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Unit 9 Hawthorne the Novelist : a Review of His Literary Career

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Unit 9 Hawthorne the Novelist : a Review of His Literary Career UNIT 9 HAWTHORNE THE NOVELIST : A REVIEW OF HIS LITERARY CAREER I .I lbl e 9. Objectives 9 1 Introduction 9 2 Nathaniel Hawthorne 9.2.1 Lineage 9.2.2 Early Years 9.2.3 College years 9.2.4 Literary Apprenticeship 9.2.5 Marriage and The Scarlet lxtter 9.2.6 European Years 9.2.7' Last Years Let TJs Sum Up 9.4 Answers to Exercises 9.0 OBJECTIVES 9.2.1 Lineage The Hawthorne family was one of those families in England that migrated to America in the early 17th Century In 1630 or thereabouts, William Hathorne - the spelling was later changed to Hawthorne by Nathaniel. after his graduation - left England for Dorchester in Boston and six years later moved to Salem In 1646, he became the first speaker of the House of Delegates in the Massachusetts colony. His eldest son, John. was one of the three judges in the famous Salem Withcraft trials of 1642 One of the accused women pronounced a curse on the family. which was to haunt the future generations. Nathan~el- father was a sea-captain and represented the fifth generahon of the Hathornes in Salem Hawthorne's mother came from a tamily called the Mannings. that was equally anclent. but being in trade. did not form a part of the Salem aristocracy. Hawthorne was born on July 4. 1804 at Salem 9.2.2 Early years When Nathaniel was four. his father died of yellow fever. torcing the family to move intu the Mannings's home. The mother supported the children on her share in the large landholdings near Portland (in present Maine). Though the family spent most of ~tstime in Salem and Maine, sometimes the mother made her home in the north, where, as Hawthorne later admitted, he acquired his "cursed habits of solitutde" and his love of unshackled freedom. At the age of nine, he had a foot-injury, which lamed him for some tlme, and which also led to his love of reading Both the Manning homes, in Salem and in Mane, were treasure-troves of books. Nathaniel loved especially the works of Spenser. Bunyan and Shakespeare. 'The Influence of the first two explains the strong element of allegory and Christian symbolism in Hawthorne's work. Later on, he came under the influence of the histoncal novels of Sir Walter Scott. Scott's recreation of Scottish history in his novels must have Influenced Hawthorne in recreating Puritan New England in his tales as well as works like The Scarlet Letter By 1821. it appears that Hawthorne had set his heart on becoming a writer He wrote to his mother "What do you think of becoming an Author and relying for support upon my pen? .... How proud you would tee1 to see my works prased by the reviewers. ..But Authors are always poor Devils and therefore Satan may take them". Fortunately for Nathaniel, the Mannings decided to encourage his ambition 9.2.3 College Years From 1821 to 1825. Hawthorne attended Bowdoin College in Maine There be forged friendships which were to last his lifetime. Horatlo Bridge a classmate of Nathaniel, wlw to subsidize the publication of Twice - Told Tales (1837). Similarly. Franklin Pierce. who was later on t become the 14th President of the I1.S.. gave him the Consulship at Liverpool in England where Hawthorne was to stay from 1853 to 1858. Although Hawthorne had started writing whiie at Bowdoin, it was not till 1828. after 01s return to Salem, that the first evldence came out with the publication at his own expense L). his novel Fanshawe and that, too, anonymously. In fact, he never acknowledged nu h~slifetime the authorship of this book 9.2.4 . Literary Apprenticeship The penod in Hawthorne's life from 1825 when he graduated to 1839 when nc: assumed his duties in the Boston custom house is known as the "silent years" I)unnp this time which he mostly spent at Salem. he led a secluded life, becoming aln~tista wcid. recluse It was a period o? literary apprenticeship. He read voraciously as the records of the Salem Athenaeum, a public library, show. His interest lay chiefly in old histoncal records. The reading was supplemented by his ggular summer travels kt vanous oms 01 New England. where he closely observed contemporary life The result of this reading and observat~oi~was a steady sueam of stones bat began coming out from Hawthorne's pen from 1830 onwards. tiowever. in those days. publishers were not willing to take the risk of launching a book by a new or unknown author. Consequently. collections of short stories like Seven rules of MY Native Land 6 I and PrdZlincial Tales had to die a premature death. Hawthorne destroyed most of the Hawthorne the Novelist : stories fromthose collections. The lucky ones to escape destruction were "The Gentle Review of thir Litemry Care Boy" (183 I), and ''Roger Malvin's Burial' ' (1822). Fortunately, Hawthorne found less dlfi?culty in getting individual stories and essays published in journals and periodicals. At long last in 1837, he was able to get his first collection of stories published, called Twi~e-ToldTales. thanks mainly to his friends from Bowdoin. Horatio Bridge, as told earliex, subsidized the publication costs and Longfellow, a classmate though not an intimai.5 friend, arranged and sponsored the critical reception of the book. Betweem 1835 anmd 1842, Hawqrne's literary production showed a downward curve. The reason was that he had fallen in bve with Sophia Peabody, the youngest of the famous Peabody :?i,stersof Salem. Since the earnings from his writings were not sufficient to support his wife,. Hawthorne turned cbsomething more paying than writing. He sought a job as measurer in heBoston ~'bstom&use, and, thanks to his friends in rile Democratic party, go>.&. He worked in this capacity for two years. but did not find the job to his liking. In 1&40, he resigned from thli post. Hawthorne then moved on with his fiancee to Brook Farm at West Boxbury, Massachusetts. Brook Fmwas a utopain experiment in community living by George Ripley and other Transcendentalist philosophers Hawthorne's intentions seem to be mure of a pragmatic nature than of philosophical commitment. For in November 1841 he ltfkthe place, with the material in his mind for his novel The Blishedale Romance (1852). Hawthorne married Sophia Peabody on July 9, 1842 and went to live in the old Manse at Concord, which eminent men of letters like Emerson and Alcott hall made into a literary colony Form his stay at Concord came out Hawthorne's wark Afosfes From an Old Manse (1846). The essay introductory to this work, gives an account of the Eden - like life of ale newly married couple. But life at Concord had its harsher ~idealso, especially when the: money that came from his writing proved woefully inadequatcb. Aad when his daughter;. Una, was born, Hawtborne sought the security of a governmen; job with a steadier income. (Keep the name of Hawthorne's daughter in mind, Una. ' You will require 11 when Hester Prynne's daughter, Pearl. will be discussed later on). ,?rice ag@n at the Salem Custom House. (Again, an important detail for you. Remember, tile story of 7'he S~zarletLRlter comes from the Surveyor of the Salem Custom House). The Old Custom House, Salem When Hawthc)rne lost his job two years later, he retired to Salem home Financially ''e w* in dire mi@+.He was able to pull on mainly on the meagre \avings of ~~~l,i~ancl 'In the chmt~of his fnends. TWOfamily events added to his troubles Firstly, there was mood of exasperation, and frustration that Hawthorne turned to the writing c ,[ The sScTlet over. Hawth~rne'sdismissal from the Salem Custom House had becoo. 4ea national controvers~and he p~dhis political enemies back in 'the essay 'The r a .ustom HowsP prefixed to The Scarlet Letter which was published in 1850 The Scarlet Letter brought Hawthorne fame but not much fort!- was most satisfying and encouraging Alrliough some peop1 me. Its cnUcal:recepUon gloom and pessimism of the novel, its explicit reference tr .e did not quite relish the re arks to the Salem Custom House, the book was hai]i ,adultery and to ,the snide yet produced by an American. The Years 1850-185 1 were pleasant and productil . Seven Gables (185 1), another well-known no!! ,e. During this tirn~~ameThe House of friendship with another writer Heman Melo' 21 of Hawthorne. Hdestablished a warm , dle (1819-91) who dsdicated his famous novel Moby Dick (1851) to Hawthorne. ~~~p for Girls and Boys . In 1852, Hawho. ,kr notable work of this period is A Wonder Book Wonder ~~~k was followed by Tar me settled once again inhis Concord home. A , Tales and The B[ifheda,, !::.:nap b Wood Tales (1853). heSnow Ima.!?ev Twice Told .re 9.2.6 European Year ./" / d At this time, Hawthorne ,/, friend ~~~kli~piercr .. wri addition to his literary works, also wrote a biography of his o/Franklin pierce his contribution to the Residential election ciunpaign. neLVe him the ~~~~~~l , ' &%me out in 1852. Pierce generously repaid his friend by appointing exalted at Llverpool, England. Hawthorne spent five years in England, in that obtained ma+ "(1'853-1858). From 1858 :to 1869. Hawthorne was in Italy, where he American *eri?~for his last completed novel The Marble Faun (1860) the story of exPr.utriate dtists In Komc 9.2 ' 7 I AS^ Years After r&oingback from Italy to England for a short stay, Hawthorne returned to America in the F',ummer of 1860.
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