Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Projected Self in the Scarlett Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the best fiction authors of the 1800’s, and is still highly praised to this day. Hawthorne paved the way for future successful authors such as William Faulkner. Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts, the second of three children born to Nathaniel and Elizabeth Hathorne (their son added the "w" to the family name when he began his writing career). In 1808, Hawthorne’s father, a ship's captain, died of yellow fever in the distant port of Surinam Hawthorne attended college at Bowdoin College where his main concentration was writing.” (Egotism; or, The Bosom Serpent) “In sketches, tales, and romances published in the second third of the nineteenth century, Hawthorne chose mainly American materials,

Hawthorne is known for being a Romantic writer with a Romantic subject: a rebel who refuses to conform to society's code. Most

Writing an excellent book, short story,or poem is an ability very few people posses : Nathaniel Hawthorne is someone who had this talent. Hawthorne's writing is mostly centered around romantic fiction, he has written a plethora of things but he is mostly remembered for his short stories and novels. Before divulging into his work, a reader should know where his writing comes from, his inspirations, originality and what some would call pure genius. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, is an individual whose work has been and should continue to be analyzed for years to come due to his unique twist on romantic fiction. Many of his works have casted a silhouette over America through his intricate stories and writing style that revealed the themes of psychology and human nature during the 19th century. Hawthorne’s ominous style makes his works into oddities compared to the other romantic fiction novels in his time. Many of his works, such as The Scarlet Letter, exemplifies the epitome of Hawthorne’s distinct outlook on the moralistic attitudes of

Herman Melville in “Hawthorne and His Mosses” (in Literary World, August 17, 24, 1850) comments on how the writer is seen by others: “But it is the least part of genius that attracts admiration. Where Hawthorne is known, he seems to be deemed a pleasant writer, with a pleasant style,--a

Nathaniel Hawthorne is the author of the classic novel the Scarlet Letter based on the Puritan Era in Massachusetts. D.H Lawrence a British writer critiques the novel and gives his opinions on the piece in a persuasive argumentative manner. He believes that the heroine of the novel is not the beloved, marvelous character we all believe she is.He uses confident literary techniques like powerful tone, abrupt syntax and classic biblical allusions to convince people that the beloved character Hester Prynne is truly a conniving adulteress who thrives off of stealing one's purity.

Romanticism is categorized as “a preference for simplicity and naturalness, a love of plain feelings and truth to common place reality, especially as found in natural scenes”. Nathaniel Hawthorne was an anti-transcendentalist and believed in the dark side of man, hence his dark romantic novel The Scarlet Letter. This allegorical novel depends heavily on symbol and character. The novel is chock full of symbolic dimension of images, characters, and descriptions. The Scarlet Letter defines the American Romanticist movement while using symbolic characters and places that give the book seemingly two different stories. The first story denotes the story going on in the book, including the characters. The other story has symbols that speak on

America is a melting pot. Our leaders, immigrants from other countries, successes, and tragedies, are constantly changing this nation. American food, music, and ideals are also constantly being modified. American literature is no exception. Many great writers have influenced and reshaped our literature, and Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of them. He faced his problems and moved on. He was and is one of the most influential American writers, and he is more than a writer.

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the opening sections of his book, The Scarlet Letter, with a distinct purpose in his mind.Hawthorne aim to to expose the reader to key concepts that would assist in their further understanding of the remaining chapters .To do so Hawthorn developed the a complex mood within the setting and characterizing Hester and displaying her complex mentality in trying to overcome sin. By utilizing diction, imagery, and tone Hawthorne was able to expose the reader into the world of The Scarlet Letter.

He adds mysterious while seeking justice which is a main idea in romanticism Romanticism. Many were intrigued yet shocked with what they read since it touched controversial topics in society. Hawthorne went on to write other books involving love or nature up until the Civil War when inspiration seemed to lack when the nation went to

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a prominent 19th-century American author who is widely regarded for his adequate contributions to revolutionizing modern day literature. In his three works: Young Goodman Brown, The Birthmark, and Rappachini’s Daughter, Hawthorne uses a myriad of techniques and stylistic traits to portray ideologies and create interest within the readers. In his short stories, Hawthorne flawlessly conveys his erudition on modern themes of psychology and the human inclination to sin through his astute use of ambiguity and symbolism.

Each of these transitions and adjustments touched his writing in a different way. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s life and the historic era he lived influenced the storyline, characters, and many of the emotional aspects

In The Scarlet Letter, readers witness Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale undergo intense character transformations as a direct result of their isolation from society. The isolation that the two characters experience changes them both into different people—Hester for the better and Dimmesdale for the worse. It is revealed that the reason for their isolation is that Hester and Dimmesdale had an affair, and Hester later gave birth to their child, Pearl. Hester never exposes Dimmesdale as Pearl’s father and Dimmesdale never confesses this sin, which leaves him isolated internally. The opposite happens to Hester; when her pregnancy begins to show, she is outcast from the strictly Puritan community, which isolates her externally. Although both characters found themselves isolated, Dimmesdale’s internal isolation was much more detrimental than Hester’s external isolation because he was forced to suffer the guilt of his sin alone, he developed psychological issues, and he was never able to overcome his isolation the way Hester could.

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne had a few arguments but I would say the biggest would be how quickly society judges those who are in fault, specifically delving into the term hypocrisy. The reader specifically sees hypocrisy with the minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. As a minister, Dimmesdale is supposed to live a holy lifestyle, and use his life as an example to other Christians. As the reader later finds out, Arthur Dimmesdale is the one who impregnated Hester with Pearl. The guilt begins to eat him alive, eventually to the point of making a lasting impact on his health. In the end of the novel he finally decides he needs to confess what he has done. The worst part about Dimmesdale is how much he enjoys being viewed as this holy man, when he truly is a sinner like everyone else. I think Nathaniel Hawthorne is trying to expose the wrongdoings of the Puritan Society. It is a demonstration of how Puritan ideals have been stretched to the point that they are mostly all hypocritical.

The paragraph displays a very descriptive appearance of the scarlet letter. The absence of the paragraph would have been hard for the readers to put an image in their head about the scarlet letter’s appearance. Furthermore, the man questioned about the meaning of the letter, which makes it the perfect paragraph to capture the readers attention. It was a mystery to the man and it makes it also a mystery for the readers. The paragraph gave a perfect amount of information about the appearance of the scarlet letter and nothing was omitted. The paragraph certainly enhanced the the plot of the book. The whole book is dedicated about the scarlet letter, about the meaning and how it affected Hester’s life and the people around her. The description

Where Hawthorne is known, he seems to be deemed a pleasant writer, with a pleasant style,--a sequestered, harmless man, from whom any deep and weighty thing would hardly be anticipated:--a man who means no meanings. But there is no man, in whom humor and love, like mountain peaks, soar to such a rapt height, as to receive the irradiations of the upper skies;--there is no man in whom humor and love are developed in that high form called genius; no such man can exist without also possessing, as the indispensable complement of these, a great, deep intellect, which drops down into the universe like a plummet. . . .