Nathaniel Hawthorne, an early-American writer plagued by the sins of his ancestors, channeled the guilt and shame he felt to write novels and short stories that would earn himself a spot among the most-read and most famous American writers of all time. Hawthorne's great-grandfather, a judge in the Salem Witch Trials, inspired ... Letter in 1850. The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne's master opus, "a genuine native romance" (Whipple, 3) full of subtle terror and particularly appealing remains one of the most well-received American novels. The Scarlet Letter, along with The House of Seven Gables and ...

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• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... lived right through the peak of Romanticism, a literary period that derived from the European enlightenment and focused on themes such as nature, the supernatural, human psychology, and heroism ("Romanticism"). Hawthorne's novels and stories demonstrate many of these themes; however he is often considered to be more of a "Dark Romantic" due to the morbid style present through his work. Hawthorne ... ...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... and Melville, written in 1989. Reynolds points out that a subversive literature existed prior to the work of the major authors of the American Renaissance, in the form of sensational crime novels, erotic writings, humor writing, etc. In fact, there were a number of stories circulating which focused upon sexually transgressive clergymen, and this may have been an influence on Hawthorne's portrayal of ... ...

• Word Count: 917
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... in 1850 and when it was first released it did not do well. It was not until later that it became popular and a success as a book. Although Hawthorne wrote many novels, none of them were as successful as "The Scarlet Letter". It was set in Puritan Boston in the early years of a Massachusetts Bay Colony. Many things can affect ... ...

• Word Count: 1003
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... . The novel encourages honesty and emphasizes the point to listen to both sides of an argument, as opposed to following the beliefs of others without any individual judgements. However, the novels greater significance lies within its relation to the modern world. In the novel, Hawthorne points out the rigidity of the Puritan society, and the enormous influence which the ministers and ... ...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... of fruit from the Garden of Eden. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Crucible by Arthur Miller portray characters committing sins throughout the novel. More importantly both novels incorporate the theme of sin as adultery throughout the sequence of the story. John Proctor, a farmer in The Crucible, and Arthur Dimmesdale, a minister in The Scarlet Letter, both have similar ... ...

• Word Count: 689
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate