Analysis of Three of Hawthorne's Works: Solitude and Isolation
Analysis of Three of Hawthorne's Works: Solitude and Isolation
Julia Pesaresi Burns 3rd Period Pre-Ap English 20 February 96
Solitude and isolation are immense, powerful, and overcoming feelings.
They possess the ability to destroy a person's life by overwhelming it with gloom and darkness. Isolate is defined: to place or keep by itself, separate from others (Webster 381). Solitude is "the state of being alone" (Webster 655).
Nathaniel Hawthorne uses these themes of solitude and isolation for the characters in several of his works. "Hawthorne is interested only in those beings, of exceptional temperament or destiny, who are alone in the world..."
(Discovering Authors). Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Goodman Brown, and
Beatrice Rappaccini are all persons "whom some crime or misunderstood virtue, or misfortune, has set them by themselves or in a worse companionship of solitude
(Discovering Authors). Hawthorne devoted many stories to isolated characters - one's who stand alone with no one to look to for love or support. "For
Hawthorne, this condition of moral and social isolation is the worst evil that can befall aman" (Adams 73). Each of the characters above are separated from the world because of some sin or evil. Their separation is a painful, devastating feelings. The themes of solitude and isolation are depicted in
Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, "Young Goodman Brown, "and
"Rappaccini's Daughter." At the age of four, Nathaniel Hawthorne's father died, devastating his mother and destroying his family forever. He later recalls how his mother and sisters would "take their meals in their rooms, and my mother has eaten alone ever since my father's death" (Martin 10). Naturally, Hawthorne's mother's isolated life contributed to his personal solitude and to his stories of solitude. Although he never reached the point she did, his life too became one of separation and loneliness. When he was nine, a severe foot injury reduced his physical
Julia Pesaresi Burns 3rd Period Pre-Ap English 20 February 96
Solitude and isolation are immense, powerful, and overcoming feelings.
They possess the ability to destroy a person's life by overwhelming it with gloom and darkness. Isolate is defined: to place or keep by itself, separate from others (Webster 381). Solitude is "the state of being alone" (Webster 655).
Nathaniel Hawthorne uses these themes of solitude and isolation for the characters in several of his works. "Hawthorne is interested only in those beings, of exceptional temperament or destiny, who are alone in the world..."
(Discovering Authors). Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Goodman Brown, and
Beatrice Rappaccini are all persons "whom some crime or misunderstood virtue, or misfortune, has set them by themselves or in a worse companionship of solitude
(Discovering Authors). Hawthorne devoted many stories to isolated characters - one's who stand alone with no one to look to for love or support. "For
Hawthorne, this condition of moral and social isolation is the worst evil that can befall aman" (Adams 73). Each of the characters above are separated from the world because of some sin or evil. Their separation is a painful, devastating feelings. The themes of solitude and isolation are depicted in
Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, "Young Goodman Brown, "and
"Rappaccini's Daughter." At the age of four, Nathaniel Hawthorne's father died, devastating his mother and destroying his family forever. He later recalls how his mother and sisters would "take their meals in their rooms, and my mother has eaten alone ever since my father's death" (Martin 10). Naturally, Hawthorne's mother's isolated life contributed to his personal solitude and to his stories of solitude. Although he never reached the point she did, his life too became one of separation and loneliness. When he was nine, a severe foot injury reduced his physical