Hawthorne and Hegemony
By Matthew Cox


The writer Nathaniel Hawthone had a prolific impact on American literature in the early 1800’s. As an author in the American Romantic Movement, he wrote about nature, faith, free thought, and similar themes. Many of his works criticized overarching hegemony that suppressed free thought and marginalized people. For example, the classic novel The Scarlet Letter attacked prejudice against individuals who were labeled adulterers. Other writings that found fault with Puritanical beliefs included “My Kinsman, Major Molineaux.” The plot involved a young man who went live with a relative that was ostracized by his neighbors. “The May-Pole of Merry Mount” focused on a young couple who were stripped of their freedom by religious zealots. Nathaniel Hawthorne attacked aspects or Puritan morality with his writings that he deemed oppressive.

The Romantic Movement occurred in both both Europe and the Americas (Holman and Harmon, p. 438-441). There were differences and similarities between the two. British Romanticism included themes of uniting with Ireland, nature, spiritualism, nationalism, disillusion with industry, social skepticism, and intuition. It started in when Samuel Coleridge Taylor and William Wordsworth published the Lyrical Ballads in 1798. The movement officially ended when Charles Dickens died in 1870. American Romanticism was both similar and different. For example, it lasted from 1830 to 1865. Themes included nature, moving west, Native American culture, anti-slavery attitudes in the North, and sectionalism in the South.
Author Nathaniel Hawthorne had a lasting influence on American Romanticism in the 1800’s (Baym, 589-591). Several of his stories focused on American colonial history. They also touched on the lives of common people with Puritan allegories. Although he helped to create the American identity, many of the books criticized social institutions. For example, The Scarlet Letter found fault with attitudes on dealing with people who committed adultery. Readers on both sides of the Atlantic in both the U.S. and Britain enjoyed his work.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s most famous book was The Scarlet Letter. The plot revolved around a young Puritan woman in Salem, Massachusetts named Hester Prynne (Scharnhorst, xiii-xxviii). She wore a red letter “A” on her chest to show that she committed adultery. She allegedly had an affair with another man while she was waiting for her husband to come over from England. In reality, her husband sent Hester over the American colonies. He planned to come at a later time, but moved to Boston instead. After having the baby named Pearl, Hester is shunned. Both were helped by Arthur Dimsdale, a Protestant minister. The young woman lived alone doing charity work as the pastor went insane from self-torment. Her husband secretly returned as Roger Chillingworth, and made Hester swear to keep his identity secrecy. She moved in with the minister to help nurse him back to health. Chillingworth also cared for the clergyman to see if there was a connection between him and his wife. While Arthur slept, Roger discovered a branded “A” on his chest. Although the doctor thought that it was for adultery, it really meant Angles. Hester redeemed herself to the community with her good deeds. Dimsdale later publically confessed the truth for the brand on his chest, but dies of heart failure resulting from his emotional stress. He revealed his brand-mark before breathing his last breath.

Both Hester and Roger departed for England so they could raise Pearl. However, the daughter did not recognize her after the woman took the scarlet letter off of her chest. So, the mother left it on. Roger died a year after the family returned to Britain. Years later, Hester returned to Salem and lived in the cottage for the rest of her life while wearing the scarlet letter. She continued to do her charity work. Pearl was rumored to have married an aristocrat and inherited Chillingworth’s money. After Prynne died, she was buried in “a new grave near an old and sunken one, in that burial ground beside which King's Chapel has since been built. It was near that old and sunken grave, yet with a space between, as if the dust of the two sleepers had no right to mingle. Yet one tombstone served for both." The townspeople set it up for both Hester and Arthur with an “A” for adultery.
Sin was the major theme of the book. The scarlet letters on Hester on Arthur were labels for sinful behavior. Ironically, it let them understand the misfortunes and suffering of other people. They used this understanding to redeem themselves through charity work. This was apparently a way of criticizing how the Puritan society in Salem for religious hypocrisy. Although the people in town read the Bible, went to church, and “professed” Christianity, they did not really practice it. Labeled outcasts including Prynne and Dimsdale acted more Christian through their suffering.

Other writings from Hawthorne also criticized society’s attitudes of how people were treated. For example, in “My Kinsman, Major Molineaux” Robin, a young man arrived from England to look for his relative, Major Molineux (enotes). After the main character arrived in Boston, nobody knew where the Major was. The townspeople also mistreated Robin. For example, a rich person threatened to have him arrested. An innkeeper accused him of being a runaway bond-servant. Robin always met a man with a red and black face who seemed to be at the center of the problem. The protagonist met an elderly person at the church who knew where Molineux was. A crowd marched by with the red-and-black faced man leading it. He seemed to represent the Devil. For example black symbolized darkness and red ment evil. The major was carried tarred and feathered by the mob. Robin asked the old man the fastest way back to the boat to England. However, the father figure said that Robin could still survive in Boston without Molineux. Like the Scarlett Letter, this story dealt with individuals who were marginalized. The people of Boston were not depicted as members of any religious group. Hawthorne clearly attacked modes of thought and not groups in society.

Hawthorne’s short story “The May-Pole of the Merry Mount” was similar to the other stories (Wikipedia). It centered on a young newlywed couple named Edgar and Edith. They danced around the maypole and resembled forest animals. John Endicott and his group of Puritans arrived. They interrupted the celebration and ordered the people in town to be whipped. Endicott ordered Edith and Edgar to be spared and forced to dress as the Puritans. The young husband had his long hair cut off in the “roundhead” fashion. Both had to dress in conservative clothing. This story was critical of the Puritans of the early American colonies. They suppressed free thought and individualism with their strict views. As a free thinker, Hawthorne thought that any system of ridged thought went against American values.

Nathaniel Hawthorne attacked aspects or Puritan morality with his writings that he deemed oppressive. As a writer in the American Romantic Movement in the 1800’s, he looked for truth in nature, American ideals, spiritualism, and free thought. Several of his writings shed light on segments of society that he believed were unjust or hypocritical. For example, The Scarlet Letter criticized moral beliefs that falsely labeled people as adulterers. The short story called “My Kinsman, Major Molineaux” deal with a British officer who was harassed by people in Boston. Another work called “The May-Pole of Merry Mount” included a group of Puritans who coerced a young couple.






Work Cited:


Baym, Nina, ed. Norton Anthology of American Literature: Shorter Seventh Edition.
New York: Norton, 2008.

“Enotes.” My Kinsman, Major Molineux. http://www.enotes.com/kinsman-major
7 February 2008.

Holman, C. Hugh and Harmon, William. A Handbook to Literature. 5th ed. New York:
MacMillian, 1986.

Scharnhorst, Gary, ed. The Critical Response to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet
Letter. New York: Greenwood, 1992.

“Wikipedia.” The May-Pole of the Merry Mount.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maypole_of_Merry_Mount. 7 February 2008