English 11 / Unit 2: Romanticism and Transcendentalism
2.6 Hawthorne and the Dark Side of Romanticism
Notes
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) set many stories in Puritan New England and examined sin, guilt, secrecy and hypocrisy.
- The Scarlet Letter (1850): Hester Prynne is punished for adultery and must wear a scarlet A. The minister Arthur Dimmesdale hides his own guilt, and his secret torments him.
- "Young Goodman Brown" (1835): Brown goes into the forest at night and returns doubting the goodness of everyone, even his wife, Faith. The story leaves it unclear if the events were real or a dream.
- Hawthorne uses symbols (the letter A, the forest, the name Faith) and allegory.
- Unlike the optimistic Transcendentalists, Hawthorne emphasized human flaws: this is Dark Romanticism.
- Worked example: the forest in "Young Goodman Brown" symbolizes temptation and the unknown, where hidden evil comes to light.
Practice
Which best describes Hawthorne's view compared with Emerson's?
Emerson was optimistic about human nature; Hawthorne explored its dark side.
In The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale suffers because:
His secret guilt is his torment.
The name "Faith" for Goodman Brown's wife is most likely:
Hawthorne uses the name to represent faith, which Brown loses.
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