers only one was a male. The intertextuality circled around repeat writing, the response and revision of earlier themes and motifs. Each period adds to the existing one by utilizing new contexts to literature, themes and style.

Both Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale decay internally and externally throughout The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Chillingworth allows revenge to consume his soul, and Dimmesdale is tortured by his hidden guilt. During the novel, a visible change in physical appearance is greatly noticeable, and the characters’ emotional change is even more drastic. Hawthorne uses these characters as an example of the devastating psychological effects of guilt and sin, the novel’s central theme.

“Have no fear of perfection - you 'll never reach it,” said famous Spanish painter, Salvador Dali. Dali seems to be implying that no matter the effort, perfection is unattainable and something that should not be feared by anyone. Famous Puritan authors Jonathan Edwards and Nathaniel Hawthorne in their works give the same impression as Dali, they both believe that the strive for perfection is both unrealistic and unattainable. In regard to the unattainably of perfection Hawthorne and Edwards’ opinions differ greatly, Edwards believes that even though perfection is unrealistic, one can and should still strive for it, while Hawthorne on the other hand believes that because perfection will never be reached, it would be unnecessary for one to strive for it.

Hawthorne also develops this change with the theme of revenge. Not only does Chillingworth take malicious and vengeful actions against Dimmesdale but his excessive focus on revenge results in him becoming deformed physically and psychologically. The thing that perhaps makes Chillingworth's

Irving, Poe, and Hawthorne were arguably some of the most popular writers of the 19th century (Dincer 223; Lauter 2505). All three of them are known for their short essays and their advocacy to make writing a full-fledged and legitimate profession. Their writings show that they were hugely influenced by the Romantic Movement (romanticism); ‘a movement in art, literature, music, philosophy, politics and culture towards focusing on the individual, the subjective, and the spontaneous’ (Dincer 218). Romanticist writing “encouraged contemplation and self-awareness, direct contact with nature, and a focus on and an exploration of inner feelings” (Dincer 223). Yet, they had distinct writing style, focus, and theme. While Irving was more of a light romantic writer, a writing style characterized by optimism, Poe and Hawthorne are widely considered dark romantic Authors whose writings were characterized by pessimism that sees the world as full of dark, evil, suffering, horror, and mystery. While Irving’s writing focused more on satire and humor, Poe & Hawthorne’s writing was more about evil, crime, sin, and mystery. Moreover, Irving seem to be nostalgic aristocrat with huge ‘interest in the landscape, folklore, and the past’ (2506), whereas Poe and Hawthorne had a contrary view of the past (Liptak).

Popular literature is incomplete without the names of Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Both of these authors lived in the same time period, yet lived very opposite lives. In fact, Poe received notoriety for criticizing Nathaniel Hawthorne. (Poe, 1847) In his career, he wrote several critiques of Hawthorne’s work. On a personal level, Poe often disagreed with how often Hawthorne used allegory. As a literary element that many people use, Poe was not a fan. He once stated that: “I allude to the strain of allegory which completely overwhelms the greater

In the poem “The Raven” By Edgar Allan Poe, the theme is grief and the tone is dark. One of the figurative language elements Edgar Allan Poe uses to express the theme is the repetition of the use of “chamber” to describe the character’s house. Another element Edgar uses is the rhyme scheme in which he rhymes the ending words of the 8th, 10th, and 11th lines of the stanza. He also uses alliteration is some cases, one example Edgar Allan Poe writes: “Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to/dream before;” (47-48). Edgar Allan Poe uses repetition of some words to convey the theme of grief.

Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne were both American authors during a time of intense literary creativity. Many writers would read each other’s work and reach out to one another, thus sometimes developing friendships or even leading one author to be jealous or hateful towards another. In a review called “Tale-Writing” by Edgar Allan Poe, he alluded to Nathaniel Hawthorne. He stated Hawthorne had the “purest style, the finest taste, the most available scholarship, the most delicate humor, the most touching pathos, the most radiant imagination, the most consummate ingenuity; and with these varied good qualities he has done well as a mystic.” (“Tale-Writing”).

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to lose your entire family? In the poem Alone written by Edgar Allan Poe, it tells a story about an adult looking back on his childhood. This poem is a real reflection of Poe’s life and experiences, when he was younger, he lost pretty much his entire family like his parents, his foster mother and wife died and he was raised by a stern man who was angry about Poe writing poetry, which as a result he became isolated and secluded. Poe was an American writer and is best known for his poetry and short stories. The main themes in the poem are isolation and depression. It can relate to today’s youth by being illustrated of one’s solitude in general.

When Nathaniel was 4 years old, his father, a sea captain, died of yellow fever at sea. Nathaniel, his mom Elizabeth, and his two sisters were left with very little financial support, so they moved in with Elizabeth's wealthy brothers. At a young age, Nathaniel had a leg injury which left him immobile or a few months. During those few months, Hawthorne developed a taste for reading and thinking.

With the Novichok fully secured, Raven becomes trapped inside of a cargo container which is loaded onto a ship and sent steaming out to sea. The epilogue reveals that VIKTOR, an Odessa boss with identical powers to Raven, has traveled from Russia to personally enslave her, along with the full intentions of world domination. Terry is a secret stowaway on the vessel and what lies ahead for Raven, he alone will be her only hope for ultimate

Poe and Hawthorne are the most significant American writers of 19th century. They have their own way of relating to their audiences that’s varied and similar at the same time. Poe’s writing involves the reader emotionally. Hawthorne on the other hand considers author’s imagination important and paints a picture based on it. These innovative thoughts and experimentations in language have forever changed what we appreciate in writing. Poe and Hawthorne used various techniques in their writing including symbolism, allegory, suspense, characterization and great use of setting to make it very real to the reader. Both gothic writers set a different mood for the reader in their writings.

It can be said that all fiction is autobiographical in that no matter how different from the author’s life experience it may be, marks of their life can be found in any of their works and characters. One such example is Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, which is largely based on Hemingway’s own personal life experiences. Frederick Henry, the main character in the story, experiences many of the same situations that Hemingway lived out in his own life. Some of events and situations are exact, while others are less similar, and some have a completely different outcome all together.