AntiTranscendentalism
Hawthorne and
Melville
The Darker Visions
 Not all authors of the period as
thought-provoking as the
transcendentalists.
 Saw the universe as confusing and
difficult.
 Evil and suffering had to be explained,
accounted for.
 Life was ultimately mysterious.
Significant Authors
 Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)
 He had connections to the
Transcendentalist Club, but instead of
“assert[ing] human freedom,
Hawthorne reminds us of human
limitations.”
 Called his stories “allegories of the
heart”
 “An atmosphere of hidden depravity” in
all his best fiction.
Significant Authors
 Herman Melville (1819-1891)
 Won significant fame and following for
his first five novels – adventure tales of
seafaring.
 Upon publication of Moby-Dick, his
popularity began to decline.
 Last years of his life spent working as a
bureaucrat, bitter and dissatisfied, and
almost forgotten.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
 Descended from a
judge in the Salem
witch trials
 Father, a sea
captain, died when
Hawthorne was four
 Lived in seclusion
for 12 years in
Salem, ‘learning to
write’
Common Themes
 Hawthorne’s work preoccupied with
effects of Puritanism in New England
 Stories often considered allegorical
 Stories express mental conflict
 Described himself as a writer “who has
been burrowing, to his utmost ability,
into the depths of our common nature,
for the purposes of psychological
romance.”
Literary Style
 Hawthorne’s idea of romance versus
novel
Not entirely faithful to reality
Does not portray real people, but does
remain true to human emotion
 Hawthorne’s renown based on
Sense of structure
Moral insight
Mastery of symbolism and allegory
Symbolism: Review
 A symbol is a
concrete item which
represents an
abstract idea.
 Symbols may be
called conventional,
meaning that they
are recognized in
many cultures and
many eras.
Bibliography
 Crews, Frederick C. Introduction. Great Short Works of Hawthorne. By
Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.
 Hart, James D. and Phillip W. Leininger, eds. Oxford Companion to
American Literature. 6E. New York: OUP, 1995.
 “Hawthorne, Nathaniel.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2004. Encyclopædia
Britannica Online School Edition. 7 Dec. 2004 <http://school.eb.com/
eb/article?tocId=3067>.
 “Hawthorne, Nathaniel.” Hart and Leininger. 278-79.
 “Melville, Herman.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2004. Encyclopædia
Britannica Online School Edition. 9 Dec. 2004 <http://school.eb.com/eb/
article?tocId=4764>.
 “Melville, Herman.” Hart and Leininger. 425-26.