Nathanial Hawthorne (1804-1864)

4. Staggered by the tragic event, Hawthorne’s mother withdrew into her upstairs bedroom, coming out only rarely during the remaining forty years of her life. The boy and his two sisters lived in almost complete isolation from her and from each other. This influenced Hawthorne’s somber and solitary attitude. 5. In 1821, Hawthorne entered Bowdoin College, in Maine. Among his college friends were Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Franklin Pierce who became the fourteenth President of the United States. 6. From 1825-1837 Hawthorne lived in solitude and 1825seclusion in Salem. He read widely, became further acquainted with local history, and began to practice writhing.
Nathanial Hawthorne (1804-1864)
Nathanial Hawthorne (1804-1864)
Life experiences:
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Some of his ancestors were men of prominence in the Puritan theocracy of 17th century New England. One of them was a colonial magistrate, notorious for his part in the persecution of the Quakers, and another was a judge at the Salem Witchcraft Trial in 1692. Gradually the family fortune declined. Hawthorne’s father, a sea captain, had died of yellow fever in Dutch Guiana, when the boy was mere four years old.
“God will give him blood to drink”
Colonel Pyncheon takes the land of Matthew Maule and builds a house on the land---is haunted by ghost---his offspring wither and die out 霍桑在探讨罪恶时，不是宣扬加尔文教义， 霍桑在探讨罪恶时，不是宣扬加尔文教义，而是抨击了它 对人性的摧残，是要使人正视罪的存在， 对人性的摧残，是要使人正视罪的存在，并把人从泯灭人 性的罪恶感中解脱出来。 性的罪恶感中解脱出来。
(3) Evil educates. Achievement is “under the impact of and by engagement with evil”
经历过犯罪，受到其影响，人们才能有所成就 经历过犯罪，受到其影响，
Man is better for the crime which brings about the fall.
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Gothic in tone and structure, mordantly analytical in narration, infused with a sense of life’s profound and ironic mystery, and the tenuous place within it of human conscience. His Genius is for the examination of the individual in isolation, in uncertain relationships with other people and with a Higher Power. Hawthorne also as a unique gift for the creation of vivid and symbolic images that embody great moral issues. In The Scarlet Letter the reader will note, each word, image, and event works towards a single effect, namely, the effect of disclosing the truth of the human hearts.
(1) Evil is at the core of human life.
sense of sin and evil in life, “black” vision of life and human
Hawthorne
Evil exists in the human heart, human heart is looks more deeply and the source of evil. more honestly into life, Everyone possesses some finding much suffering evil secret. Evil is man’s & conflict in it birthmark. rejects the Transcendentalist optimism
His Works
1. Hawthorne gathered his material by observing and listening to others. He roamed around the town, moving among old sailors on the dock, farmers from the country, men clustered in taverns, and the old wives of the town at the market. He listened to all of them. Their talk was filled with New England lore, legend, and superstition. 2. He made annual excursions into Vermont and New Hampshire and absorbed hints for many stories on these jaunts. He also read the annals and chronicles of the Puritan world.
All his life, Hawthorne seems to be haunted by his sense of sin and evil in life. Reading his tales and romances, one cannot but be overwhelmed by the “black” vision which these works reveal. Evil exists in the human heart, though any symbols of tradition and the past have been burned in the bonfire of the life of the New World, the source of evil --- the human heart --- remains intact. Evil seems to be man’s birthmark.
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1837, Twice-Told Tales 《故事新编》, a collection of Twice故事新编》 short stories, which enjoyed critical attention. 1846, Mosses from an Old Manse, another collection Manse, of short stories. 《古屋青苔》 古屋青苔》 1850 The Scarlet Letter 1851, The House of the Seven Gables 《七个尖角阁 的房子》 的房子》 1852, The Blithedale Romance 《福古传奇》 福古传奇》 1860, The Marble Faun 《大理石神像》 大理石神像》
• 纳撒尼尔·霍桑(1804—1864）是美国19 纳撒尼尔·霍桑(1804—1864）是美国19
世纪影响最大的浪漫主义小说家和心 理小说家。霍桑对当时社会道德论丧 和清教徒的伪善不满，但是他又不想 从根本上改变不合理的社会制度，只 谋求社会道德的改进，宣扬上帝，主 张道德的自我完善。
Hawthorne’s point of view
a most disturbed and tormented one, sin and evil in almost every book
(2) Whenever there is sin, there is punishment. Sin or evil can be passed from generation to generation.
3.Hawthorne was born in Salem in 1804. There had been an era when the ship lanes had linked Salem with every remote and romantic place on earth; when spices, silks, ivories, teas, and other precious stuffs were piled on its wharves; when the face of almost every race of man could be seen in its narrow street. Now in the shifts of wealth and commerce, Boston and other ports had surpassed Salem.