- Born
- Died
- Birth nameNathaniel Hathorne
- Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist, dark romantic, and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that town. Hawthorne entered Bowdoin College in 1821, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1824, and graduated in 1825. He published his first work in 1828, the novel Fanshawe; he later tried to suppress it, feeling that it was not equal to the standard of his later work. He published several short stories in periodicals, which he collected in 1837 as Twice-Told Tales. The following year, he became engaged to Sophia Peabody. He worked at the Boston Custom House and joined Brook Farm, a transcendentalist community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires, then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. A political appointment as consul took Hawthorne and family to Europe before their return to Concord in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, and was survived by his wife and their three children. Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral metaphors with an anti-Puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, dark romanticism. His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. His published works include novels, short stories, and a biography of his college friend Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Bonitao
- SpouseSophia Peabody(1842 - May 19, 1864) (his death, 3 children)
- Stories about women who live in a strict household or society and are some how wronged by a father, husband, or lover.
- Pictured on a 20¢ US commemorative postage stamp issued in his honor, 8 July 1983.
- Son Julian Hawthorne also became a writer and recorded the biography of his parents' life.
- Grandfather to children's biography writer and poet Hildegarde Hawthorne, daughter of Julian Hawthorne-Oskison (1871-1934).
- Children: Una Hawthorne (1844-1877) Julian Hawthorne (1846-1934) Rose Hawthorne (1851-1926)
- Hawthorne added the 'w' to his last name out of guilt and shame due to the fact that his ancestor was Judge Hathorne at the famous Salem Witch Trials.
- Happiness in this world, when it comes, comes incidentally. Make it the object of pursuit, and it leads us a wild-goose chase, and is never attained.
- [Oxford University in 1856] How ancient is the aspect of these college quadrangles. So gnawed by time. Some crumbly, so blackened, so grey where they are not black, so quaintly shaped with here a line of battlements and there a row of Gables; and here a turret with probably a winding stair inside, and lattice windows with stone mullions and little panes of glass set in lead, and the cloisters with a long arcade looking upon a green or pebbled enclosure.
- She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom.
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