Gothic Tradition in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Works

LUO Wan-ru

Abstract：As one of the most important Gothic writers in American literary history，Nathaniel Hawthorne manufactures horror that comes from the soul through the Gothic scenes，monstrous or victimized characters，weird plots，and supernatural phenomenon as well as other techniques that contribute to his idiosyncratic Gothicism.

Key words：Nathaniel Hawthorne 1；Gothic Tradition 2；Gothicism 3

1 Preface

In 1820s，the Gothic stubbornly flourished in the United States and has got its sustainable development later on for many reasons.The fundamental reason is the Puritan tradition rooted in American culture and society.The early emigrants to America were mainly Puritans who intended to escape the cruel persecution from the Church of England.In order to defend their religious doctrine and theocracy，in the name of Divinity，they began their ruthless persecution to other religious sects in the new continent in a almost crazy way.

Born in Salem，Massachusetts，in 1804，Nathaniel Hawthorne was greatly influenced by Puritanism.Some of his ancestors were men of prominence in the Puritan theocracy of seventeenth-century New England.One of them was a judge at the Salem Witchcraft Trail.Young Hawthorne was intensely aware of the misdeeds of his Puritan ancestors，and this awareness led to his understanding of evil being at the core of human life，to that “blackness in Hawthorne”，as Melville said（Quoted in Chan，70）.All these help provoke Hawthornes artistic imagination and his integrating Gothic elements into his creation.Finally，he has been regarded as one of the most important Gothic writers in American literary history.That many works of Hawthorne are everlastingly charming and enduring owes much to the Gothic techniques.He deserves to the master of manufacturing horror that comes from the soul through the Gothic scenes，monstrous or victimized characters，weird plots，and supernatural phenomenon as well as other techniques that contribute to his idiosyncratic Gothicism.

2 Gothic Elements in Nathaniel Hawthornes Works

Gothic scene is an important ingredient representing its dark and gloomy feature of Gothic tales.The traditional Gothic setting and props of gloom are generally located in the ruined castles and abbeys，dark passages and stairwells echoing with howls，derived from the Gothic architecture.Settings in Hawthornes many works embodies such Gothic characteristic，which adds mystery and terror to those stories.In such Gothic scenes，weird characters and mysterious plots were presented to readers.

In The Scarlet Letter，the story happened in the New Colony in North America，which was in strong Medieval atmosphere.At the very beginning of this novel，an antique and rusty prison-door was detailed described，which was “beetle-browed and gloomy”（45）.“Like all that pertains to crime，it seemed never to have know a youthful era”（45）.From the very beginning，the story shadows with darkness and gloom.Actually there are many other settings with Gothicism，such as scaffold，Dimmesdales ghastly chamber，the horrible and grassy graveyard，and the dark and gloomy forest where Hester met Dimmesdale together with Pearl.

The setting in The House of the Seven Gables was a weather-beaten and haunted old Pyncheon House built on an evil ground with more than a hundred and fifty years.“Its whole visible exterior was ornamented with quaint figures，conceived in the grotesqueness of a Gothic fancy”（6）.The second story projected far over the base and retired beneath the third，which “threw a shadowy and thoughtful gloom into the lower rooms”（6）.The old house was no longer a setting but a symbol of evilness of the family and humanity.Hawthorne personifies it as “a great human heart，with a life of its own，and full of rich and somber reminiscent”（18）.

In his short stories，Gothic settings are everywhere.For example，in “Dr.Heideggers Experiment”，a detailed description of Dr.Heideggers study is presented at the beginning of this short story.“It was a dim，old-fashioned chamber，festooned with cobwebs，and besprinkled with antique dust”（Kazin 68）.A skeleton and a mysterious mirror could be found in it.The tangled and haunted forest in “Young Goodman Brown” and “Roger Malvins Burial” is also a Gothic setting where chilling and horrible stories happened.The horrible and repressed atmosphere created by these Gothic settings was actually a reflection of characterss reclusive and twisted mentality.

Another the typical characteristic of Gothic fiction is the mystery and weirdness of plot.As a Gothic-Romance writer，Hawthorne created many eccentric plots in his works.Subjects in many his works are various from each other，but share the same quality of weirdness in plot.In “Dr.Heideggers Experiment”，Hawthorne tells a fantastic and absurd story：Dr.Heidegger invited his four venerable friends to meet him in his study and had them drink a liquid from “Fountain of Youth”.After the four drank a whole cup of such liquid，they immediately became cheerful with youthful vigor.However，their evilness in youth simultaneously recovered，so that Dr.Heidegger had to give up the experiment.Another eccentric story in “The Ministers Black Veil” is about a respectable Minister suddenly wearing a black veil on his face.In front of the public，he never uncovered it from his face，even when he was at the door of his death.Hawthornes purpose embodied through these fantastic stories is that evilness in human beings is innate，unchangeable，and irremovable.Such a theme is well expressed in many other Hawthornes works like “The Birthmark” and “Young Goodman Brown”.

The chilling atmosphere，created by those mysterious and gloomy settings together with uncanny and horrible plots，endows the characters with temperament of loneliness，morbidity，grief and weirdness.Typical Gothic characters are disciples，monsters，and victimized females.All these Gothic figures can be found in Hawthornes works.They are preposterous and melancholy in manners as if they was just out from the dark Medieval Times.For example，Ministers like Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter and Hooper in “The Ministers Black Veil” committed crime in their youth which could not be tolerated by the Puritan doctrine.Desiring to be redeemed，they led a self-restraint life in an religious craze，which made them look so melancholy，lonely and weird in others eyes.

As for the monstrous figures，there are two types in Hawthornes works：ruthless villains who are cold-hearted and unscrupulous，and non-human devil incarnate who appears as wizard，witch，magician or ghost.Chillingworth in The Scarlet Letter and Judge Pyncheon in The House of the Seven Gables are the typical Gothic villainous figures.In order to revenge for himself，Chillingworth changed from a rational and kind scholar to a wicked and twisted avenger who enjoyed only torturing others soul.Similar to Chillingworth，Judge Pyncheon was a very treacherous，unscrupulous and avaricious villain under a merciful outward appearance.In his youth he stole his uncles property so as to make his uncle die all of a sudden，and then he forged evidence to prove Clifford as the murder.There are also non-human devils incarnate in Hawthornes works，such as the demon Goodman Brown met in the forest，who was the incarnation of an old man and lured Brown into the evil party，and the devils in “The Celestial Railroad ” on both sides of the road to Heaven.

Finally，any discussion on the topic of Gothic literature would be incomplete without a consideration of the supernatural.Supernatural phenomenon embraces all those areas above or beyond the material realm and usually involves fantastic creatures and demonic forces that rule and direct physical existence.Influenced by the Salem Witchcraft Trail，Hawthorne largely employs witchcraft and magic into plot.The supernatural elements related to witch，wizard，and magician help increase the mysterious and weird atmosphere in Gothic scenes.The witch，Mistress Hibbins in The Scarlet Letter could see the secret crime of Dimmsedale through his inner thought.In The House of the Seven Gables，supernatural phenomenon，such as ghost，curse，and mesmerism，were integrated into plot.All these strengthen the mystery of two families.Also in “Dr.Heideggers Experiment”，Dr.Heidegger had a magical liquid from the “Fountain of Youth” which could cheer people up back to youth；while the poisonous liquid in “The Birthmark” could remove the birthmark from Georgianas face but killed her at the same time.

3 Conclusion

In all，in aspect of settings，plots and characters Hawthorne employs Gothic techniques in his fictional creation.The strong Gothicism in his works profoundly reveals the weirdness of the world and the complexity of humanity.His works could often give readers an impression that there always is an evil gloom enveloping human beings，which cannot be avoided.His criticism the dark nature of society，religion，and humanity through Gothicism richens and deepens readers understanding of life and humanity.

Bibliography

[1]Kazin，Alfred，eds.Selected Short Stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne，Nathaniel Hawthorne.New York：Fawcett Premier，1966.

[2] Hawthorne，Nathaniel.The House of the Seven Gables.New York：Bantam Books，1981.

—.The Scarlet Letter.New York：Bantam Books，1981.

[3]Hogle，E.Jerrold，eds.The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction.New York：Cambridge UP，2002.

[4]常耀信，《美國文學簡史》.天津：南開大學出版社，2009.

[5]肖明翰，英美文學中的哥特傳統.《外國語文學評論》，（2）2001，90-101.

[6]王曉姝.《哥特之魂——哥特傳統在美國小說中的嬗變》.北京：知識產權出版社，2010.

作者簡介：

駱菀如（1989-），女，湖南省株洲市人，助教，文學碩士，主要研究方向為英美文學、英語教學。