Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel HawthorneRalph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne are similar in their styles of writing. Emerson is 100% Transcendentalist, while Hawthorne is only half-n-half. Nathaniel Hawthorne is haunted by his ancestral past because his ancestors were involved in prosecuting the “witches” in Salem Massachusetts, in the 1690s. He took shame upon himself in order to dispel the family curse. Hawthorne spent several months at Brook Farm, a Utopian community founded by the Transcendentalists. There he met and married one of the biggest advocates of the Transcendental philosophy, Sophia Peabody. Ralph Emerson, on the other hand, was one of the founders of the Transcendental philosophy. He advocated self-reliance, self-trust, and individualism, which formed the basis of the philosophy. While he wrote, he also took up special causes, like the abolition of slavery and reforms in education, labor, suffrage, and women’s rights. Many people doubted his philosophy, because it failed to account for the presence of evil in the world. The 2 authors were similar in some cases, and far apart in others. Three main points compared and contrasted are the themes of the works, both authors Transcendental philosophies, and the setting of each work.
There are many themes in Emerson and Hawthorne’s stories. One common theme that they both share is the theme of individualism. “Insist on yourself; never imitate. (“Maxims of Emerson”, 205)”. This means that you should never put the needs of society over your own needs, because everyone is looking out for only 1 person. A similar but different quote is in Young Goodman Brown.
“On Sabbath Day when the congregation were singing a holy psalm, he could not listen because an anthem of sin rushed loudly upon his eat and drowned all the blessed strain (“Goodman Brown”, 244)”
This is not as concrete as Emerson’s writing, but it has a deeper meaning almost the same. Goodman Brown is the only man who feels guilty for having sinned, but everyone in the church had sinned. Goodman Brown was the only one who could not bring himself to go to church because of his own guilt. He was the only one who stood out from the crowd of sinners and acknowledged that he was a sinner. Another theme in both authors’ works is the struggle between good and evil. Both authors talk about the good and the bad of society. “Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of everyone of it’s members. (“Maxims of Emerson”, 205).” This quote focuses on the evils of society, and the hatred of some members towards the others. It goes back to everyone looking out for themselves, and no one else. Society today is exactly like that. No...
To view the complete essay, you be registered.