Hawthorne: (English Men of Letters Series)

In Short

This book functions as a sophisticated critical essay on the life and legacy of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Rather than a traditional, incident-heavy biography, it explores the internal development of a writer whose career was defined by "an unagitated fortune" in the quiet corners of New England. By examining his early struggles, his political appointments, and his eventual international experiences, the narrative illuminates how a delicate, imaginative genius emerged from a stagnant, rustic environment to become the preeminent representative of American letters.

The Story

The narrative arc follows Hawthorne from his early years in Salem—a town he describes with a mix of weary affection and resentment—through the long, obscure period of his "incubation" as a writer. This early manhood is depicted as a time of peculiar dreariness, where a young, ambitious mind was stifled by the chill of a provincial atmosphere and the necessity of taking on menial tasks, such as editing a struggling magazine or writing children’s books, to survive.

The story moves into the phase of his professional life characterized by political appointments. Hawthorne, a steadfast Democrat, finds himself working in the Boston Custom-house, an environment that he initially welcomes for pulling him out of his solitude, but later views as a drain on his intellect. It is precisely from this state of "evaporation," however, that he produces his masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter.

The narrative then shifts to his time in Concord, where he resides in the "Old Manse," a house steeped in theological history and colonial stillness. Here, he finds a brief, blissful respite before his later years involve travel to England and Italy. Abroad, Hawthorne becomes a figure of intense national self-consciousness. He grapples with the weight of European antiquity, often retreating into a state of "spy or traitor," feeling like an alien who cannot reconcile his American sensibilities with the majesty of the Old World.

The arc concludes with his return to the United States during the tumultuous period of the Civil War. His final reflections reveal a mind attempting to bridge the gap between conflicting loyalties, as he tries to empathize with the motivations of the rebellion while remaining committed to his own convictions. The biography does not present these events as a series of dramatic triumphs, but as a slow, careful deepening of a man whose primary engagement was always with his own conscience and the "mysteries" of the human heart.

How It Unfolds

The provincial origins The narrative establishes Salem as the bedrock of Hawthorne’s imagination, a place he views with a sense of ancestral "spell" despite its joyless, monotonous atmosphere. This early setting provides the essential context for his later preoccupation with morality and the past.

The period of incubation These years are marked by professional stagnation and economic necessity, as Hawthorne labors over trivial editorial duties and school-books. It is a time of "aridity" that serves as the crucible for his later creative development.

The professional interlude The appointment at the Boston Custom-house represents a pivot from total isolation into the world of public duty. While he feels his literary powers are "dwindling" under the strain of routine, this period paradoxically yields his most significant work.

The European transition Travel to Italy and England forces Hawthorne into an uncomfortable confrontation with antiquity and foreign institutions. He adopts the role of a quiet, brooding observer, deepening his sense of being an American "stranger and an alien."

The final retrospective Back in a war-torn America, the narrative examines his attempt to apply his imagination to the political crisis. He emerges as a man seeking to understand the "other side," reflecting the complex, often contradictory nature of his own democratic loyalties.

The People

Nathaniel Hawthorne is the central figure, depicted as a "modest and delicate" genius whose life was strikingly devoid of external drama. He is a man of "simple and child-like serenity" who uses his writing to probe the human conscience, yet he remains deeply, sometimes morbidly, attached to his New England roots. Judge Pyncheon, from The House of the Seven Gables, serves as a key character study, embodying the "full-blown hypocrite" and the moral decay Hawthorne observed in established authority. Holgrave, the daguerreotypist, is presented as the modern, democratic foil to the "mustiness" of the older generation, representing the untraditional, ambitious American spirit. Dr. Melmoth appears in early scenes as an example of the chivalrous, intellectual types Hawthorne encountered in his youth, providing a glimpse into the humorous, slightly absurd elements of his earlier, less-refined prose. Finally, General Franklin Pierce represents the practical, political side of Hawthorne’s life, a friend whose advancement highlighted Hawthorne’s own loyal, if occasionally blind, adherence to the Democratic party.

In Its Own Voice

"The spell survives, and just as powerfully as if the natal spot were an earthly paradise."

(Reflecting on Hawthorne’s persistent, almost moralistic connection to his ancestral home of Salem.)

"The page of life that was spread out before me was dull and commonplace, only because I had not fathomed its deeper import."

(Hawthorne’s reflection on his time as a Customs surveyor, realizing he had missed the potential for artistic discovery in the mundane.)

"Success makes an Englishman intolerable, and already, on the mistaken idea that the way was open to a prosperous conclusion of the war, the Times had begun to throw out menaces against America."

(Hawthorne’s candid, slightly defensive observation of British arrogance from his vantage point as a diplomat abroad.)

What It's Really About

The book is an inquiry into the relationship between an artist’s environment and their output. It asks whether a writer like Hawthorne, who lacked the "dramatic quality" of a life lived on the world stage, could truly represent a national genius. It rejects the idea of Hawthorne as a "pessimistic" or "cynical" writer, arguing instead that his work is defined by a serene, "picturesque" curiosity about the human soul. The narrative consistently probes the tension between the American democratic ideal—with its need for newness and change—and the "mustiness" of the traditions that Hawthorne could never quite shed.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate literary criticism that treats its subject with both intimacy and intellectual rigor will find this biography deeply rewarding. It reads less like a dry account of dates and events and more like a conversation between two gifted writers across time. You will experience the "chill" of mid-19th-century New England, a landscape of wooden houses and long, lonely streets that feels surprisingly fragile in the face of the modern world.

There are challenges: the prose is dense and reflects the formal, occasionally verbose style of the late 19th century. Some readers may find the discussion of period-specific politics, such as the nuances of the Democratic party or the intricacies of the Civil War, to be demanding or distant. However, what stays with you is the portrait of a man who managed to transform the "dull" and "commonplace" into the enduring symbols of the human condition. It is a thoughtful, quiet book about a quiet man, offering a lens through which to view not just a classic American author, but the very nature of the American experience—the way we struggle to be both rooted in our history and liberated by our democratic ideals.