Hawthorne's Literature for Children.

Abstract

In this study, Laffrado examines a long-neglected but significant aspect of Nathaniel Hawthorne's literary career - his writings for children. In turning to children's literature, Hawthorne endeavoured to transform the prevailing practices of the genre by providing young people with books that were both well crafted and truthful about history, experience, faith and the threats to innocence in a world of rationalism and materialism. The writer's ventures into children's literature began in 1841 with a series of historical stories: Grandfather's Chair, Famous Old People and Liberty Tree; these were followed in 1842 by Biographical Stories for Children. The author's last children's books: A Wonder for Boys and Girls (1851) and Tanglewood Tales (1853) were collections of stories based on classical myths. Through an analysis of these six books, Laffrado aims to develop a new biographical and intertextual perspective on Hawthorne's art and re-envisions the trajectory of his literary career. These works, she argues, reflect the concerns of his major writings, as well as those of his culture. Evident in his children's books, are Hawthorne's despair at artistic failure, his concerns about a mass culture and a US divided by sectional differences and his ambiguous attitudes toward gender relations. Laffrado also explores how changes in narrator, subject matter and framing devices in these works reflect stages in Hawthorne's personal life - from the financially struggling bachelor and unsuccessful author of the early collections to the happily married, successful writer of A Wonder Book and, finally, to the man worn out by age, reflecting on the losses of his own life in Tanglewood Tales.