bio on hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne: 1804-1864
Okay, here we go…rustykeloid’s mention of Negative Romanticism was interesting, and I think it may apply to Hawthorne, who is a Romantic for his intensity, rejection of earlier Puritan/societal values, emphasis on individualism and imagination, and awe of Nature. However, Hawthorne’s Nature is definitely NOT Wordsworth’s tranquil and idealized one, but rather a wild Nature that represents the freedom, but potentially dark and dangerous freedom, of humanity. Also, from what I have read, he is not an optimistic Romantic. It seems that the positive Romantic ideals (individual and imaginative freedom) are always tinged with darkness or a sense of warning in Hawthorne’s writing.
It seems that much of his personality was serious and dark. In a letter to Longfellow, he wrote, “I have not lived, but only dreamed about living” (2). Hawthorne spoke of his study being haunted with all the visions he has seen, and was concerned with passed down generational sin and morality. He also had a difficult time financially supporting himself and his family with writing, which lead to his having to return to Salem, and take a job as a surveyor, both of which he hated
He is a descendant of John Hawthorne, who was a judge in the 1692 Salem witch trials, which certainly lead to his interest in Puritan judgement and witchcraft. As for other interesting people in his life, Hawthorne was friends with Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and President Franklin Pierce. Edgar Allan Poe criticized certain stories, but considered Hawthorne’s writing style and skill genius.
Major themes in Hawthorne’s work are “hypocrisy, witchcraft, the Puritan guilt, and the sins of fathers” (1). He is noted in American literature for being the first to deal with the hidden motivations of his characters (1). Hawthorne was also one of the first to deal with “alternate history as a literary form” (2).
And that’s my general introduction to Nathaniel Hawthorne, brooding and dark, just in time for Halloween!
Notes:
(1): http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/hawthorn.htm
(2): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Hawthorne#_note-0
Okay, here we go…rustykeloid’s mention of Negative Romanticism was interesting, and I think it may apply to Hawthorne, who is a Romantic for his intensity, rejection of earlier Puritan/societal values, emphasis on individualism and imagination, and awe of Nature. However, Hawthorne’s Nature is definitely NOT Wordsworth’s tranquil and idealized one, but rather a wild Nature that represents the freedom, but potentially dark and dangerous freedom, of humanity. Also, from what I have read, he is not an optimistic Romantic. It seems that the positive Romantic ideals (individual and imaginative freedom) are always tinged with darkness or a sense of warning in Hawthorne’s writing.
It seems that much of his personality was serious and dark. In a letter to Longfellow, he wrote, “I have not lived, but only dreamed about living” (2). Hawthorne spoke of his study being haunted with all the visions he has seen, and was concerned with passed down generational sin and morality. He also had a difficult time financially supporting himself and his family with writing, which lead to his having to return to Salem, and take a job as a surveyor, both of which he hated
He is a descendant of John Hawthorne, who was a judge in the 1692 Salem witch trials, which certainly lead to his interest in Puritan judgement and witchcraft. As for other interesting people in his life, Hawthorne was friends with Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and President Franklin Pierce. Edgar Allan Poe criticized certain stories, but considered Hawthorne’s writing style and skill genius.
Major themes in Hawthorne’s work are “hypocrisy, witchcraft, the Puritan guilt, and the sins of fathers” (1). He is noted in American literature for being the first to deal with the hidden motivations of his characters (1). Hawthorne was also one of the first to deal with “alternate history as a literary form” (2).
And that’s my general introduction to Nathaniel Hawthorne, brooding and dark, just in time for Halloween!
Notes:
(1): http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/hawthorn.htm
(2): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Hawthorne#_note-0
posted by e at 8:39 p.m.
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