Dark Romanticism In 'Paul Revere's Ride' By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Romanticism In American Literature Dark romanticism is a genre that explores the darker, sinful side of man. Within this unit, there were a few pieces of literature that I found displays this best. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Nathaniel Hawthorne are both prominent authors in the world of literature, even to this day.
The first piece that I will be talking about is “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In describing the midnight ride of Paul Revere, Longfellow uses a ton of imagery: "...the breath of the morning breeze/blowing over the meadows brown...", "...startled the pigeons from their perch/On the sombre rafters, that round him made/Masses and moving shapes of shade...". These lines of imagery present what Paul Revere did in a heroic way; yes, Paul Revere may have been a hero, but Longfellow writes the story as if the fate of the nation depended on simply Paul Revere, when in fact, it did not. There were others helping, because if there weren’t, there is no way that one man could alarm …show more content…
Heidegger’s Experiment” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is considered a parable; it teaches a moral, that man is foolish in his youth, and given the chance, he would repeat the same mistakes. “In the obscurest corner of the room stood a tall and narrow oaken closet, with its door ajar, within which doubtfully appeared a skeleton”, is a sentence that suggests that Dr. Heidegger has something he is hiding- hence the reason he is referring to “the skeleton” in his closet. "Dr. Heidegger had been on the point of marriage with this young lady; but, being afflicted with some slight disorder, she had swallowed one of her lover's prescriptions, and died on the bridal evening”. The dying of Heidegger’s fiancée was a question left for the reader to decide. Did she commit suicide? Or did Dr. Heidegger prescribe the wrong medication on purpose? These questions are left open to the reader for simply the purpose of restating the moral of the story: man is foolish in his
The first piece that I will be talking about is “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In describing the midnight ride of Paul Revere, Longfellow uses a ton of imagery: "...the breath of the morning breeze/blowing over the meadows brown...", "...startled the pigeons from their perch/On the sombre rafters, that round him made/Masses and moving shapes of shade...". These lines of imagery present what Paul Revere did in a heroic way; yes, Paul Revere may have been a hero, but Longfellow writes the story as if the fate of the nation depended on simply Paul Revere, when in fact, it did not. There were others helping, because if there weren’t, there is no way that one man could alarm …show more content…
Heidegger’s Experiment” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is considered a parable; it teaches a moral, that man is foolish in his youth, and given the chance, he would repeat the same mistakes. “In the obscurest corner of the room stood a tall and narrow oaken closet, with its door ajar, within which doubtfully appeared a skeleton”, is a sentence that suggests that Dr. Heidegger has something he is hiding- hence the reason he is referring to “the skeleton” in his closet. "Dr. Heidegger had been on the point of marriage with this young lady; but, being afflicted with some slight disorder, she had swallowed one of her lover's prescriptions, and died on the bridal evening”. The dying of Heidegger’s fiancée was a question left for the reader to decide. Did she commit suicide? Or did Dr. Heidegger prescribe the wrong medication on purpose? These questions are left open to the reader for simply the purpose of restating the moral of the story: man is foolish in his