Hawthorne’s “Artist of the Beautiful”
Hawthorne’s “Artist of the Beautiful” Throughout literature, we have come to know many characters who baffle us with
their unusual personalities to the point where branding them as delusional is the easiest
approach to understanding their nature. In other cases we ask ourselves whether or not
the character is living in a dream and perhaps out of touch with reality. We ask
ourselves, what would drive a person to walk into the night with a stranger when all logic
says not to? Why would a person laugh after watching his compatriot suffer public
humiliation? Nathaniel Hawthorne, without a doubt, is notorious for creating strange
characters who puzzle the reader when trying to understand them but of all of
Hawthorne 's characters Owen Warland must be the most difficult to analyze. The
troubled young artist in search of the beautiful has become the object of ongoing
criticism as to whether he is living a dream or simply delusional. In any case, it would be
easy for us to dismiss the matter by saying he is a little of both, a hopeless dreamer
who goes mad when people fail to understand him. On the other hand, claiming that he
is neither dreaming nor delusional is a far more difficult view to support. Nevertheless,
understanding Owen demands a closer look at "The Artist of the Beautiful".
Owen Warland, seeker of the beautiful, is the lowly watchmaker around whom
this story takes place. He lives in a small village in which he is an object of peculiarity.
"What can Owen Warland be about?"(Hawthorne 447). Old Peter Hovenden may be
speaking for almost the whole town, except for his daughter Annie, to whom he is
addressing the question. Peter thinks Owen to be a dreamer and completely out of
touch with reality. Robert Danforth also does not think very much of Owen, his school
chum from prior days. Robert does not see much reward in what Owen does. When
speaking with Owen, he goes so far as to say:
their unusual personalities to the point where branding them as delusional is the easiest
approach to understanding their nature. In other cases we ask ourselves whether or not
the character is living in a dream and perhaps out of touch with reality. We ask
ourselves, what would drive a person to walk into the night with a stranger when all logic
says not to? Why would a person laugh after watching his compatriot suffer public
humiliation? Nathaniel Hawthorne, without a doubt, is notorious for creating strange
characters who puzzle the reader when trying to understand them but of all of
Hawthorne 's characters Owen Warland must be the most difficult to analyze. The
troubled young artist in search of the beautiful has become the object of ongoing
criticism as to whether he is living a dream or simply delusional. In any case, it would be
easy for us to dismiss the matter by saying he is a little of both, a hopeless dreamer
who goes mad when people fail to understand him. On the other hand, claiming that he
is neither dreaming nor delusional is a far more difficult view to support. Nevertheless,
understanding Owen demands a closer look at "The Artist of the Beautiful".
Owen Warland, seeker of the beautiful, is the lowly watchmaker around whom
this story takes place. He lives in a small village in which he is an object of peculiarity.
"What can Owen Warland be about?"(Hawthorne 447). Old Peter Hovenden may be
speaking for almost the whole town, except for his daughter Annie, to whom he is
addressing the question. Peter thinks Owen to be a dreamer and completely out of
touch with reality. Robert Danforth also does not think very much of Owen, his school
chum from prior days. Robert does not see much reward in what Owen does. When
speaking with Owen, he goes so far as to say:
Cited: New York. Harry N. Abrams, 1976. Hamden, Connecticut. Archon Book, 1978.