Nathaniel Hawthorne Biography

The Li fe o f Hawthorne

Born July 4th, 1804 in Salem, Mass.

His father Nathaniel Hathorne Sr. was a sea captain.

His mother Elizabeth Clarke Manning was a descendent of blacksmiths

Hawthorne attended Bowdoin College

He wrote several successful short stories which were collected in Twice-Told Tales (1837).

The Li fe o f Hawthorne

Hawthorne returned to Salem where he met Sophia Peabody.

They were married in 1842.

The Li fe o f Hawthorne

In 1846 Hawthorne accepted a political appointment to the Salem Custom House as Surveyor of the Port .

The Li fe o f Hawthorne

This bureaucratic position stunted Hawthorne’s creativity.

Hawthorne’s mother died in 1849.

The Li fe o f Hawthorne

Hawthorne left Salem, which he called "that abominable city," saying that he now had no reason to remain.

The Li fe o f Hawthorne

His great-grandfather John Hathorne was the chief-interrogator of the “Salem Witches.”

The Li fe o f Hawthorne

In 1830, however, he published "The Hollow of the Three Hills," under the name of Nathaniel Hathorne.

The Li fe o f Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne died on May 18, 1864 in Plymouth, New Hampshire.

The Li fe o f Hawthorne

Famous Work

FICTION Doctor

Grimshawe's Secret

Fanshawe The Blithe dale

Romance The House of

Seven Gables The Marble Faun

The Scarlet Letter

NON-FICTION Our Old Home

Chiefly About War Matters

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Major Theme

Alienation - a character is in a state of isolation because of self-cause, or societal cause, or a combination of both.

Initiation - involves the attempts of an alienated character to get rid of his isolated condition.

Problem of Guilt -a character's sense of guilt forced by the puritanical heritage or by society; also guilt vs. innocence.

Pride - Hawthorne treats pride as evil.

H a w t h o r n e ’ s V i e w s o f Tr a n s c e n d e n t a l i s m

Hawthorne did not conform to the Romantic focus on the emotions and abandonment of reason.

Hawthorne strove to create a balance between “head and heart.”

Hawthorne believed that human fulfillment was achieved through a balance between mind, reason, heart, spirit, will, and imagination.

H a w t h o r n e ’ s V i e w s o f Tr a n s c e n d e n t a l i s m

Hawthorne’s balanced approach placed him in opposition to other Transcendentalists – Emerson, Thoreau, and Longfellow.

H a w t h o r n e ’ s V i e w s o f Tr a n s c e n d e n t a l i s m