Blended Frameworks in the Works of Poe, Hawthorne, and Dickinson

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA The Last Things and the Gothic in Nineteenth-Century American Literature: Blended Frameworks in the Works of Poe, Hawthorne, and Dickinson A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the Department of English School of Arts and Sciences Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy ã Copyright All Rights Reserved By Ashley Anne Kniss Washington, D.C. 2017 The Last Things and the Gothic in Nineteenth-Century American Literature: Blended Frameworks in the Works of Poe, Hawthorne, and Dickinson Ashley Anne Kniss, Ph.D. Director: Glen Johnson, Ph.D. Critics have long acknowledged the prevalence of the Gothic mode in American literature as well as a standard set of themes and topics that appear repeatedly in the genre, such as the legacy of the Puritan past, the terrors of the frontier, and race. However, few scholars have recognized the importance of Apocalypse in American Gothic literature. Featuring Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Emily Dickinson as representative authors, this dissertation argues that the biblical Apocalypse is a primary subject of American Gothic literature during the early to mid-nineteenth century and beyond, and that authors of the era appropriated the Gothic mode as a way of expressing America’s collective cultural anxieties about national identity. These authors’ works are contextualized within their historical moment through a study of primary documents like letters, journals, personal libraries, historical periodicals, and other cultural influences. By framing biblical subject matter as Gothic, these authors contradict the sentimental and mainstream religious narrative of their contemporary society. Their pairing of Gothic and apocalyptic frameworks also suggests that the definition of American Gothic should be broadened to include Apocalypse in its range of featured subjects, and that this narrative pairing is peculiarly American. Further inquiry might provide both a historical record of America’s preoccupation, even obsession, with its role in the Apocalypse, and a record of the collective fears of a nation that yearns for an impossible ideal—a city on a hill, a government founded on principles of equality and freedom, and a nation divinely delivered from the burden and horrors of history. The American Gothic Apocalypse may be a unique vehicle for the nation—authors and audiences alike—to process the failure of these ideals and to explore the human weaknesses and inner demons that prevented their achievement. This dissertation by Ashley Anne Kniss fulfills the dissertation requirement for the doctoral degree in English approved by Glen Johnson, Ph.D., as Director, and by Joseph Sendry, Ph.D., and Rosemary Winslow, Ph.D. as Readers. ___________________________________________________ Glen Johnson, Ph.D., Director ___________________________________________________ Joseph Sendry, Ph.D., Reader ___________________________________________________ Rosemary Winslow, Ph.D., Reader ii Dedication For Michael, whose love, support, and patience made this possible. For my parents, June and Tony, who instilled in me a love of good books. For Rosalyn and Fred, who always gave good advice and lent sympathetic ears. And for Billy, my ever-faithful, four-legged writing companion. iii Acknowledgments I would like to thank Dr. Glen Johnson for his exceptional guidance over the last three years. His expertise in both the literature and history of the nineteenth century was indispensable and often allowed me to see my argument within contexts I had not previously considered. In addition, his patient, timely, and careful feedback on my chapter drafts not only made for a better product, but helped me grow as a writer and scholar. I would also like to thank Dr. Rosemary Winslow and Dr. Joseph Sendry for serving on my committee. I took several seminar classes with Dr. Winslow, who first introduced me to the delightful and frustrating ambiguities in Emily Dickinson’s poetry. It was also her seminar on Whitman and Dickinson that generated the initial germ for this dissertation almost a decade ago. Dr. Sendry’s seminar on Apocalypse also contributed to the conception of this project, sparking my interest in the connection between Apocalypse and literature. iv Chapter I Introduction: The Gothic Apocalypse During the first half of the nineteenth-century, religious fervor about the Apocalypse and “The Last Things”—death, judgment, Heaven, and Hell—as well as beliefs about the Resurrection of the dead and Christ’s Second Coming were pillars of American identity. Popular interest in these subjects was widespread, and contemporary magazines and newspapers often included religious references concerning death, Resurrection, and the afterlife. “The Last Things” usually refers to the doctrine of the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. However, in this study the term will also apply to the individual experience of the end of life and the end of time, which encompasses four phases: death, the Intermediate State, Resurrection, and the Second Coming. The Intermediate State—the space of time between death and the Resurrection at the time of the Second Coming—and the fate of the body and soul during this time were subjects of widespread debate. Specifically, theologians, as well as the public, often speculated about whether the soul slept, ascended to Heaven, or remained somehow conscious with the body in the grave. Concerns about the Last Things also centered on the nature of the Second Coming itself, and whether it would coincide with an Apocalypse of darkness and violence, a vision described in both the Old Testament and the New, or instead resemble the optimistic Millennialism of human progress and peace depicted in the closing chapters of Revelation. Popular writing such as consolation verse, hymns, and religious literature and tracts largely portrayed the more positive narrative, featuring a benevolent God who welcomes the spirits of the dead into Heaven where they reunite with loved ones and enjoy the other delights of 1 2 Paradise. These positive narratives sometimes depicted the dead proceeding to Heaven immediately, or alternatively, sleeping peacefully while both the body and soul awaited the Second Coming. Regardless, the Resurrection was commonly depicted as joyous, blissful, and even sublime, as the dead who are saved in Christ rise from their graves on the Last Day and ascend to Heaven to reap the reward of the faithful. For the most part, these mainstream narratives gloss over the time between death and Resurrection. The dead sleep or go to a state of provisional blessedness, or proceed immediately to Heaven in spirit form while the body awaits Resurrection. These positive narratives also largely ignore the apocalyptic destruction of the Last Day, focusing instead on the joyful Resurrection of the saved rather than the doomed fates of the non-Elect and of the earth. Finally, these narratives feature a linear timeline, in which humanity participates in the great arc of history that moves progressively toward culmination, either by the grace of God or through humanity’s endeavors to achieve worldwide conversion and perfectibility. This cultural backdrop greatly influenced American writers and poets of the period. Despite the positive outlook of mainstream religious culture, some of America’s greatest authors explore an alternative narrative by telling the story of the non-Elect, interrogating the justness of earth’s annihilation, questioning the linear progression of time toward culmination, addressing the reality of the decaying corpse, and depicting the possibility of souls going conscious to the grave with their rotting corpses to await final judgment in terrifying isolation. This transgressive and subversive narrative was often expressed through the Gothic mode. Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Emily Dickinson, among others, appropriated elements of the Gothic 3 in a variety of ways to articulate America’s underlying anxiety about the Last Things and to question the optimism of mainstream religious thought. While it might seem counterintuitive to link the sensationalistic Gothic genre with Christian doctrine on death and Resurrection, Gothic conventions, with their ability to elicit dread, apprehension, and suspense, effectively reflected and took advantage of growing anxieties about contemporary eschatology. As Teresa Goddu remarked, the Gothic genre provides a “primary means of speaking the unspeakable in American literature” (Goddu, Gothic America 10). Consistent with Goddu’s observation, Gothic literature of the time questioned the guarantee of an immediate spiritual ascension following death, God’s benevolence, and the narrative of teleological design in which humanity plays a vital role in the culmination of God’s divine plan to institute the New Jerusalem. While authors like Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman embraced optimistic spiritualism, writers like Poe, Hawthorne, and Dickinson resisted, exploring instead the darker implications of nineteenth-century discourse on The Last Things. This project seeks to explore why the biblical Apocalypse and the religious subject matter surrounding the Last Things was frequently engaged by some of the most important literary figures of the mid- nineteenth century. The primary contention is that the literary narratives that incorporate Apocalypse during this time period are almost always Gothic in nature and incorporate the conventions and

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