Nathaniel Hawthorne: American Novelist and Short Story Writer 1804 - 1864

Early Years Born in Salem, MA Father a sea captain Descendant of John Hathorne, Salem Witch Trial Judge Father died in Hawthorne’s fourth year Family moved to Maine

College Years Attended Bowdin College with help from uncles Among his classmates – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Franklin Pierce Read widely, received instruction in composition and the classics Fined for gambling – 50 cents

Years of Seclusion Spent 1825 – 1837 in his mother’s Salem household Period of dreamlike isolation and solitude “I have not lived, but only dreamed about living.” Contributed short stories to magazines, none drawing major attention

Out of the “Haunted Chamber” and Into the World Love of his Salem neighbor, Sophia Peabody, brought him back into the world Went to work at Boston Custom House in 1838 Spent part of 1841 in Brook Farm community, hoping to find a home for Sophia and himself

Marriage Couple finally married July 9, 1842 Left for Concord and their new home, Old Manse Three idyllic years in old house where only local clergy had previously lived

Old Manse “When I first saw the room, its walls were blackened with the smoke of unnumbered years, and made still blacker by the grim prints of Puritan ministers.” Hawthorne describing his study.

One Plus One = Five The Hawthornes had three children. The first child, named Una, a reference to The Faerie Queen (much to the displeasure of family members), was born March 3, 1844. Son Julian described by Hawthorne in a letter to his sister as “a small troglodyte . . . who claimed to be your nephew,” was born June 22, 1846. Daughter Rose, Hawthorne’s “autumnal flower,” was born in May of 1851.

Salem Custom House Uncertain finances forced Hawthorne to take a political appointment from his old friend, Franklin Pierce. Hawthorne describes his unhappy years in Salem at the Custom House in the introductory chapter of The Scarlet Letter.

The Custom House On ascending the Custom House stairs you could discern a row of venerable figures, often asleep, tilted back on chairs and snoring loudly. These are the Custom House officers. . . . Here is where you might find me with my elbow on the desk and my eyes wandering up and down the columns of the morning paper.

Middle Years Turned out of office, a victim of the spoils system, Hawthorne turned to writing The Scarlet Letter (1850). One of the first mass-produced books in America. Sold 2,500 copies in ten days and earned Hawthorne $1,500 over ten years.

The Scarlet Letter A story of the effect of sin and guilt in the lives of its three major characters – Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, and Arthur Dimmesdale. Hawthorne was fascinated by the effects of concealed sin, the dark and secret side of life, and souls wracked by guilt. D. H. Lawrence called it “the most perfect work of American imagination.”

Continued Success Soon after The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne published The House of the Seven Gables (1851), based on a legend of a curse pronounced on Hawthorne’s family by a woman condemned during the Salem Witch Trials. Hawthorne’s Blithedale Romance (1852) explores utopian living based on his Brook Farm experience.

Later Years In 1853 Franklin Pierce became President and appointed Hawthorne consul in Liverpool, England. Spent four years in England, then a year and a half in Italy writing The Marble Faun (1860), a story exploring the conflict between innocence and guilt. Returned to Concord. Died May 19, 1964, on a trip to the mountains with his old friend, Franklin Pierce.

Critical Reviews Herman Melville wrote that Hawthorne’s stories revealed a dark side “shrouded in blackness, ten times black.” Evert Augustus Duyckinck said that “of the American writers destined to live, [Hawthorne] is the most original, the one least indebted to foreign models or literary precedents of any kind.”