A Study Of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Writing About Mass Culture In His New England Trilogy

The Scarlet Letter,The House of the Seven Gables and The Blithedale Romance constitute Nathaniel Hawthorne’s "New England Trilogy".This thesis,employing the critical theory of mass culture,has studied these works by means of close reading.It has explored that Hawthorne in his New England Trilogy reveals that the human nature of the masses has been alienated by mass culture,criticizes the damage of mind manipulation exerted by mass culture and expresses his anxiety that the obsession with mass culture may make people lose the ability to think rationally and critically.The thesis consists of five chapters.Chapter One includes the introduction of the author Nathaniel Hawthorne and his works,the synopsis of New England Trilogy,the literature review,the theoretical framework and the practicability of this thesis.The main part of the thesis consists of Chapter Two,Three and Four.Chapter Two analyzes the plots of procession and masquerade in New England Trilogy.On one hand,the procession is the result of masses‘ fetishism of their paragons.On the other hand,the procession embodies the masses’ deficiency of their subject consciousness.The masquerade that combines prevalent spiritual performances in the nineteenth century and masque tradition not only reflects the essence but the fragility of human nature.In Hawthorne’s opinion,the obsession with mass culture directly results in the alienation of human nature.Chapter Three analyzes witchcraft and hypnotism in New England Trilogy.Witchcraft and hypnotism are regarded as burgeoning pseudoscience in the mid-nineteenth-century America,forming the core elements of mass culture.Witchcraft shows the ruling class’s mind control over the masses while hypnotism is the reflection of mind control practiced by individuals.They both achieve their purposes of manipulating people by controlling others’ consciousness and souls.Hawthorne expresses his strong aversion to these means,for he thinks that the integrity of individuals’ souls will be destroyed and the obsession with science will be fatal and dangerous,which will transgress the sanctity of morality.Chapter Four dissects the daguerreotype,telegraph,village hall and prevalent saloon,which constitute the mass culture elements in The House of the Seven Gables and The Blithedale Romance.Daguerreotype and telegraph are products of frontier technologies which are newly invented in the mid-nineteenth century,offering the public convenience in their daily life;village hall and prevalent saloon collect fashionable entertainments and performance in the middle of the nineteenth century such as wax exhibition and diorama and so on,providing sensual pleasure for people.Hawthorne expresses his worries about people who lose their rational thinking and sober understanding of the convenience brought by the technology.He reveals that people who are immersed in the illusion of body entertainment created by mass culture will be easily led to the road of totalitarianism.Chapter Five is the conclusion.Through the analyses of Hawthorne’s New England Trilogy,this thesis reveals that Hawthorne employs mass culture elements in his romances and presents a society which is glutted with prevalent mass culture.He shows a calm and objective attitude towards technology and science which have provided people with convenience.He reflects on the impact brought by mass culture with his sharp perception,and criticizes on the manipulation of mind control.He appeals that people should have the ability to think rationally and critically when they are faced with sensual pleasure created by mass culture consumption,which provides us with valuable enlightenments in handling current culture problems and has profound and lasting significance.