Nathaniel Hawthorne

(1804-1864)"

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Biography"

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n  Born in Salem, Massachusetts"n  One of his own ancestors a Puritan judge who persecuted

Quakers in 1650; another a judge active in the Salem witch trials of the 1690s"

n  Father died when he was 4"

n  Mother went into a period of mourning that lasted 40 years, until her death"

n  Graduated from Bowdoin College in Maine in 1825"

n  Lived at Brook Farm (experiment in communal living) for 8 months in 1841"

n  Satirized this experience in his novel The Blithedale Romance"

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n  Married Sophia Peabody in 1842"

n  Lived in Concord at the Old Manse (house built by Emerson’s grandfather)"

n  Mixed with Transcendentalists, but couldn’t really fit in"

n  Never shared Emerson’s optimism"

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Works"

n  The Scarlet Letter published in 1850, considered his best work—very popular"

n  The House of Seven Gables published in 1851"

n  The Blithedale Romance in 1852 !

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Famous for…"n  Puritan New England

settings in his work"n  Exploring relationship

between individual and society"

n  Themes of sin, guilt, retribution"

n  Focusing on interior lives of characters"

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Dark Romantics"

n  Shared things in common with the Transcendentalists:"n  Valued intuition and emotion and imagination over logic and reason"n  Saw symbols, spiritual truths in nature"

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Dark Romantics"n  Differed in significant

ways, though:"n  More pessimistic"n  Saw Individuals as

prone to self-destruction (rather than inherently possessing divinity and wisdom)"

n  Viewed nature as more sinister (though still a deeply spiritual force)"

n  Believed that attempts at social change often failed"

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