Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804–64, American novelist and short-story writer, b. Salem, Mass., one of the great masters of American fiction. His novels and tales are penetrating explorations of moral and spiritual conflicts.

Early Life and Works

Descended from a prominent Puritan family, Hawthorne was the son of a sea captain who died when Nathaniel was 4 years old. When he was 14 he and his mother moved to a lonely farm in Maine. After attending Bowdoin College (1821–25), he devoted himself to writing. His first novel, Fanshawe (1829), published anonymously, was unsuccessful. His short stories won notice and were collected in Twice-Told Tales (1837; second series, 1842). Unable to support himself by writing and editing, he took a job at the Boston customhouse.

Later, Hawthorne lived at the experimental community Brook Farm Brook Farm, 1841–47, an experimental farm at West Roxbury, Mass., based on cooperative living. Founded by George Ripley , a Unitarian minister, the farm was initially financed by a joint-stock company with 24 shares of stock at $500 per share.
..... Click the link for more information. for about six months, but he did not share the optimism and idealism of the transcendentalist participants (see transcendentalism transcendentalism (trăn'sĕndĕn`təlĭzəm) [Lat.
..... Click the link for more information. ), and he did not feel himself suited to communal life. In 1842 he married Sophia Peabody, a friend and follower of Emerson Emerson, Ralph Waldo (ĕm`ərsən), 1803–82, American poet and essayist, b. Boston.
..... Click the link for more information. , Thoreau Thoreau, Henry David (thôr`ō, thərō`), 1817–62, American author and naturalist, b. Concord, Mass., grad.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Margaret Fuller Fuller, Margaret, 1810–50, American writer and lecturer, b. Cambridgeport (now part of Cambridge), Mass. She was one of the most influential personalities of her day in American literary circles.
..... Click the link for more information. , and they settled in Concord. There he wrote the tales and sketches in the collection Mosses from an Old Manse (1846).

Later Life and Mature Work

In order to earn a livelihood Hawthorne served as surveyor of the port at Salem (1846–49), where he began writing his masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter (1850). Set in 17th-century Puritan New England, the novel delves deeply into the human heart, presenting the problems of moral evil and guilt through allegory and symbolism. It is often considered the first American psychological novel. Hawthorne's next novel, The House of the Seven Gables (1851), takes place in the New England of his own period but nevertheless also deals with the effects of Puritanism.

For a time the Hawthornes lived at "Tanglewood," near Lenox, Mass., where he wrote A Wonder Book (1852), based on Greek mythology, which became a juvenile classic, and Tanglewood Tales (1853), also for children. At this time he befriended his neighbor Herman Melville Melville, Herman, 1819–91, American author, b. New York City, considered one of the great American writers and a major figure in world literature.

Early Life and Works

..... Click the link for more information. , who was one of the first to appreciate Hawthorne's genius. Returning to Concord, Hawthorne completed The Blithedale Romance (1852), a novel based on his Brook Farm experience.

A campaign biography of his college friend Franklin Pierce Pierce, Franklin, 1804–69, 14th President of the United States (1853–57), b. Hillsboro, N.H., grad. Bowdoin College, 1824. Admitted to the bar in 1827, he entered politics as a Jacksonian Democrat, like his father, Benjamin Pierce, who was twice elected
..... Click the link for more information. earned Hawthorne the post of consul at Liverpool (1853–57) after Pierce became President. Hawthorne's stay in England is reflected in the travel sketches of Our Old Home (1863), and a visit to Italy resulted in the novel The Marble Faun (1860). After returning to the United States, he worked on several novels that were never finished. He died during a trip to the White Mts. with Franklin Pierce.

Short Stories

Aside from his importance as a novelist, Hawthorne is justly celebrated as a short-story writer. He helped to establish the American short story as a significant art form with his haunting tales of human loneliness, frustration, hypocrisy, eccentricity, and frailty. Among his most brilliant stories are "The Minister's Black Veil," "Roger Malvin's Burial," "Young Goodman Brown," "Rappaccini's Daughter," "The Great Stone Face," and "Ethan Brand."

Bibliography

See the centenary edition of his complete works, ed. by W. Charvat et al. (16 vol., 1965–85); biographies by his son, Julian Hawthorne (2 vol., 1884, repr. 1968), A. Turner (1980), J. R. Mellow (1980), E. Miller (1991), and B. Wineapple (2003); studies by H. James (1879, repr. 1956), M. D. Bell (1971), N. Baym (1976), T. Stoehr (1978), T. Martin (1983), M. Colacurcio (1984), F. Crews (1989), and E. Miller (1991).

Hawthorne, Nathaniel

Nathaniel Hawthorne, photograph by Mathew Brady.

(credit: The Granger Collection, New York)

(born July 4, 1804, Salem, Mass., U.S.—died May 19, 1864, Plymouth, N.H.) U.S. novelist and short-story writer. Descended from Puritans, he was imbued with a deep moral earnestness. After producing several unexceptional works, he wrote some of his greatest tales, including “My Kinsman, Major Molineux” (1832), “Roger Malvin's Burial” (1832), and “Young Goodman Brown” (1835). His story collections include Twice-Told Tales (1837), Mosses from an Old Manse (1846), and The Snow-Image (1851). He is best known for the novels The Scarlet Letter (1850), a story of adultery set in colonial New England considered to be one of the best American novels, and The House of the Seven Gables (1851), the story of a family that lives under a curse for generations. His later works include The Blithedale Romance (1852) and The Marble Faun (1860). A skilled literary craftsman and a master of allegory and symbolism, he ranks among the greatest American fiction writers.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel (b. Hathorne) (1804–64) writer; born in Salem, Mass. A descendant of a judge in the Salem witch trials, he spent a solitary, bookish childhood with his widowed and reclusive mother. After graduating from Bowdoin College, he returned to Salem and prepared for a writing career with 12 years of solitary study and writing interrupted by summer tours through the Northeast. After privately publishing a novel, Fanshawe (1828), he began publishing stories in the Token and New England Magazine. These original allegories of New England Puritanism, including such classic stories as "The Minister's Black Veil," were collected in Twice-Told Tales (1837). A brief period of paid employment, including the compilation of popular children's works and a stint at the Boston Custom House (1839–41)—thanks to his friend, Senator Franklin Pierce—was followed by a half-year's residence at the transcendentalist community, Brook Farm. In 1842 he married Sophia Amelia Peabody, also a transcendentalist, and they moved to Concord, Mass., where he began a friendship with Henry David Thoreau. Financial pressures forced his return to Salem (1845–49) where he secured another political appointment, this time as surveyor of the port of Salem (1845–49). During these years he continued to publish Puritan tales ("Young Goodman Brown," "The Birthmark"); collections of his stories included Mosses from an Old Manse (1846) and The Snow Image (1851). His dismissal from the surveyorship initiated the brief period of his greatest novels: The Scarlet Letter (1850), The House of the Seven Gables (1851), and The Blithdale Romance (1852). He also wrote two children's classics: A Wonder-Book (1852) and Tanglewood Tales (1853). His campaign biography of Franklin Pierce (1852) was rewarded with the U.S. consulship at Liverpool (1853–58). He then went to live in Italy (1858–59) where he began The Marble Faun, which he published after returning to the U.S.A. in 1860. Back in Concord, he published his last major work, Our Old Home (1863), which drew on his experiences in England, but by then he was becoming ill and disillusioned.