Poe versus Hawthorne, Comparing Writers Essays

Edgar Allen Poe was one of the great writers of this world. He created several poems and short stories of a dark and dreary setting. His imagination was incredible. Edgar Allen Poe did not have a normal life. Bad luck and heart ach seemed to follow him until his death. His writing style was very different than other writers' style. His most famous

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.

Ray Bradbury and Edgar Poe both have somewhat similar writing styles. They both write in mysterious ways, and give a lot of foreshadowing. They also seem to enjoy writing about tragedies that happen both in the background and upfront. They both elaborate very specifically about how the scene is played out. They both have a similar conflict between possessions and desires. This is seen in both their writing and their backgrounds. Poe and Bradbury both seem to enjoy their writing and love to express what is happening in their lives into their writing. This can be seen when Bradbury writes the short story There will Come Soft Rains, where he is battling his emotions about technology. With Poe, this can be seen in A Tell Tale Heart, where he

Edgar Allen Poe’s use of the first person narrative in The Tell-tale Heart is much more effective than Nathaniel Hawthorne’s use of the third person in Young Goodman Brown because the use of the first person in Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart allows the reader to feel the narrator’s panic while the third person narrator in Young Goodman Brown only tells the story and the reader does not feel the main character’s feelings. By telling the story of the Tell Tale Heart in the first person, Poe allows his readers to see the build up of the main characters insanity with the use of language and crazy and rambling dialogue. On the other hand, Hawthorne’s use of the third person simply narrates the story and tells of Brown’s feelings rather than having

Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allen Poe’s works were unlike any style of writing that I have come across. The “gothic style” era of literature was defiantly intriguing, and sometimes even creepy to read. I will say that, it absolutely held my attention while I was reading. As I first read Poe’s works, I noticed that he very much so enjoyed writing in the darkest, and sometimes the most morbid form possible. Dark romantic novels such as, “The Oval Portrait,” and “Ligeia” shocked me. It is very easy to see the different elements between Nathaniel Hawthorne work, and Edgar Allen Poe’s works. I believe that Hawthorne enjoyed writing mainly romances, sometimes containing a gothic elements. Poe seems as though he wrote romance gothic style novels, but with a twist. He enjoyed throwing supernatural aspects into his works as well as unexplainable events, omens, portents, and visions. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s work, “The Birthmark” and Edgar Allen Poe’s work, “The Oval Portrait” made

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 Romantic era writers, Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe, had many similarities but even more differences, in both writing theme and style. This is very evident in their works, “Rip Van Winkle”, by Irving, and “The Fall of the House of Usher”, by Poe.

Since the discovery of philosophy by the Greek civilizations man has always tried to find the cause of many fundamental problems that are connected to the reality and existence of factors that contribute to these dilemmas but still remain unknown to humanity. One of the most controversial questions philosophy tries to answer is the origin of what we consider evil, who or what is connected to the main cause of the pain and suffering that goes on throughout the world. “Evil is when one purposefully causes pain, not pain caused by fault, knowing something is morally wrong, but still proceeds in doing so. Simply by the definition of evil,

“The man wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-stripped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells.”

     They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As stated in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Poetic Principle," a concept of beauty can only be achieved through the use of emotion, an "excitement of the soul," a necessary element to any worthwhile poem (Poe 8). Poe's fascination with the mystery of death and the afterlife are often clearly rooted in his poems and provide a basis for himself and the reader to truly experience his concept of beauty. Although also a believer in portraying beauty through poetry, Ralph Waldo Emerson found beauty to be eminent in nature and all things created by the Oversoul. Beauty for Emerson is not an idea or unknown, it is visible all around him.

Without some of the famous early American novelist like Mark Twain and Nathaniel Hawthorne, American literature would not be the same as it is in present times. These men are just a few examples of how writing has changed and how it started. These authors used their creativity to create unique stories that people can recognize by hearing the title of the book.

Melville, Poe, and Hawthorne all tend to focus on the darker side of humanity in their writings. In order to allow their readers to better understand their opinions, they often resort to using symbolism. Many times, those symbols take the form of darkness and light appearing throughout the story at appropriate times. A reader might wonder how light functions in the stories, and what it urges the reader to consider. If we look carefully at these appearances of light, or more likely the absence of it, we can gain some insight into what these "subversive romantics" consider to be the truth of humanity. Hawthorne uses this technique to its fullest; however, it is also very

With most writers, readers can identify what topics they tend to write about, how long their pieces often are, and what personal style these authors develop. While this is true of author Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are different elements that influence his writings. His life included many times of trials, many joys, and many ancestors that caused some turmoil within his mind. Two of his major works are influenced almost directly by his background (Werlock). Nathaniel Hawthorne threw his life into every single piece of his writing. His experiences, background, and the setting in which his life took place are prominent

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a prominent writer of his time, mainly through using symbolism, but the question is why use a literary device that constantly points to a reason behind the story? In order to understand why Hawthorne use symbolism we must look for the reason he does it. Also, we will look at his writing style that will see what influences gave him the motive to use symbolism in his works. When he was a child, his father was a sailor, who would traveled the seas until his death 1808. Hawthorne would read his logbooks that detail his father’s many adventures on the seas, this would help him when he wrote and publish his first novel in 1828. However, in writing more stories, Hawthorne developed his own writing style based off his own beliefs.

The author often leaves out certain information that may contain little relevancy to the plot itself, but urges the audience to create their own scenario based on the textual evidence provided. The audience is engaged and Poe succeeds in captivating them through the concept of the unknown. In The Pit and the Pendulum, a man is sent to to an underground torture chamber during the Spanish Inquisition era. Throughout his time there, he experiences several attempts of torture from his jailers; as such, a pit with ghastly remains in it. The audience is merely informed about how horrid the pit is that the character