Literary Review of “The Ambitious Guest” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Literary Review of “The Ambitious Guest” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Though the family lived a simple yet proud life in the Notch of the White Hills, they were not immune to the vanity the stranger brought to their cozy cottage they caught his disease of fame and paid dearly. The story began on a cold September night in a dangerous area in New England as a cheerful family set around their hearth to enjoy their solitude of their inner circle. As the wind roared outside, a stranger, a young man came to their door on his way to Vermont and made his self at home with this simple family. The stranger shared his dreams of wanting to make his mark on the world, and family followed suit from the oldest Grandmother to the youngest of the children. As the family and the stranger told their tales Hawthorne gave many clues of the price, they would pay for their ambitions.
Characters
In the ambitious guest, Hawthorne presents seven characters, the ambitious guest, Mother, Father, Eldest daughter, Aged grandmother, and younger children. All of the characters besides The Ambitious guest are somewhat flat characters, for the most part happy but have moments of worry about what the future holds for them, which is part of the Hawthorne’s foreshadowing. Critic Sonya Solomonovich described “the way they grow despondent and then cheerful again in their domestic bliss as almost comical”. (Solomonovich, 2012, p2) The protagonist The Ambitious Guest is also a flat character. “The Ambitious Guest” is more about the theme and irony of the evening than of the actual characters.
Point of View and Plot
Hawthorne tells the story of “The Ambitious Guest” from third person omniscient. The narrator tells readers what is happening in each characters mind and heart. Sonya Solomonovich describes the plot as deceptively simple in her review on January 27, 2012. A simple family living in the dangerous Notch of the While Hills is sitting around their hearth on a cold September evening with howling
Though the family lived a simple yet proud life in the Notch of the White Hills, they were not immune to the vanity the stranger brought to their cozy cottage they caught his disease of fame and paid dearly. The story began on a cold September night in a dangerous area in New England as a cheerful family set around their hearth to enjoy their solitude of their inner circle. As the wind roared outside, a stranger, a young man came to their door on his way to Vermont and made his self at home with this simple family. The stranger shared his dreams of wanting to make his mark on the world, and family followed suit from the oldest Grandmother to the youngest of the children. As the family and the stranger told their tales Hawthorne gave many clues of the price, they would pay for their ambitions.
Characters
In the ambitious guest, Hawthorne presents seven characters, the ambitious guest, Mother, Father, Eldest daughter, Aged grandmother, and younger children. All of the characters besides The Ambitious guest are somewhat flat characters, for the most part happy but have moments of worry about what the future holds for them, which is part of the Hawthorne’s foreshadowing. Critic Sonya Solomonovich described “the way they grow despondent and then cheerful again in their domestic bliss as almost comical”. (Solomonovich, 2012, p2) The protagonist The Ambitious Guest is also a flat character. “The Ambitious Guest” is more about the theme and irony of the evening than of the actual characters.
Point of View and Plot
Hawthorne tells the story of “The Ambitious Guest” from third person omniscient. The narrator tells readers what is happening in each characters mind and heart. Sonya Solomonovich describes the plot as deceptively simple in her review on January 27, 2012. A simple family living in the dangerous Notch of the While Hills is sitting around their hearth on a cold September evening with howling