Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864): Life and Literary Legacy

"Upon my honor, I am not quite sure that I entirely comprehend my own meaning in some of these blasted allegories." — letter to James T. Fields, April 13, 1854

Literary Influence and Ancestral Legacy of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Nathaniel Hawthorne was recognized during his lifetime as one of the most significant writers of fiction produced by the United States, a stature that has expanded in the century and a half since his death. His dark vision of human pride and sin influenced numerous 20th-century authors, including Flannery O'Connor, while inspiring Herman Melville and earning admiration from Henry James. Through his dedication as a professional writer of fiction, Hawthorne helped define the role of the serious author in American culture, utilizing allegory, symbolism, and moral inquiry to chart a path for American literature.

Ancestral Heritage and Family Background. Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts—a setting known for the late 17th-century Salem witch trials. In these judicial proceedings, innocent individuals were prosecuted, tortured, and executed under allegations of demonic possession, driven by Puritan authorities whom Hawthorne counted among his ancestors. One of his great-great-grandfathers served as a prominent judge during the trials, upon whom a condemned victim supposedly pronounced a curse prior to her execution. Never forgetting this dark Puritan heritage, Hawthorne explored themes of guilt, secret motives, and hidden iniquity throughout his fiction, using his writing to confront and atone for the self-righteous legacy of his forebears.

Hawthorne's father, Nathaniel Hathorne (a sea captain), died of yellow fever in Surinam in 1808 when his son was four years old. Following this loss, his widow, Elizabeth Manning Hathorne, moved Nathaniel and his two sisters into her family's Salem home. Surrounded by the Manning family and mentored by his uncle Robert Manning, Hawthorne developed a lifelong habit of reading. An athletic injury in 1813 temporarily confined him to home, deepening his literary interest. After living briefly in Raymond, Maine, in 1818, he returned to Salem in 1819 to prepare for college.

Formative Years and Early Career Development. Higher Education and Literary Beginnings. In 1821, Hawthorne entered Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where he formed lasting friendships with future U.S. President Franklin Pierce and Horatio Bridge. Upon graduating in 1825, he returned to the Manning household in Salem, occupying the upper room of his youth for the next twelve years. During this period, he changed the spelling of his family name from Hathorne to Hawthorne and committed himself to writing. In 1828, he anonymously self-funded his first novel, Fanshawe, though he later attempted to destroy all copies and never acknowledged the work publicly.

Throughout the 1830s, Hawthorne spent his time reading, researching local New England history, and authoring short fiction that appeared anonymously in print. He worked briefly as a magazine editor in Boston in 1836. In 1837, with financial assistance from Horatio Bridge, Hawthorne published Twice-Told Tales, a collection featuring nearly 20 short stories. That same year, he met Sophia Peabody, who would eventually become his wife.

Government Appointments and Communal Experiments. To secure financial stability, Hawthorne accepted a position at the Boston Customs House in 1839, resigning in 1841. He spent several months at Brook Farm in West Roxbury, Massachusetts—an experimental communal living project centered on social ideals and cooperative agriculture. Growing skeptical of the movement, he departed later that year and eventually satirized the experience in his novel The Blithedale Romance.

Literary Maturity and Major Works. Marriage and Concord Years. In 1841, Hawthorne published children's works including Grandfather's Chair, Famous Old People, and Liberty Tree, followed by Biographical Stories for Children and an expanded edition of Twice-Told Tales in 1842. He married Sophia Peabody in 1842 following a secret engagement that began in 1839. The couple rented the Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, where they associated with transcendentalist thinkers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

While Hawthorne remained skeptical of transcendentalist optimism, these intellectual exchanges stimulated his artistic development. The couple welcomed a daughter, Una, in 1844, and a son, Julian, in 1846. In 1846, Hawthorne was appointed surveyor at the Custom House in Salem, providing financial stability while he published Mosses from an Old Manse. This collection earned praise from Herman Melville, who viewed Hawthorne as a kindred artistic spirit.

Masterworks and International Service. In 1849, political changes led to Hawthorne's dismissal from the Custom House, coinciding with the death of his mother. Later that year, he began writing The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850 to wide critical acclaim. He followed this success with The House of the Seven Gables in 1851, the same year his daughter Rose was born. In 1852, Hawthorne published The Blithedale Romance, The Snow-Image and Other Twice-Told Tales, A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys, and a campaign biography for Franklin Pierce. Following Pierce's election to the presidency, Hawthorne was appointed U.S. consul in Liverpool, England, serving from 1853 to 1857. During his tenure in England, he published Tanglewood Tales for Girls and Boys (1853) and a revised edition of Mosses from an Old Manse (1854).

Final Years and Legacy. Following the conclusion of Pierce's presidency in 1857, the Hawthorne family traveled through France and Italy, residing in Rome and Florence. After his daughter Una recovered from a severe illness, the family returned to England in 1859 and relocated to the United States in 1860. Hawthorne published his final completed novel, The Marble Faun, in 1860. During the American Civil War, his health declined, though he managed to publish a collection of non-fiction essays titled Our Old Home in 1863. Hawthorne died in his sleep on May 19, 1864, and was buried in Concord, Massachusetts, on May 23, 1864, leaving behind an enduring legacy in American letters.

Chronology of Major Published Works
- 1828: Fanshawe (novel)
- 1837: Twice-Told Tales (short story collection)
- 1841: Grandfather's Chair, Famous Old People, Liberty Tree (children's books)
- 1842: Biographical Stories for Children, Twice-Told Tales (expanded edition)

- 1846: Mosses from an Old Manse (short story collection)
- 1850: The Scarlet Letter (novel)
- 1851: The House of the Seven Gables (novel)
- 1852: The Blithedale Romance (novel), The Snow-Image and Other Twice-Told Tales (short story collection), A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys (children's literature), Life of Franklin Pierce (campaign biography)

- 1853: Tanglewood Tales for Girls and Boys (children's literature)
- 1854: Mosses from an Old Manse (revised edition)
- 1860: The Marble Faun (novel)
- 1863: Our Old Home (essay collection)