nathaniel hawthorne/TSL Flashcards
1
Q
Hathorne family
A
- family thought they were very important and descended from Puritan founders, saw themselves as arisocrats; poor but formerly wealthy
- ancestors were judges at Salem Witch Trials: John and William (Nathaniel was angry about sins of his ancestors that tied him to land)
- Nathaniel’s dad died when he was little, his mother was a nanny and seen as lesser so she and him were thrown out and they moved back in with her family close to Hathorne house
2
Q
Hawthorne’s early career
A
- Bowdoin College in Maine, still part of Massachusetts at the time, makes friends w/Franklin Pierce
- lived at home for 12 years working to become writer in solitude
- while he was studying he learned what his ancestors did at Salem Witch Trials
- changed name to Hawthorne to distance himself
3
Q
Hawthorne as a writer
A
- wanted to be the best writer of his era and a bestseller
- saw current bestsellers as “a bunch of scribbling women,” writing non-deep, easy things
- newspaper printed list of bestsellers and he wanted to get rich
4
Q
patronage system
A
people put in orders for books and publishers printed based on demand, limited supply
5
Q
publishing system
A
publishers print first and then it reaches public, became popular during Hawthorne’s era
6
Q
Hawthorne’s career
A
- known as greatest writer of his era
- published 3 AM lit novels that nobody cared about in his liftetime
- Scarlet Letter only sold 7800 copies in his lifetime
- he had a dayjob and was mad people were buying sentimentalist (cheap emotional books) books instead of his
- made little money
- Franklin Pierce got him consulship in Liverpool (American rep in foreign country)
7
Q
The Scarlet Letter
A
1850
8
Q
House of the Seven Gables
A
1851
9
Q
The Blithedale Romance
A
1852
10
Q
The Custom House
A
- Hawthorne worked in Salem custom house and was fired when Whigs took over
- name-dropped coworkers and ancestors
- TSL is culture of Hawthorne’s era set 200 years before in Puritan era, not historically accurate
