Nathaniel Hawthorne And The Romance: An Analysis Of Dominant Writing Devices In The Scarlet Letter And The House Of The Seven Gables

Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of the most outstanding American writers in the nineteenth century, gains a good reputation for his distinctive understanding and application of Romance. In Hawthorne's view, Romance, as a new type of literary form, is distinct from the realistic Novel and he has claimed many times in prefaces to his several works that his work is Romance rather than Novel. Owing to the profound influence of Puritanism and his early experience in the "Transcendentalism Club", when creating romances, Hawthorne widely uses symbolism and psychological description, which attach ambiguity and obscurity to his works. Examplified by The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables, this thesis not only analyzes comprehensively the two dominant writing devices—symbolism and psychological description, but displays Hawthorne's unparalleled artistic achievement in literary writing as well. In brief, Hawthorne starts a new page for the American literature and makes an immortal contribution to the advancement of history.