Nathaniel
Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Born in Salem, Mass. July 4, 1804
 5th generation American, from Puritan
ancestors
 1816, at age of 12, his mother, a widow,
sent him away to live in Maine with his
uncle, her brother.
 Hawthorne was clearly enamored with
Salem, and returned there to prepare for
college.
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Nathaniel Hawthorne
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1821 to 1825 attended Bowdoin College
Became friends with Longfellow (poet) and
Franklin Pierce (future US President).
From 1825 to 1837 lived with his mother in
Salem.
Spent this time reading and writing – focused on
studying and chronicling the character and
spirituality of the Puritans.
Also traveled extensively throughout New
England.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Published his first stories beginning in 1832.
1837 published a collection of these stories
called Twice Told Tales.
Very few critics understood what he was trying to
do with his literature – Poe was one of the few
who liked his work.
1838, secretly became engaged to Sophia
Peabody.
1838, took a job at the Boston Custom House
because his writings were not selling very well.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Lived for 7 months at Brook Farm with Ralph
Waldo Emerson.
Brook Farm was a socialistic cooperative
operated by and for writers – especially the
Transcendentalists.
1842 married Sophia, they settled in Concord,
Mass.
They lived at “Olde Manse,” the ancestral home
of Emerson.
Lived there for 4 years, writing and publishing.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
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1846 published Mosses from an Olde Manse, another
collection of short stories.
This was a bit more successful, but sales were still low.
1846 he took a job at the Salem Custom House as
surveyor.
1846, Daughter Una was born
1849 when the Democrats won the state election, he lost
his job.
1850 he published The Scarlet Letter, -- it was a
commercial success.
This was America’s first symbolic novel.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
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1852, settled at “Wayside” in Concord, Mass. –
this would become his permanent home.
1850-1853 was his most productive literary
period:
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1851 House of Seven Gables
1851 The Snow Image
1852 The Blithedale Romance
1852 The Wonder Book
1852 The Life of Franklin Pierce
1853 Tanglewood Tales
Nathaniel Hawthorne
1853 Pierce names him Consul to England
 1853-1857 Hawthorne lives in Liverpool,
England
 During these years, he travels extensively
through Europe, writing in his journals.
 These journals form the basis of his later
writings
 Died May 18, 1864 while on a walking tour
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Hawthorne’s Philosophy
Most of his writing focuses on Puritans
and colonial New Englanders.
 He was fascinated by the concepts of evil,
moral responsibility, and destiny.
 He gets at these themes by using realistic
and historical settings, characters and
conflicts.
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Hawthorne’s Philosophy
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Notable themes:
The effects of social separation on both the
society and the individual. This separation
can be real (physical or emotional), imagined,
or symbolic.
 He attacks/criticizes a number of human traits
he finds to be damaging to society and the
individual: intolerance, hypocrisy, greed,
cynicism, suspicion, arrogance, and
perfectionism.
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Hawthorne’s Philosophy
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He does not seem to want to create or live
in a world without sin, but he does want
humanity to be free of the damaging
effects of Puritan guilt.