| Vantage | October 30th, 2005 08:41 AM |
Re: For Shame.
The literary mind behind Hester’s struggle within The Scarlet Letter is Nathaniel Hawthorne, nineteenth century author and one of the first true American novelists. Born July 4, 1804 in Salem Massachusetts, Hawthorne was ironically the son of one of Salem’s Witch Trial judges. He attended Bowdoin College in Maine from 1821-1824 amongst such classmates as Franklin Pierce and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In 1837 his collection of stories, Twice-Told Tales was published. Two years later he would be hired at Boston’s Custom House. In 1842 he would marry Sophia Peabody, an illustrator. The couple would have three children, Una, Julian, and Rose. Unfortunately, Una died young from mental illness. During his life Hawthorne benefited from friendships with American figures, such as his earlier classmate and later president Franklin Pierce and Moby Dick author Herman Melville. Hawthorne did in his sleep on May 19, 1864. | 