Lecture 5 Hawthorne and Melville.doc

Lecture 5 Hawthorne and Melville I. Hawthorne (1804—1864) 1. Works Two collections of short stories: Twice-told Tales + Mosses from an Old Manse Novels: The Scarlet Letter ----- His masterpiece, which established him as the Leading American native novelist of the 19th century The House of the Seven Gables The Blithedale Romance The Marble Faun Short stories ------ Young Goodman Brown The Minister’s Black Veil The Birth mark 2. Hawthorne’s points of view (Black Vision of Life) All his life, Hawthorne seems to be haunted by his sense of sin and evil in life. Most of his works deal with evil one way or another. A. Evil exists in the human heart (“Earthy Holocaust”). Everyone possesses some evil secret (“Young Goodman Brown”). Evil seems to be man’s birthmark, and everyone seems to cover up his innermost evil (“The Minister’s Black Veil”) B. whenever there is sin, there is punishment. Sin or evil can be passed from generation from generation. C. Evil educates. Achievement is possibly only “under the impact of and by engagement with evil.” D One source of evil is overweening intellect. (The tension between the head and the heart) Hawthorne’s intellectual characters are usually villains, dreadful because devoid of fellow feelings. (Hollingsworth, Chillingworth, Dr. Rappaccini – Hawthorne’s negative attitude toward science is reflected in his writings and characterizations). 3. Style He is a typical romantic writer. a. Hawthorne is master of symbolism. Symbol serves as a weapon to attack reality, and it can be found everywhere in his writing. b. He is good at exploring the complexity of human psychology. He was anatomist of the interior of the heart. c. There is strong fairy-tale element in his stories. The use of supernatural is mixed with the actual. d. He uses ambiguity to keep the reader in the world of uncertainty (multiple points of view) e. the structure is compact and well-woven, the language is refined, flowing, musical with p