Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment Nathanial Hawthorne

MAJOR CHARACTERS BEFORE EXPERIMENT

Mr. Medbourne Was a merchant; get rich quick schemes Now a mere beggar

Colonel Killigrew Was a wild party guy – girls & drinking Now suffers physical ailments

Mr. Gascoigne Was a crooked politician Now obscure

Widow Wycherly Was a beautiful woman & a flirt Now a recluse (scandals)

Dr. Heidegger Was a doctor/magician; engaged to be married Now eccentric and lonely

Allegory A story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for abstract ideas or moral qualities Allegorical characters are often one- dimensional, since they are meant to represent only a particular aspect of human nature Allegories also contain a moral

MAJOR CHARACTERS DURNING EXPERIMENT

Mr. Medbourne Starts thinking about money and schemes to get rich Represents greed

Colonel Killigrew Sings a drinking song; starts eyeing the widow Represents lust and gluttony

Mr. Gascoigne Gives a political speech while muttering and whispering Represents hypocrisy

Widow Wycherly Starts flirtingRepresents vanity

Dr. Heidegger Still trying his experiments on patients Represents pride

SYMBOLS

The rose Was from his fiancé Sylvia, given to him 50 + years ago Symbolic of his devotion and undying love for her During the experiment it blooms & soon wilts Represents that youth is fleeting

The Mirror Shows the characters in their old state, not in their youth Symbolic of the truth – the mirror reflects that they have not changed in terms of their vices even though they’ve been given a second chance

Water Symbol for life, renewal, and cleansing Water makes them youthful again & washes away the sins of their past However, the characters make the same mistakes again (unchanged)

The Skeleton “The skeleton in the closet” Dr. Heidegger has past sins he tries to conceal (the patients’ ghosts in the mirror)

GOTHIC ELEMENTS

Setting Dr. Heidegger’s study –Cobwebs, antiques, skeleton, mirror with ghosts

Supernatural Dr.’s patients’ spirits dwell in the mirror Open magic book Dr. Heidegger’s fiances steps out of the mirror Hippocrates yells, “Forbear” Flower blooms Characters turn young again Fountain of Youth

A ghostly legend Dr. Heidegger’s fiancé, Sylvia Ward, died 55 years ago after taking one of his prescriptions

Foreshadowing/Omens Hippocrates yells, “Forbear” Mirror reflects them as old Dr. Heidegger just watches Patients’ ghosts in the mirror

Highly charged emotional states Dr.’s guilt and grief over “killing” his fiance The men fighting over the widow Their desire for more water

Damsel in distress The men fighting over Widow Wycherly

Archetype Based on the plot of the Fountain of Youth Why elderly people flock to Florida (Malone)

Theme/Moral Human nature is innately prone to flaw and sin –Dr. Heidegger’s hypothesis – if given a second chance, humans will commit the same sins/mistakes Declares he would never drink from the water b/c he has “had much trouble in growing old.” Ironic because he hasn’t changed either – still using others for his experiments

Theme/Moral Our sins cannot be erased, but we can correct our behavior –Water is a symbol of renewal and cleansing –However, the water in the story doesn’t was away their sins –Hawthorne’s message could be that we get second chances and should learn from our mistakes