Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Hathorne)
Literature & Poetry • Historical Archive • 🇺🇸 United States • 11 views

Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Hathorne) 🇺🇸

Nathaniel Hawthorne (Known as "Master of Dark Romanticism / Author of The Scarlet Letter")
American Novelist, Dark Romantic Short Story Writer, Diplomat
Born 4 July 1804 🇺🇸 Salem (Massachusetts), United States
Passed Away 19 May 1864 Plymouth (New Hampshire), United States
Lifespan 59 years old
11 views
Notice / Correction
"No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true. (The Scarlet Letter)."

Archival Overview

Preeminent figure of American Dark Romanticism haunted by his Puritan ancestors' role in the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, who explored guilt, sin, and moral hypocrisy in The Scarlet Letter (Hester Prynne) and The House of the Seven Gables.

Biographical Record

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) was born in Salem, Massachusetts; haunted by his great-great-grandfather John Hathorne—the only judge in the 1692 Salem Witch Trials who never repented of condemning innocent women to hang—Nathaniel added a 'w' to his surname to dissociate himself from the family guilt. Educated at Bowdoin College alongside Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and future President Franklin Pierce, Hawthorne spent twelve solitary years mastering the craft of short fiction.

In 1850, he published The Scarlet Letter, the story of Hester Prynne, condemned by Puritan elders to wear a scarlet 'A' (for adulteress) upon her breast while raising her child Pearl in quiet moral defiance. Exploring hereditary curses and psychological hypocrisy, Hawthorne deeply influenced Herman Melville, who famously dedicated Moby-Dick to him 'in admiration for his genius'.

Key Life Milestones

16 March 1850 CE

Publication of The Scarlet Letter

Published his masterpiece in Boston, establishing American psychological romance and Hester Prynne's defiance.

1851 CE

Publication of The House of the Seven Gables

Published his gothic romance on ancestral guilt, witch trials, and expiation in old New England.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (Authors' Ridge, Concord)
Plymouth (New Hampshire), United States
GPS: 42.4658, -71.3469
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