Nathaniel Hawthorne
(1804–1864)

Despite his admiration for Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne found it impossible to accept the optimistic world view of the Transcendentalists. Haunted by the intolerance and cruelty of his Puritan ancestors, Hawthorne viewed evil as one of the dominant forces in the world. As a result, his works express a gloomy vision of the world, which contrasts sharply with the positive view of the Transcendentalists.

Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts, a descendant of a prominent Puritan family. His ancestors included a judge known for his persecution of the Quakers and a judge who played an important role in the Salem witchcraft trials. Though Hawthorne himself was not a Puritan, he was deeply aware of the actions of his ancestors, and his character was shaped by a sense of inherited guilt.

After graduating form Bowdoin College in Maine in 1825, Hawthorne lived in seclusion in his mother's house in Salem for twelve years, devoting his energy to developing his skills as a writer. Hawthorne's self-imposed isolation lasted until 1837, when he published his first collection of stories, Twice-Told Tales. The book sold poorly, but it established him as a respected writer.

After moving out of his mother's house, Hawthorne lived briefly at Brook Farm, the Transcendentalist commune. Then, in 1842, he married Sophia Peabody and moved to the Old Manse at Concord, Massachusetts, where Emerson had lived. While living in Concord, he became a friend of both Emerson and Thoreau and published a second collection of stories, Mosses from an Old Manse (1846).

When he received a political appointment at the Salem customhouse, he moved back to Salem. A change of administrations forced him out of office, and Hawthorne once again focused on his writing. In 1850 he published The Scarlet Letter, a powerful novel about sin and guilt among early Puritans. The Scarlet Letter was extremely successful, earning Hawthorne international fame. During the next two years, Hawthorne published two more novels, The House of the Seven Gables (1851) and The Blithedale Romance (1852).

When his college friend Franklin Pierce became President, Hawthorne was made the American consul at Liverpool, England. After spending several years in England and Italy, Hawthorne returned to the material for his final novel, The Marble Faun (1860). Four years after the book's publication, Hawthorne died in his sleep while on a walking tour in New Hampshire.

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