Themes in the work of Nathaniel hawthorne
Morgan Kopaska-Merkel, Callan Holt, and Jessica Waitzman
Here are several lists, from different sources, of major themes recurring in all Hawthorne's works. None of them includes any examples or very much explanation; perhaps they'll be self-explanatory if you've already read some of Hawthorne's work. Don't blame the literary analysts for not attempting it; Hawthorne himself once admitted,
"I am not quite sure I entirely comprehend my own meaning in some of these blasted allegories." (from issue three of the Cortland Review online at http://cortlandreview.com/issuethree/heath3.htm/ --by the way, a fascinating and illuminating article well worth reading).
Themes mentioned by the author of the Cortland Review article:
portrait from the cover of a Hawthorne
anthology
Major Themes in Hawthorne's Fiction (from a Hawthorne page at
http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap3/hawthorne.html#themes)1. Alienation - a character is in a state of isolation because of self-cause, or societal cause, or a combination of both.
2. Initiation - involves the attempts of an alienated character to get rid of his isolated condition.
3. Problem of Guilt -a character's sense of guilt forced by the Puritanical heritage or by society; also guilt vs. innocence.
4. Pride - Hawthorne treats pride as evil. He illustrates the following aspects of pride in various characters: physical pride (Robin), spiritual pride (Goodman Brown, Ethan Brand), and intellectual pride (Rappaccini).
5. Puritan New England - used as a background and setting in many tales.
6. Italian background - especially in The Marble Faun.
7. Allegory - Hawthorne's writing is allegorical, didactic and moralistic.
8. Other themes include individual vs. society, self-fulfillment vs. accommodation or frustration, hypocrisy vs. integrity, love vs. hate, exploitation vs. hurting, and fate vs. free will.
Themes from an educational site on Hawthorne
from http://www.glasgow-ky.com/fye/ms_fye/hawthorne.htm-humanity's potential for cruelty
picture of Salem from the cover of a
Hawthorne anthology
Back to Main Page
To Next Page: Religion