Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Biblical Contexts
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UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 5-2009 Nathaniel Hawthorne and his biblical contexts Conor Michael Walsh University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Literature in English, North America Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Repository Citation Walsh, Conor Michael, "Nathaniel Hawthorne and his biblical contexts" (2009). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 1115. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/2493798 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. 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UMI© NATHANIEL, HAWTHORNE AND HIS BIBLICAL CONTEXTS by Conor Michael Walsh Bachelor of Arts California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo 2004 Master of Arts California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo 2005 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in English Department of English College of Liberal Arts Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2009 UMI Number: 3384000 Copyright 2009 by Walsh, Conor Michael INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. 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Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Copyright by Conor Michael Walsh 2009 All Rights Reserved Dissertation Approval IJND The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas March 20th ,20 09 The Dissertation prepared by Conor Michael Walsh Entitled Nathaniel Hawthorne and His RibUral Contexts is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Examination Committee (/hair Dean of the Graduate College Examination Committee Member Examination Co Member Graduate College Faculty Representative 1017-52 ii ABSTRACT Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Biblical Contexts by Conor Michael Walsh Dr. Richard Harp, Dissertation Committee Chair Professor of English University of Nevada, Las Vegas The majority of criticism and scholarship devoted to the fiction of Nathaniel Hawthorne takes for granted the relationship between Hawthorne and the Bible, focusing instead upon theology and philosophy. This work proposes that the Bible was an important and pervasive influence in Hawthorne's fiction. The Bible provides Hawthorne with numerous resources for both his artistic and moral concerns. At a basic level the Bible provides a popular platform that allows Hawthorne to immediately connect with his contemporary audience who were intimately familiar with the Bible. More importantly, though, are the vast examples and perspectives of the human condition and human experience found in the Bible. The historical aspect of the Bible gave depth to Hawthorne's creativity. The moral aspect of the Bible provided themes and ideas around which Hawthorne could craft his own stories. Ultimately the central position of the Bible in the Western tradition offers Hawthorne a touchstone from which to pursue his artistry as did his favorite authors: John Bunyan, John Milton, and Edmund Spenser. This work provides a sustained study of the biblical contexts of Nathaniel Hawthorne's fiction. I begin by establishing Hawthorne's familiarity with and reverence iii for the Bible. I then explore the connections between a selection of his characters and the biblical figures they are named after. Next, I explore the focused parallels and analogues between specific works of fiction and specific figures and events taken from the Bible. Finally, I explore the broader biblical themes derived from the story of the Fall, which captivated Hawthorne and appears throughout numerous of his works. This study provides a focused and substantial exploration of the biblical contexts of Hawthorne's fiction. Through these biblical contexts one can gain additional insight to Hawthorne's artistic and moral concerns as expressed in his writing. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iii PREFACE vi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Hawthorne in a Biblical and Literary Tradition 1 CHAPTER 2 SELECTED CHARACTERS' BIBLICAL NAMESAKES 22 Aminadab in "The Birth-mark" 23 Reuben, Dorcus, and Cyrus in "Roger Malvin's Burial"..... 27 Ethan in "Ethan Brand" .31 Pearl in The Scarlet Letter 38 Hester in The Scarlet Letter 43 Hepzibah in The House of the Seven Gables 49 CHAPTER 3 BIBLICAL ANALOGUES 56 Babylonian Captivity and Boston in "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" 56 Moses in "The Minister's Black Veil" and "The Man of Adamant" 70 Jerusalem and Salem in "Young Goodman Brown" 84 Jael and Judith in Hawthorne's Romances 104 Jericho and Psalm 51 in "Earth's Holocaust" 120 CHAPTER 4 BIBLICAL THEMES: BIBLICAL GARDENS 137 Naboth's Vineyard in The House of the Seven Gables 139 Susanna and Beatrice: Innocence in the Dangerous Garden 146 Edens Lost and Found 152 Conclusion: Moral Growth in the Gardens 181 CHAPTER 5 BIBLICAL THEMES: DEVILISH ADVERSARIES 186 Serpents in the Gardens 189 Devils on Parade 199 Manifest Devils 208 CHAPTER 6 BIBLICAL THEMES: WOMEN OF REDEMPTION 227 The Vindicated Woman 229 Biblical Matriarchs 247 Conclusion: The Gift of Redemption 261 CHAPTER 7 BIBLICAL THEMES: PRODIGAL SONS 267 v CHAPTER 8 CONCLUSION 287 At the Heart of Hawthorne and the Bible 287 Faith in the Inscrutable: "Man's Accidents Are God's Purposes" 301 BIBLIOGRAPHY 315 VITA 323 VI PREFACE The study of Nathaniel Hawthorne's writing and his life has a long history. As a leading figure in American literature he and his works have been studied, criticized, and used in all forms of literary scholarship and theory. Additionally, his presence in the formative years of the early nineteenth century and his familial and authorial connection to the Puritan colonies have made him an equally interesting and valuable subject for studies of various and wide-ranging aspects of American history and culture. This present study seeks to explore the role of the Bible in Hawthorne's fiction - an all too often overlooked aspect of Hawthorne's writing that has roots in both cultural and literary history. The Bible has had a deep and lasting effect upon Hawthorne as a person and, unsurprisingly, can be detected in his fiction as the source of ideas, events, and even characters. However, the subject of the Bible in Hawthorne's fiction has received little critical attention. John Cline's unpublished dissertation, "Hawthorne and the Bible" (Duke University, 1948), focuses on the role of the Bible in Hawthorne's life. In regard to its presence in his fiction, Cline does well to point out similar passages from the Bible that match well with passages in Hawthorne, but he does not give each reference much context, nor does he treat recurrent biblical themes. Ely Stock's dissertation, Studies in Hawthorne's Use of the Bible (Brown University, 1966), focuses on only eight works (Fanshawe, "Alice Doan's Appeal," "The Hollow of the Three Hills," "Roger Malvin's Burial," "My Kinsman, Major Molineux," "Young Goodman Brown," "Earth's vii Holocaust," and "Ethan Brand"). In addition to his rather small sampling, Stock's contextualization of some the stories incorporates numerous biblical passages from both testaments and many books, which, while valid, does not offer a coherent investigation into the role of the Bible in Hawthorne's fiction. Aside from these unpublished dissertations no scholar has devoted any large scale treatment of Hawthorne and the Bible. Perhaps one reason for this is the recognition of Hawthorne's religious nature but the confusion about what religious membership Hawthorne may have claimed. Joseph Schwartz, in his chapter on Hawthorne in American Classics Reconsidered: A Christian Appraisal, argues More than any other writer of his time, Hawthorne was a God-concerned writer. He was innately religious, as his profound reverence for the mysteries of Christianity demonstrates. Many of his stories deal with religious subjects, with prayer, and with man's relation to God. His personal notebooks are filled with many habitual references to God. That he often wrote about religious subjects is not strange, for he felt that religion was not the property of the professional and exclusive religionists. His many caustic barbs were directed at the elements which surrounded a particular denomination; about the subject of religion in general he was deeply respectful. (126-127) His exposure to religions - to Puritanism and Unitarianism in his younger years in Salem and thereabouts; and later in Italy, to Catholicism more fully than ever before - is often discussed and interpreted to various ends. Hyatt Waggoner in his Hawthorne: A Critical viii Study determines that Hawthorne "was a nineteenth century New England liberal Protestant of a rather special sort.