Nathaniel Hawthorne
(1804-1864),
with remarkable psychological insight, was one of the first American writers to explore the
veiled motivations of his characters.
Recurrent themes include
the effect of guilt, anxiety and sorrow, the conflicts between innocence and
guilt and the consequences of sin: either as punishment due to lack of humility
or overwhelming pride, or restoration by love and repentance.
With emphasis on allegory
and symbolism he manipulated the atmospheres of and action in his scenes to represent
the passions, emotions and anxieties of his characters and to expose “the truth
of the human heart” that lies concealed beneath every-day life.
Hawthorne’s work remains
notable in that it looked not only to the Puritan genesis of American history,
but also to Puritan styles of rhetoric, creating a distinctive American
literary voice that still haunts readers today.
Nathaniel
Hawthorne's best known works include:
The Scarlet Letter
The House of Seven Gables
Blithedale Romance
Marble Faun
The Black Veil
The Birthmark
Rappaccini's Daughter
Young Goodman Brown
Twice-Told Tales
