Short biography of nathaniel hawthorne
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Nathaniel Hawthorne
(1804-1864)
Who Was Nathaniel Hawthorne?
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American short story writer and novelist. His short stories include "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" (1832), "Roger Malvin's Burial" (1832), "Young Goodman Brown" (1835) and the collection Twice-Told Tales. He is best known for his novels The Scarlet Letter (1850) and The House of the sju Gables (1851). His use of allegory and symbolism make Hawthorne one of the most studied writers.
Early Life
Born on July 4, 1804, in Salem Massachusetts, Hawthorne’s life was steeped in the Puritan legacy. An early ancestor, William Hathorne, first emigrated from England to America in 1630 and settled in Salem, Massachusetts, where he became a judge known for his harsh sentencing. William’s son, John Hathorne, was one of three judges during the Salem Witch Trials in the 1690s. Hawthorne later added a “w” to his name to distance han själv from this side of the family.
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Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts. His family, the Hathornes, had lived in Salem since the seventeenth century. A descendent of the Puritan judges William Hathorne and John Hathorne, a judge who oversaw the Salem Witch Trials, Hawthorne chose to add the “w” to his name when he was in his early twenties. Hawthorne grew up with his mother and uncles in Salem and Raymond, Maine. His father, a ship’s captain, died of yellow fever in 1808. Many of Hawthorne’s childhood poems and stories were concerned with sailing and the sea. Hawthorne suffered temporary paralysis during his youth and studied literature at home with the lexicographer Joseph Emerson Worcester. Hawthorne then attended Bowdoin College from 1821 to 1825, where he wrote his early poems and a novel. He was classmates with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and they developed a friendship later in life. Hawthorne moved back to Salem after graduation.
While best known for hi
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Fig. 1 - Nathaniel Hawthorne is best known for The Scarlet Letter.
Nathaniel Hawthorne: Biography
Nathaniel Hawthorne's psychologically complex and often moralistic writing was very influential in the Dark Romanticism movement.
Dark Romanticism was a subgenre of the Romantic literary movement that was most prominent around 1800-1850 in the United States. Dark Romanticism tends to explore human failings, punishment, and the psychological effects that go along with human imperfection.
Other authors prominent in Dark Romanticism include Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849) and Herman Melville (1819-1891).
Nathaniel Hawthorne: Early Life
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 4, 1804. His family had been in New England since the founding of the colonies, and one of his ancestors had been a judge in the famous Salem Witch Trials; Hawthorne was fascinated by this history and would draw inspiration from it for much of his writing.
Hawthorne's father died