In fact, the entire plot demonstrates the easy ways for the social harmony to disappear. It is obvious that the author does not provide any advocacy to nature but claims that its influence is just inevitable and irresistible. Another important Gothic detail of the novel is the ambiguity of the symbols Hawthorne uses. The ambiguity is obvious, and it is deliberately emphasized to show the reader that the people of Salem punished Hester and at the same time rewarded her brave aim to freedom.
Through such a prism, the ambiguity of the symbol increases. The same situation concerns many elements of the novel that provides uncertain feelings of morality till the very end and does not resolve any of these uncertainties. The contrast between the Indians and the New Englanders is very important when considering through the prism of both ambiguity and contradiction between the aforementioned nature and morality.
It does not concern any racial or national differences because the Indians living in Salem are as hypocrite as the European colonists are. The full scope of the mentioned characteristics demonstrates the novel as a bright text of the Gothic Romanticism. When he returns home, he realizes that nature captured not only himself in the form of the Indians but also his wife and the pastor Arthur Dimmesdale in the form of adultery.
The metaphor is evident, namely nature is invincible as well as the human sinful nature. Moreover, the novel leaves the reader with the doubt concerning the right of weak morality to judge people for their inclination to inevitable nature. It is the most important message of the novel that follows the reader through the entire text. Thus, Hawthorne with the total dark atmosphere provided in the text demonstrates the synthesis of the European and American literary tendencies of his epoch.
Jul 11, in Review. Type of assignment. Writer level. Number of pages. Total price:. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne exemplifies Dark Romanticism in its themes of imposed judgement and punishment for those who commit sin, resulting in alienation and self-destruction.
Hawthorne's most famous novel examined the human soul and our morality-- certainly a cautionary tale about the dangers of well-intended social reform and blind religious fervor. While Hawthorne dappled in numerous genres, including Transcendentalism, he found his niche in Dark Romanticism, albeit on the less pessimistic side. He believed that for all of our weaknesses, hypocrisy and suffering, "the truth of the human heart" usually prevails. Practically all of Edgar Allan Poe 's canon falls in the Dark Romantic genre, in which he explored the psychology of the conscious and subconscious mind.
A Descent Into the Maelstrom is a fine example. Many of Poe's works are on the dark end of the Dark Romantic spectrum, into the realm of Gothic Fiction with macabre tales of horror, morbidity, and madness. Fine example: The Fall of the House of Usher , which deals with mental conditions such as hypochondria and hyperethesia sensory overload. Poe was also credited as the creator of the detective fiction genre, as in his story, The Purloined Letter.
Poe literally provided a template for detective authors to follow, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A fun fact about Poe: he really disliked Transcendentalists, referring to them as "Frogpondians" after the pool in Boston Commons.
Emily Dickinson challenged the definitions of poetry and exemplify Dark Romanticism. It's well-known that she led an increasingly reclusive life, afflicted by severe depression, and never saw success during her lifetime she died at Yet, her creative energy, willingness to fight conventions no titles, short lines , and prolific writing she wrote nearly 1, poems in her lifetime, but published very few established her literary prowess and blazed a trail for other poets and women writers to follow.
The etymology of the word "Romanticism" is from the Latin word "romant" which means "in the Roman manner. While the Romantic Movement began in Europe toward the end of the 18th century, it migrated to America in the early 19th century.
American Romanticism authors were most prolific between Within the genre of Romanticism, two opposing sub-genres emerged: the optimists who believed in human goodness and spirituality, grew in to the Transcendentalism Movement ; the pessimists, who embraced human fallibility and our predisposition towards sin, grew into the Dark Romantic Movement. The Dark Romantics were drawn to the dark side of the human psyche, the evil side of spiritual truth. The Dark Romantics rebelled against the Puritans, who came to the country to escape persecution, but imposed their own religion and societal rules government on others, judging those who did not conform.
These authors were drawn to human's imperfections, self-destruction, sin, and the hazards of social reform. It is helpful to understand the historical backdrop for the emergence of the Dark Romantics and the Transcendentalists. America had established itself as an independent nation, and was struggling with the morality of slavery, social reforms, and the rights of the minority. Abraham Lincoln rose to power leading the country with a truly distinctive American voice-- eloquent, yet simple and coarse language embracing the country's failures, triumph, and tragedy.
His fallibility was very much in-line with the Dark Romantic authors who published their major works shortly before the American Civil War and its messy aftermath into the Reconstruction era. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale was published a year later. The Transcendentalists were busy at this same time in history: Thoreau 's Walden was published in , Whitman 's Leaves of Grass a year later In , the Civil War ended, Lincoln was assassinated, slavery was abolished. The country was no longer naive, more cynical, and a lot wiser than it had been a half century earlier, an ambivalence-- balancing pessimism and optimism-- that was reflected in the works of so many of the period's authors.
Visit American History in Literature. Though even he begrudgingly acknowledged that Hawthorne's style "is like purity itself. Now I am going to break from my biographical narrative to add a personal note. After a lifetime of reading, Nathaniel Hawthorne has emerged as one of my absolute favorite authors of all time. If you are not having fun while reading Hawthorne you are doing it wrong!
For instance, My Kinsman, Major Molineaux is a comic short story and should be enjoyed as such it does have a "tragic" ending. It's the story of a young "hayseed" on his first visit to the "big city" and he suffers the embarrassments one would expect and few extras thrown in for good measure.
It could inspire a Monty Python skit. I think there is a secret to understanding and appreciating Hawthorne's body of work. And I will share that with you. But be warned; he is not a cheap date!
You will have to work hard before you can truly love this writer. The price of admission is that one must read and study over the introductory chapter to The Scarlet Letter , The Custom-House. As much as it will not feel like it at the time, if you are a high school student, and your English teacher has asked you to specifically read The Custom-House , it's because he or she loves you and cares about your education which as Twain famously pointed out, should not be confused with your schooling.
You will know that you truly understand those two introductory chapters when you realize the Nathaniel Hawthorne was a mids Bad Ass who explicitly, purposely, and repeatedly "stuck it to the man", even after, heck especially after they asked him to stop!
I also do not think you can properly understand The Scarlet Letter without understanding The Custom-House and also marking the sins of Hawthorne's forefathers. I assure you, the effort is worth the reward.
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