Exploring the Literary Connections: Hawthorne and Emerson's Works

This essay examines the similarities between the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson, focusing on themes such as the tension between intellect and emotion, the corruption of human nature by science, and society's conspiracy against individuals. The essay highlights specific examples from Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" and "Rappachini's Daughter," as well as Emerson's "Self-Reliance" and "Nature," to illustrate these common themes. It attributes these similarities to the Transcendentalist period and the shared experiences of the authors, emphasizing their desire for the betterment of future generations. Desklib provides access to similar essays and study resources for students.

Naga Musaed
Professor Filer
Literature
04/3/19
Hawthorne and Similarities Between the Writings of Hawthorne and
Emerson
Nathaniel Hawthorne was a popular American novelist, short story writer and a dark
romantic. His works are considered a part of the Dark Romantic movement, as they mainly
focused the sins of the human beings and other evils of mankind. Ralph Waldo Emerson was
an American writer who was known to lead the transcendentalist movement of the 19th
century. Both these authors have writings which are like each other.
The purpose of this essay is to determine in what manner are there similarities
between the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
When one compares the ideas of Hawthorne and Emerson and the similarities that
they talk about in their stories, it is seen that both the authors talk about human existence in
one way or another. One of the most important aspect of human existence that is being
explored in both of their novels and stories is the ever-going tension between an individual’s
intellect and his/her emotions. As stated by Khojastehpour (16) this is one of the major
themes that is being explored in the stories of Hawthorne and Emerson. For instance, in

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stories like “Young Goodman Brown” and “Rappachini’s Daughter”, the readers find that
Hawthorne has stated ambivalence in the stories which id related to the society, as the author
himself states that the society is conspiring against the human beings in one form or another.
Similarly, the readers find that the author Hawthorne although in his story “Nature” considers
nature to be the equivalent of his heart, but at the same he does not hesitate to explain that
nature does not have a soul of its own. This is a perfect example of theme of conflict between
the intellect and the emotion that is so common among the human beings.
The second theme that the readers find common among the writings of Hawthorne
and Emerson are the fact that human nature is mostly corrupted by science. As stated by Tao
(20), this is another important theme that the readers can find in the works by these two
authors. Emerson, being known to be a Transcendentalist, always believed nature to hold
more power over science. I t is exactly these reasons that in the story “Rappachini’s
Daughter”, the readers find Dr. Rappachini violate the human laws by injecting poison into
his daughter to prevent her from requiring the basic human needs. Thus, this is another of the
reasons that the reader finds the stories of Emerson and Hawthorne similar in a lot of aspects.
The third aspect that the reader links the similarity between the writings of Hawthorne
and Emerson is the theme of society conspiring against the human beings. This theme is most
prominent in the beliefs of Ralph Waldo Emerson in “Self Reliance” as he himself states that
the society is like a joint stock company where the members agree to share their activities
with each other only to be sacrificed to the needs of the leader of the society. This theme is

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perhaps most pronounced in the story “Young Goodman Brown” where the main character
experiences such problems from the hypocritical leader of the society as his own views
clashes with those of the religious views of the leader (Roggenkamp, 32). Therefore, the
theme of the society conspiring against the human beings is a fact that is prominently
featured in the writings of both these authors.
There are various reasons behind a lot of similarities in the works of both the authors.
The first cause was it being the period of Transcendentalism which is considered to be one of
the most important period of English Literature in the history of America. This is one period
that is considered to be important in American Literature because a large number of famous
authors emerged during these period. As stated by Corley (50), all these contributed a lot to
the American Literature. Emerson and Hawthorne were part of the same movement.
Although Emerson was a transcendentalist and Hawthorne was not, they both experienced the
same things in their lives and during their writing careers that their writings consists of
similar elements. Therefore, it is only natural that the reader would find a lot of things similar
between the writings (Tao, 20).
Both Hawthorne and Emerson were some of the most popular authors of the
American literature. They were two of the best authors to emerge out of the Transcendentalist
period of American Literature. Both the authors knew each other not only personally but also
in the form of their writings which dealt with the human nature that was always in conflict

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with the society itself. The essay can finally be concluded by stating that both the authors
wanted the very best for the future generations of the Americans.

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Reference List
Corley, Liam. "Preaching and the Rise of the American Novel by Dawn Coleman, and:" Not
Altogether Human": Pantheism and the Dark Nature of the American Renaissance by
Richard Hardack, and: Writing beyond Prophecy: Emerson, Hawthorne, and Melville
after the American Renaissance by Martin Kevorkian." Leviathan 18.1 (2016): 48-53.
Khojastehpour, Adineh, and Behnam Mirzababazadeh Fomeshi. "A Poet Builds a Nation:
Hafez as a Catalyst in Emerson’s Process of Developing American Literature." k@ ta
16.2
.
Leise, Christopher. "The Eye-ball and the Butterfly: Beauty and the Individual Soul in
Emerson and Hawthorne." Philological Quarterly 92.4 (2013): 471.
Roggenkamp, Karen. "Hawthorne." American Literary Scholarship 2016.1 (2016): 23-32.
Tao, Qi. "Defense and Construction——Emerson's Habitus and Thought System."
Academics 10 (2013): 20.