1. Anti-Transcendentalism
19th century (approx ) literary movement that focused on the dark side of humanity and the evilness and guilt of sin

2. Reasons / Causes
Opposed the optimism and naïve idealism of the transcendentalists
Dwelt on guilt and remorse over past sins
Discontented with current circumstances in America (poverty/unjust and cruel treatment of factory workers, poor educational system, lack of women’s rights, slavery…) so they focused on moral dilemmas and society’s ills

3. Prose (short stories and novels)
Literary Works
Prose (short stories and novels)
allegory

4. Allegory Parable A story with both a literal and symbolic meaning
Simple, usually short, story that teaches a moral lesson
Fable = animals
Parable = human beings

5. Key ideas / Philosophies
Belief in the potential destructiveness of the human spirit
Belief in individual truths and the truths of existence are deceitful and disturbing
Human nature is inherently sinful (original sin) and evil is an active force in the universe
Focus on the man’s uncertainty and limitations in the universe

6. View of Nature
Nature is vast and incomprehensible, a reflection of the struggle between good and evil
Nature is the creation and possession of God and it cannot be understood by human beings

7. Major differences between the Transcendentalists and Anti-Transcendentalists
Saw divine goodness and beauty beneath everyday reality
Embraced the mystical and idealistic elements of Puritan thought
Anti-Transcendentalists:
Believed spiritual truths may be ugly or frightening
Reintroduced the dark side of Puritan beliefs: the idea of Original Sin and the human potential for evil

8. Major Similarities between Transcendentalists and Anti- Transcendentalists
Both believed that…
True reality is spiritual.
Intuition is superior to logic or reason.
Human events contain signs and symbols of spiritual truths.

9. Writing Style Man vs. Nature conflicts bring out the evil in humanity
Raw and morbid diction
Focus on the protagonist’s inner struggles
Typical protagonists are haunted outsiders who are alienated from society
Prevalent use of symbolism

10. Nathaniel Hawthorne
“As the moral gloom of the world overpowers all systematic gaiety, even so was their home of wild mirth made desolate amid the sad forest.”
“The Maypole of Merrymount “(1836)

11. Nathaniel Hawthorne 1804-1864 Born July 4, 1804 in Salem, MA
Father died when Hawthorne was four years old;
Sent to private school once his relatives discovered his storytelling abilities
Sent to Bowdoin College in Maine; classmates with Franklin Pierce (future president) and Henry Longfellow (poet)
Published some early works, which he renounced and later burned
Editor for The American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge in 1836
Later joined the writing circles of Thoreau, Emerson, and Louisa May Alcott.
Influenced by his Puritan family background, belief in the existence of Hell and the Devil, and the theory of determinism

12. Portrait of Nathaniel Hawthorne by Charles Osgood, 1841 (Peabody Essex Museum)

13. Some of Hawthorne’s Literature
The Scarlet Letter
Novel about sin, guilt, adultery
The House of the Seven Gables
Novel about guilt, atonement; supernatural, witchcraft
“The Minister’s Black Veil”
Short story about secrets and sin