Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter Life of Nathaniel

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Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter

Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne • He was born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 4,

Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne • He was born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 4, 1804 and died on the night of May 18, 1864. • Judge John Hathorne was his great, great grandfather (one of the judges during the Salem witchcraft trials; this shamed Nathaniel) • Father (Nathaniel Hathorne) was a Salem sea captain, died when Nathaniel was four years old and this led to feelings of abandonment • Mother (Elizabeth Clarke Manning Hathorne) lived in a state of grief and seclusion after she lost her husband • His family heritage, name, and guilt had a huge influence on his life and writings (He added a “W” to his last name. )

 • When he was a child he developed a great love of reading

• When he was a child he developed a great love of reading and nature • He moved to Maine with his mother and siblings after the death of his father • He attended college at Bowdoin College in Maine from 1821 -1825 (his uncles paid for his education) • After graduation, he lived for 12 years in solitude and spent most of his time writing • 1830 -1837 Publishes many short stories (tales) in magazines • 1839 is engaged to Sophia Peabody • 1841 lived at Brook Farm (utopian Transcendentalist community) for 7 months before leaving because he had different beliefs

 • After he leaves Brook Farm, he meets Emerson and Thoreau • Sophia

• After he leaves Brook Farm, he meets Emerson and Thoreau • Sophia and Nathaniel get married in 1842 and later have three children • 1846 -1849 worked at the Salem Custom House as a surveyor (This is where The Scarlet Letter story was “found”. ) • 1850 published The Scarlet Letter • Summer of 1850 he meets and becomes friends with Herman Melville • 1851 publishes The House of the Seven Gables • 1853 -1857 appointed to U. S. consul at Liverpool (England) by college friend and then president Franklin Pierce • Continued to publish some writings, but struggles to work on his fiction as his health declined • Died in May 1864 in New Hampshire while on a trip with Franklin Pierce

The Scarlet Letter • Published in 1850 • America in 1850 s was conservative,

The Scarlet Letter • Published in 1850 • America in 1850 s was conservative, especially for women • Women’s dresses touched the ground • Readers in Hawthorne’s age thought the novel was too shocking • Set in Boston (mid 1600 s) • Importance of the Custom House • Puritan American values very important to the novel (Hawthorne’s ancestry) • Main themes in the novel: alienation, isolation, hypocrisy, pride, guilt, sin

Main Characters in The Scarlet Letter • • Hester Prynne Arthur Dimmesdale Roger Chillingworth

Main Characters in The Scarlet Letter • • Hester Prynne Arthur Dimmesdale Roger Chillingworth Pearl