Author: Brenda Wineapple
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0307808661
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 530
Book Description
Handsome, reserved, almost frighteningly aloof until he was approached, then playful, cordial, Nathaniel Hawthorne was as mercurial and double-edged as his writing. “Deep as Dante,” Herman Melville said. Hawthorne himself declared that he was not “one of those supremely hospitable people who serve up their own hearts, delicately fried, with brain sauce, as a tidbit” for the public. Yet those who knew him best often took the opposite position. “He always puts himself in his books,” said his sister-in-law Mary Mann, “he cannot help it.” His life, like his work, was extraordinary, a play of light and shadow. In this major new biography of Hawthorne, the first in more than a decade, Brenda Wineapple, acclaimed biographer of Janet Flanner and Gertrude and Leo Stein (“Luminous”–Richard Howard), brings him brilliantly alive: an exquisite writer who shoveled dung in an attempt to found a new utopia at Brook Farm and then excoriated the community (or his attraction to it) in caustic satire; the confidant of Franklin Pierce, fourteenth president of the United States and arguably one of its worst; friend to Emerson and Thoreau and Melville who, unlike them, made fun of Abraham Lincoln and who, also unlike them, wrote compellingly of women, deeply identifying with them–he was the first major American writer to create erotic female characters. Those vibrant, independent women continue to haunt the imagination, although Hawthorne often punishes, humiliates, or kills them, as if exorcising that which enthralls. Here is the man rooted in Salem, Massachusetts, of an old pre-Revolutionary family, reared partly in the wilds of western Maine, then schooled along with Longfellow at Bowdoin College. Here are his idyllic marriage to the youngest and prettiest of the Peabody sisters and his longtime friendships, including with Margaret Fuller, the notorious feminist writer and intellectual. Here too is Hawthorne at the end of his days, revered as a genius, but considered as well to be an embarrassing puzzle by the Boston intelligentsia, isolated by fiercely held political loyalties that placed him against the Civil War and the currents of his time. Brenda Wineapple navigates the high tides and chill undercurrents of Hawthorne’s fascinating life and work with clarity, nuance, and insight. The novels and tales, the incidental writings, travel notes and children’s books, letters and diaries reverberate in this biography, which both charts and protects the dark unknowable core that is quintessentially Hawthorne. In him, the quest of his generation for an authentically American voice bears disquieting fruit.
Hawthorne
Author: Brenda Wineapple
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0307808661
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 530
Book Description
Handsome, reserved, almost frighteningly aloof until he was approached, then playful, cordial, Nathaniel Hawthorne was as mercurial and double-edged as his writing. “Deep as Dante,” Herman Melville said. Hawthorne himself declared that he was not “one of those supremely hospitable people who serve up their own hearts, delicately fried, with brain sauce, as a tidbit” for the public. Yet those who knew him best often took the opposite position. “He always puts himself in his books,” said his sister-in-law Mary Mann, “he cannot help it.” His life, like his work, was extraordinary, a play of light and shadow. In this major new biography of Hawthorne, the first in more than a decade, Brenda Wineapple, acclaimed biographer of Janet Flanner and Gertrude and Leo Stein (“Luminous”–Richard Howard), brings him brilliantly alive: an exquisite writer who shoveled dung in an attempt to found a new utopia at Brook Farm and then excoriated the community (or his attraction to it) in caustic satire; the confidant of Franklin Pierce, fourteenth president of the United States and arguably one of its worst; friend to Emerson and Thoreau and Melville who, unlike them, made fun of Abraham Lincoln and who, also unlike them, wrote compellingly of women, deeply identifying with them–he was the first major American writer to create erotic female characters. Those vibrant, independent women continue to haunt the imagination, although Hawthorne often punishes, humiliates, or kills them, as if exorcising that which enthralls. Here is the man rooted in Salem, Massachusetts, of an old pre-Revolutionary family, reared partly in the wilds of western Maine, then schooled along with Longfellow at Bowdoin College. Here are his idyllic marriage to the youngest and prettiest of the Peabody sisters and his longtime friendships, including with Margaret Fuller, the notorious feminist writer and intellectual. Here too is Hawthorne at the end of his days, revered as a genius, but considered as well to be an embarrassing puzzle by the Boston intelligentsia, isolated by fiercely held political loyalties that placed him against the Civil War and the currents of his time. Brenda Wineapple navigates the high tides and chill undercurrents of Hawthorne’s fascinating life and work with clarity, nuance, and insight. The novels and tales, the incidental writings, travel notes and children’s books, letters and diaries reverberate in this biography, which both charts and protects the dark unknowable core that is quintessentially Hawthorne. In him, the quest of his generation for an authentically American voice bears disquieting fruit.
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0307808661
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 530
Book Description
Handsome, reserved, almost frighteningly aloof until he was approached, then playful, cordial, Nathaniel Hawthorne was as mercurial and double-edged as his writing. “Deep as Dante,” Herman Melville said. Hawthorne himself declared that he was not “one of those supremely hospitable people who serve up their own hearts, delicately fried, with brain sauce, as a tidbit” for the public. Yet those who knew him best often took the opposite position. “He always puts himself in his books,” said his sister-in-law Mary Mann, “he cannot help it.” His life, like his work, was extraordinary, a play of light and shadow. In this major new biography of Hawthorne, the first in more than a decade, Brenda Wineapple, acclaimed biographer of Janet Flanner and Gertrude and Leo Stein (“Luminous”–Richard Howard), brings him brilliantly alive: an exquisite writer who shoveled dung in an attempt to found a new utopia at Brook Farm and then excoriated the community (or his attraction to it) in caustic satire; the confidant of Franklin Pierce, fourteenth president of the United States and arguably one of its worst; friend to Emerson and Thoreau and Melville who, unlike them, made fun of Abraham Lincoln and who, also unlike them, wrote compellingly of women, deeply identifying with them–he was the first major American writer to create erotic female characters. Those vibrant, independent women continue to haunt the imagination, although Hawthorne often punishes, humiliates, or kills them, as if exorcising that which enthralls. Here is the man rooted in Salem, Massachusetts, of an old pre-Revolutionary family, reared partly in the wilds of western Maine, then schooled along with Longfellow at Bowdoin College. Here are his idyllic marriage to the youngest and prettiest of the Peabody sisters and his longtime friendships, including with Margaret Fuller, the notorious feminist writer and intellectual. Here too is Hawthorne at the end of his days, revered as a genius, but considered as well to be an embarrassing puzzle by the Boston intelligentsia, isolated by fiercely held political loyalties that placed him against the Civil War and the currents of his time. Brenda Wineapple navigates the high tides and chill undercurrents of Hawthorne’s fascinating life and work with clarity, nuance, and insight. The novels and tales, the incidental writings, travel notes and children’s books, letters and diaries reverberate in this biography, which both charts and protects the dark unknowable core that is quintessentially Hawthorne. In him, the quest of his generation for an authentically American voice bears disquieting fruit.
On Hawthorne
Author: Edwin Harrison Cady
Publisher: Durham [N.C.] : Duke University Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 304
Book Description
From 1929 to the latest issue, American Literature has been the foremost journal expressing the findings of those who study our national literature. The jouranl has published the best work of literary historians, critics, and bibliographers, ranging from the founders of the discipline to the best current critics and researchers. The longevity of this excellence lends a special distinction to the articles in American Literature. Presented in order of their first appearance, the articles in each volume constitute a revealing record of developing insights and important shifts of critical emphasis. Each article has opened a fresh line of inquiry, established a fresh perspective on a familiar topic, or settled a question that engaged the interest of experts.
Publisher: Durham [N.C.] : Duke University Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 304
Book Description
From 1929 to the latest issue, American Literature has been the foremost journal expressing the findings of those who study our national literature. The jouranl has published the best work of literary historians, critics, and bibliographers, ranging from the founders of the discipline to the best current critics and researchers. The longevity of this excellence lends a special distinction to the articles in American Literature. Presented in order of their first appearance, the articles in each volume constitute a revealing record of developing insights and important shifts of critical emphasis. Each article has opened a fresh line of inquiry, established a fresh perspective on a familiar topic, or settled a question that engaged the interest of experts.
Hawthorne's the Marble Faun
Author: Richard E. Mezo
Publisher: Universal-Publishers
ISBN: 1581120567
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 125
Book Description
Since its publication in 1860, critics have questioned the artistic value of Hawthorne's The Marble Faun. A revival of critical interest during the 1950's and 1960's has done little to change a generally unfavorable opinion of the work. With a few notable exceptions, most recent critics believe The Marble Faun to be inferior to Hawthorne's other completed romances. Such opinions, however, usually seem to be based upon the personal taste of the individual critic rather than upon any sort of objective artistic standards. The purpose of this study is to examine and evaluate the various critical approaches to The Marble Faun. These interpretations provide the basis for a re-appraisal of the work. A study of the structure, the main themes, and the characters of The Marble Faun reveals that it is not an inferior work of art. In many respects, The Marble Faun reflects the maturity of Hawthorne's artistic and philosophical beliefs. The Marble Faun is a work capable of standing on its own merits. Some critics have misunderstood Hawthorne's aesthetic principles. Hawthorne thought that art should be used to suggest moral values. The power of art, he believed, was in its suggestiveness. The creation of an ideal beauty which has no exact counterpart in the material world suggests the reality of an unknowable divine providence. However, the value of a work of art depends upon the mood of the viewer. The viewer must assist the artist with his sympathy and imagination in an act of continual creation. The work of art will reflect back only those qualities which are brought to it by the viewer. Hawthorne's view of life is similar to the philosophy expressed by modern Christian existentialists. Throughout his writings, Hawthorne's concern for humanity is evident. In The Marble Faun, Hawthorne explores a problem which has become almost an obsession of modern man. This problem is the question of man's moral position in what seems to be a meaningless, if not hostile, universe. The most important theme of The Marble Faun is a consideration of the consequences of man's alienation from other men, from God, and from nature. The structure and the themes of The Marble Faun are developed through the actions of the major characters. Hilda, Miriam, Donatello, and Kenyon are each transformed by a fall from relative innocence into a world of suffering humanity. Donatello's transformation from faun to man is more striking than the transformations of the other three characters, and it is his fall which leads to the question of the felix culpa. Although Hilda and Kenyon are ultimately less mature characters than Donatello and Miriam, they also benefit from their experiences in Rome. Hawthorne's belief in the brotherhood of all men is demonstrated by the experiences of the major characters in The Marble Faun. Whether or not it is their wish, each of these characters must accept the responsibility for his own actions and each must become involved with humanity. It is Hawthorne's deep concern for the human condition, profoundly expressed in his art, which makes The Marble Faun a work of enduring importance to our civilization.
Publisher: Universal-Publishers
ISBN: 1581120567
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 125
Book Description
Since its publication in 1860, critics have questioned the artistic value of Hawthorne's The Marble Faun. A revival of critical interest during the 1950's and 1960's has done little to change a generally unfavorable opinion of the work. With a few notable exceptions, most recent critics believe The Marble Faun to be inferior to Hawthorne's other completed romances. Such opinions, however, usually seem to be based upon the personal taste of the individual critic rather than upon any sort of objective artistic standards. The purpose of this study is to examine and evaluate the various critical approaches to The Marble Faun. These interpretations provide the basis for a re-appraisal of the work. A study of the structure, the main themes, and the characters of The Marble Faun reveals that it is not an inferior work of art. In many respects, The Marble Faun reflects the maturity of Hawthorne's artistic and philosophical beliefs. The Marble Faun is a work capable of standing on its own merits. Some critics have misunderstood Hawthorne's aesthetic principles. Hawthorne thought that art should be used to suggest moral values. The power of art, he believed, was in its suggestiveness. The creation of an ideal beauty which has no exact counterpart in the material world suggests the reality of an unknowable divine providence. However, the value of a work of art depends upon the mood of the viewer. The viewer must assist the artist with his sympathy and imagination in an act of continual creation. The work of art will reflect back only those qualities which are brought to it by the viewer. Hawthorne's view of life is similar to the philosophy expressed by modern Christian existentialists. Throughout his writings, Hawthorne's concern for humanity is evident. In The Marble Faun, Hawthorne explores a problem which has become almost an obsession of modern man. This problem is the question of man's moral position in what seems to be a meaningless, if not hostile, universe. The most important theme of The Marble Faun is a consideration of the consequences of man's alienation from other men, from God, and from nature. The structure and the themes of The Marble Faun are developed through the actions of the major characters. Hilda, Miriam, Donatello, and Kenyon are each transformed by a fall from relative innocence into a world of suffering humanity. Donatello's transformation from faun to man is more striking than the transformations of the other three characters, and it is his fall which leads to the question of the felix culpa. Although Hilda and Kenyon are ultimately less mature characters than Donatello and Miriam, they also benefit from their experiences in Rome. Hawthorne's belief in the brotherhood of all men is demonstrated by the experiences of the major characters in The Marble Faun. Whether or not it is their wish, each of these characters must accept the responsibility for his own actions and each must become involved with humanity. It is Hawthorne's deep concern for the human condition, profoundly expressed in his art, which makes The Marble Faun a work of enduring importance to our civilization.
The Productive Tension of Hawthorne's Art
Author: Claudia Durst Johnson
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
ISBN: 0817300511
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 171
Book Description
In both his short fiction and major works, Nathaniel Hawthorne, like many romantics, is torn between the eighteenth-century view of an orderly, balanced, static art and universe, on the one hand, and the nineteenth-century conception of a changeful, various art on the other. Hawthorne based his social and psychological values on an organic view of the world, but the world of his art tended to be mechanistic. Johnson argues that Hawthorne found in theology the myths which became vehicles for his exploration of his art.
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
ISBN: 0817300511
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 171
Book Description
In both his short fiction and major works, Nathaniel Hawthorne, like many romantics, is torn between the eighteenth-century view of an orderly, balanced, static art and universe, on the one hand, and the nineteenth-century conception of a changeful, various art on the other. Hawthorne based his social and psychological values on an organic view of the world, but the world of his art tended to be mechanistic. Johnson argues that Hawthorne found in theology the myths which became vehicles for his exploration of his art.
The Social Self
Author: Joseph Alkana
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813183006
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 235
Book Description
American literary history of the nineteenth-century as a conflict between individualistic writers and a conformist society. In The Social Self, Joseph Alkana argues that such a dichotomy misrepresents the views of many authors. Sudden changes caused by the industrial revolution, urban development, increased immigration, and regional conflicts were threatening to fragment the community, and such writers as Nathaniel Hawthorne, William James, and William Dean Howells were deeply concerned about social cohesion. Alkana persuasively reintroduces Common Sense philosophy and Jamesian psychology as ways to understand how the nineteenth-century self/society dilemma developed. All three writers believed that introspection was the proper path to the discovery of truth. They also felt, Alkana argues, that such discoveries had to be validated by society. In these sophisticated readings of Hawthorne's short stories and The Scarlet Letter, Howells's utopian Altrurian romances, and James's The Principles of Psychology, it becomes obvious that characters who isolate themselves from the community do so at considerable psychological risk. The Social Self links these writers' interest in contemporary psychology to their concern for history and society. Alkana's argument that nineteenth-century expressions of individualism were defensive responses to the fear of social chaos radically revises the traditional narrative of American literary culture.
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813183006
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 235
Book Description
American literary history of the nineteenth-century as a conflict between individualistic writers and a conformist society. In The Social Self, Joseph Alkana argues that such a dichotomy misrepresents the views of many authors. Sudden changes caused by the industrial revolution, urban development, increased immigration, and regional conflicts were threatening to fragment the community, and such writers as Nathaniel Hawthorne, William James, and William Dean Howells were deeply concerned about social cohesion. Alkana persuasively reintroduces Common Sense philosophy and Jamesian psychology as ways to understand how the nineteenth-century self/society dilemma developed. All three writers believed that introspection was the proper path to the discovery of truth. They also felt, Alkana argues, that such discoveries had to be validated by society. In these sophisticated readings of Hawthorne's short stories and The Scarlet Letter, Howells's utopian Altrurian romances, and James's The Principles of Psychology, it becomes obvious that characters who isolate themselves from the community do so at considerable psychological risk. The Social Self links these writers' interest in contemporary psychology to their concern for history and society. Alkana's argument that nineteenth-century expressions of individualism were defensive responses to the fear of social chaos radically revises the traditional narrative of American literary culture.
Nathaniel Hawthorne in Context
Author: Monika M. Elbert
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108650538
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 902
Book Description
This volume provides a comprehensive overview of Nathaniel Hawthorne and demonstrates why he continues to be a critically significant figure in American literature. The first section focuses on Hawthorne's interest in and knowledge of past (Puritan and colonial) and contemporary nineteenth-century history (women's, African American, Native American) as the inspiration for his writings and the source of his literary success. The second section explores his fascination with social history and popular culture by examining topics as mesmerism, utopian life styles, theatrical performances, and artistic innovations. The third section looks at how Hawthorne succeeded and excelled in the literary marketplace, as an author of children's literature, literary sketches, and historical romances. In the fourth section, Hawthorne's literary precursors, peers, colleagues, and successors are analyzed. In the final section, Hawthorne's attachment to family, nature, and home is examined as the source of creative inspiration and philosophical questing.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108650538
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 902
Book Description
This volume provides a comprehensive overview of Nathaniel Hawthorne and demonstrates why he continues to be a critically significant figure in American literature. The first section focuses on Hawthorne's interest in and knowledge of past (Puritan and colonial) and contemporary nineteenth-century history (women's, African American, Native American) as the inspiration for his writings and the source of his literary success. The second section explores his fascination with social history and popular culture by examining topics as mesmerism, utopian life styles, theatrical performances, and artistic innovations. The third section looks at how Hawthorne succeeded and excelled in the literary marketplace, as an author of children's literature, literary sketches, and historical romances. In the fourth section, Hawthorne's literary precursors, peers, colleagues, and successors are analyzed. In the final section, Hawthorne's attachment to family, nature, and home is examined as the source of creative inspiration and philosophical questing.
The Cambridge Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne
Author: Richard H. Millington
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139826670
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 507
Book Description
The Cambridge Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne, first published in 2004, offers students and teachers an introduction to Hawthorne's fiction and the lively debates that shape Hawthorne studies. In commissioned essays, twelve eminent scholars of American literature introduce readers to key issues in Hawthorne scholarship and deepen our understanding of Hawthorne's writing. Each of the major novels is treated in a separate chapter, while other essays explore Hawthorne's art in relation to a stimulating array of issues and approaches. The essays reveal how Hawthorne's work explores understandings of gender relations and sexuality, of childhood and selfhood, of politics and ethics, of history and modernity. An Introduction and a selected bibliography will help students and teachers understand how Hawthorne has been a crucial figure for each generation of readers of American literature.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139826670
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 507
Book Description
The Cambridge Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne, first published in 2004, offers students and teachers an introduction to Hawthorne's fiction and the lively debates that shape Hawthorne studies. In commissioned essays, twelve eminent scholars of American literature introduce readers to key issues in Hawthorne scholarship and deepen our understanding of Hawthorne's writing. Each of the major novels is treated in a separate chapter, while other essays explore Hawthorne's art in relation to a stimulating array of issues and approaches. The essays reveal how Hawthorne's work explores understandings of gender relations and sexuality, of childhood and selfhood, of politics and ethics, of history and modernity. An Introduction and a selected bibliography will help students and teachers understand how Hawthorne has been a crucial figure for each generation of readers of American literature.
Historicism Once More
Author: Roy Harvey Pearce
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400876001
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 371
Book Description
A collection of some of Pearce's best-known essays on historical criticism in which he suggests a way of going beyond positivist historiography and formalist explication de texie toward a criticism which vitally engages the reader in what he reads and puts him m a position of judging himself and his culture, past and present. Originally published in 1969. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400876001
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 371
Book Description
A collection of some of Pearce's best-known essays on historical criticism in which he suggests a way of going beyond positivist historiography and formalist explication de texie toward a criticism which vitally engages the reader in what he reads and puts him m a position of judging himself and his culture, past and present. Originally published in 1969. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Hawthorne's Conception of the Creative Process
Author: Richard J. Jacobson
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674382756
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 68
Book Description
Richard Jacobson examines and delineates the processes of mind that Hawthorne conceived of as underlying the creative act. Taking issue with previous studies that have presented the novelist as an adherent of one or another of the particular schools of thought representative of his time, the author demonstrates that Hawthorne's views were, in fact, eclectically formed and were a fusion of classical and romantic attitudes. His intense preoccupation with the relationship between art and morality, and the validation of imaginative insights are central elements, Jacobson maintains, in Hawthorne's theory of the creative process.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674382756
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 68
Book Description
Richard Jacobson examines and delineates the processes of mind that Hawthorne conceived of as underlying the creative act. Taking issue with previous studies that have presented the novelist as an adherent of one or another of the particular schools of thought representative of his time, the author demonstrates that Hawthorne's views were, in fact, eclectically formed and were a fusion of classical and romantic attitudes. His intense preoccupation with the relationship between art and morality, and the validation of imaginative insights are central elements, Jacobson maintains, in Hawthorne's theory of the creative process.
The Wall and the Garden
Author: A. W. Plumstead
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 1452912742
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 400
Book Description
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 1452912742
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 400
Book Description