Irving's Writing Style Analysis

The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, is the nephew of John Hathorne. During the Salem Witch Trials, the only judge that did not apologize for the remorseless and cruel acts that were put upon many men and women was in fact John Hathorne. Nathaniel changed his last name from Hathorne to Hawthorne in an attempt to disassociate himself from his uncle. John Hathorne is the reason why Nathaniel Hawthorne is obsessed with the puritan times. Hawthorne lived in the 1800s, but the setting of the novel is based before the Salem Witch Trials were held in the 1600s. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolism of the scarlet letter, Dimmesdale, and burrs to contribute to the overall theme of guilt.

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne focuses more on the symbolic meaning than on characterization. The Scarlet Letter revolves around the themes of sin, guilt and redemption, which are conceptualized through an adulterous life story in Massachusetts. Adultery is expressed in a means, which is not only psychologically disturbing but also reflects upon understanding of the human heart. Hester Prynne is an adulteress who is forced to wear a scarlet letter A on her gown according to Puritan practices. Arthur Dimmesdale, struggles in the background with guilt for fathering her secret child, Pearl yet the woman gets to be castigated independently. Furthermore, Dimmesdale is a cleric and Chillingworth who is Hester’s husband, from

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).

The Scarlet Letter is a tale of sin and redemption in a love triangle of puritans. In Puritan Boston a young woman by the name of Hester Prynne is put on trial for adultery and is forced to wear a letter A for her sins, Her accuser is not only her lover, but who Hester has a baby with (Pearl) . Nathaniel Hawthorne's purpose for writing the scarlet letter is to show the hypocrisy of the Puritan communities, the symbols that represent the hypocrisy are Hester, The Blackman, and the scarlet letter. Hester is the victim of hypocrisy, the black man was a symbol of all evil, the Scarlett letter marks the sinners and the hypocrites Hester Prynne was an adulterer, she got what she deserved regardless she was expounded by Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale whom she had the affair with. Dimmesdale knew what he was doing, he even tried to hint at the people of Boston of his sin, but they never thought of him as evil, as he says here.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a nineteenth-century author who lived in the 1800s, and his novels were focused on Puritan-era New England in the 1600s. His novel. The Scarlet Letter, tells the story of a woman named Hester Prynne and how she must pay for her sin of adultery by wearing a scarlet letter “A” on her bosom for the rest of her life. Throughout the story, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to represent and convey his themes. In the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolism of Pearl, the cottage, and Dimmesdale to contribute to the overall theme of imperfection.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s introduction to “The Scarlet Letter”, The Custom House introduces the reader to the narrator who bears a likeness to Hawthorne himself. Similarities between the two include their occupation in the custom house, being descendants of Puritans, having an interest in writing, and also being native to Salem. The narrator in the introduction describes the custom house, his work there, the employees, writing in general, but the most significant event in this introduction was his discovery of an unusual package, the contents in it being the scarlet letter an “A”, and records that date back to the seventeenth century in the Puritan community. After being dismissed from his job the narrator felt compelled to write about this discovery. Bringing the commencement of the tale, the first

The Scarlet Letter is a tale by Nathaniel Hawthorne that illustrates the life of Hester Prynne and the struggles she faces. The story begins with Hawthorne introducing the characters in his narrative and explaining what has happened thus far. The storyline then shifts to the 1640’s in the Puritan town of Boston, Massachusetts. Hester Prynne has just bore a child because of an affair with an unknown man. To make matters worse, her husband that had missing for seven years returns home to find her wife standing upon a scaffold to be disgraced. The governor is publicly shaming her as a punishment for her impurity and forces her to wear the scarlet letter “A” to make her as an adulterer. However, when the governor and the reverend, Arthur Dimmesdale, attempt to persuade her to reveal who the father is, she refuses. We soon discover that her

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving is an interesting folktale about a man named Ichabod Crane who tries to win over the affection of a wealthy townsfolk named Katrina Von Tassel while trying to compete with a man named Brom Bones.The way everything is written from this era was somewhat confusing yet very descriptive at the same time. Sometimes it overly- exaggerates and describes certain characters while doing it in a poetic way. As a tale that has gone through various adaptations and interpretations, the story itself was not something I had anticipated it to be. While still an interesting tale, what really perplexes me is how it relates to American romanticism. The story itself is really a competition between the brains and

Nathaniel Hawthorne was the great nephew of the infamous judge of the Salem witch trials John Hathorn. Also an anti transcendentalist Nathaniel was obsessed with John Hathorne. Nathaniel wrote many great books such as The Blithedale Romance and The Scarlet letter. The Scarlet Letter is a story set in colonial 1600’s about a woman named Hester Prynne who has committed Adultery with a minister of the name Dimmesdale. With their only reminder of guilt a child Pearl. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolism of The Scarlet Letter, Pearl, and Dimmesdale to contribute to the theme of Secret sin.

“Under the appellation of Roger Chillingworth, the reader will remember, was hidden another name, which its former wearer had resolved should never more be spoken” (Hawthorne, p. 107). Generally authors include symbols in literature to portray a deeper meaning of a person, place, or thing. In this case, Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter, incorporates a hidden meaning inside the character’s actions, personality, visage, etc. The symbolic meanings of Chillingworth, Dimmesdale, and Pearl come within the name which expresses the types of characters they are. For example, “chilling” serves as a synonym for the word “cold,” “dim” also means “strung-out” or “dark,” and “pearl” links to the ideas of “beauty” and “price” in terms of expense. And while these symbols may appear to convey a simple characteristic, they can change into either a positive or negative connotation depending on the symbolic meaning from the beginning of the novel. For Roger Chillingworth, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Pearl, nothing but that of their name describes the type of person they are. While Nathaniel Hawthorne includes a variety of symbols in The Scarlet Letter, the names of Chillingworth, Dimmesdale, and Pearl call for the most unique aspect of the novel due to the underlying meanings in their names.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was born in Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1804. His ancestors include John Hathorne, who was the only judge who was involved in the Salem witch trials that never did apologize for his actions. So, Hawthorne, added a "w" to make his ancestral name in order to hide this relation. He attempted many novels; However, The Scarlet Letter was, by far, the most successful. The Scarlet Letter is an engaging and decisive work defined by Hawthorne’s use of symbolism. He used the symbols often throughout the book to create different themes. One of the key themes is that the definition of good and evil are subject to the varying viewpoints of certain people or groups of people and this is clear through the use of multiple symbols and characters.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a book relaying the tale of an affair in the Puritan time period, is a complex story throughout with the unusual exception of its antagonist, Roger Chillingworth. Throughout the book, he seeks revenge on Arthur Dimmesdale who had relations resulting in a child with Chillingworth's wife, Hester Prynne. Despite his complicated relationships with Hester and Dimmesdale, Chillingworth is a predictable two-dimensional character that exists simply to play the role of the antagonist with no other backstory or

We learned about a lot of authors this past semester. Ranging from all genres and from all centuries, but there were some that stood out to me in a positive and a negative light. One thing I noticed in all of the different authors was the mood that they wrote in. Each one had their own signature on how they liked to write. For instance my least favorite author of the bunch Edgar Allen Poe was very dark and mythical in his writing. That's the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear his name, that and his mustache. That's one of the reasons Edgar is my least favorite. Mark Twain, or Samuel Clemens was my favorite out of the bunch and was the complete opposite to Edgar. Its seems easy to find the differences of the two and a lot harder

Romantic Age writers such as Washington Irving and Edgar Allen Poe offer many characteristics of the Romantic Age within their own stories. Romantic Writers often used vivid descriptions of people and nature, a larger-than-life hero or villain, and sometimes even the use of the supernatural. These topics are not the only characteristics however, many more are exemplified in the works of these men.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a famous American writer. He is the nephew of John Hathorne, who was a judge during the Salem Witch Trials and was the only one person of the witch court who did not apologize for his actions in the trials. Nathaniel was born in the 1800s; he was obsessed with Puritanism and his uncle, even though he also hated him for ruining the Hathorne name. For this reason, Nathaniel added a “w” to his last name to disassociate himself from John Hathorne. Hawthorne is an anti transcendentalist. This novel was written based in the 1600s in Puritan New England, pre-witch trials. This novel is The Scarlet Letter. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolism of Pearl, Hester’s Cabin, and the Governor’s House to contribute to the overall theme of imperfection.