19th century (approx. 1840-1860) literary movement that

focused on the dark side of humanity and the evilness

and guilt of sin

Opposed the optimism and naïve idealism of the transcendentalists

Dwelt on guilt and remorse over past sins

Discontented with current circumstances in America (poverty/unjust and cruel treatment of factory workers, poor educational system, lack of women’s rights, slavery…) so they focused on moral dilemmas and society’s ills

Prose (short stories and novels)

allegory

A story with both a literal and symbolic meaning

Simple, usually short, story that teaches a moral lesson Fable = animals Parable = human beings

Something that has meaning in itself while also standing for something greater• Ex: In “The Minister’s

Black Veil,” there is a literal veil covering his face, but it also represents a deeper idea (a symbolic meaning)

Belief in the potential destructiveness of the human spirit

Belief in individual truths, but no universal truths, and the truths of existence are deceitful and disturbing

Human nature is inherently sinful (original sin) and evil is an active force in the universe

Focus on the man’s uncertainty and limitations in the universe

Nature is vast and incomprehensible, a reflection of the struggle between good and evil

Nature is the creation and possession of God and it cannot be understood by human beings

Transcendentalists: Saw divine goodness

and beauty beneath everyday reality

Embraced the mystical and idealistic elements of Puritan thought

Anti-Transcendentalists: Believed spiritual

truths may be ugly or frightening

Reintroduced the dark side of Puritan beliefs: the idea of Original Sin and the human potential for evil

Both believed that…

True reality is spiritual.

Intuition is superior to logic or reason.

Human events contain signs and symbols of spiritual truths.

Man vs. Nature conflicts bring out the evil in humanity

Raw and morbid diction Focus on the protagonist’s inner

struggles Typical protagonists are haunted

outsiders who are alienated from society

Prevalent use of symbolism

“As the moral gloom of the world overpowers all systematic gaiety, even so was their home of wild mirth made desolate amid the sad forest.”• “The Maypole of

Merrymount “(1836)

Born July 4, 1804 in Salem, MA Father died when Hawthorne was four years old; Sent to private school once his relatives discovered

his storytelling abilities Sent to Bowdoin College in Maine; classmates with

Franklin Pierce (future president) and Henry Longfellow (poet)

Published some early works, which he renounced and later burned

Editor for The American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge in 1836

Later joined the writing circles of Thoreau, Emerson, and Louisa May Alcott.

Influenced by his Puritan family background, belief in the existence of Hell and the Devil, and the theory of determinism

The Scarlet Letter• Novel about sin, guilt, adultery

The House of the Seven Gables• Novel about guilt, atonement;

supernatural, witchcraft

“The Minister’s Black Veil”• Short story about secrets and sin

“All men live enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but it is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life.” --Moby Dick

Born in New York to bankrupt family which fell apart and so he dropped out of school

Began various voyages at sea Became friends with Nathaniel Hawthorne Wrote several different novels about

experiences on the open ocean Eventually “sold out” to write popular

fiction, even though he hated it, in order to make enough money to live on

Moby Dick and other novels not successful at time of publishing, but became widely acclaimed after his death

but he shows passionate empathy for “classes of men who bear the same relation to society at large that the wheels do to a coach.”

“If, at my death, my executors, or more properly my creditors, find any precious manuscripts in my desk, then here I prospectively ascribe all the honor and glory to whaling; for the whale ship was my Yale College and my Harvard.”