Nathaniel Hawthorne and his biblical contexts

Abstract

Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Biblical Contexts by Conor Michael Walsh Dr. Richard Harp, Dissertation Committee Chair Professor of English University of Nevada, Las Vegas The majority of criticism and scholarship devoted to the fiction of Nathaniel Hawthorne takes for granted the relationship between Hawthorne and the Bible, focusing instead upon theology and philosophy. This work proposes that the Bible was an important and pervasive influence in Hawthorne's fiction. The Bible provides Hawthorne with numerous resources for both his artistic and moral concerns. At a basic level the Bible provides a popular platform that allows Hawthorne to immediately connect with his contemporary audience who were intimately familiar with the Bible. More importantly, though, are the vast examples and perspectives of the human condition and human experience found in the Bible. The historical aspect of the Bible gave depth to Hawthorne's creativity. The moral aspect of the Bible provided themes and ideas around which Hawthorne could craft his own stories. Ultimately the central position of the Bible in the Western tradition offers Hawthorne a touchstone from which to pursue his artistry as did his favorite authors: John Bunyan, John Milton, and Edmund Spenser. This work provides a sustained study of the biblical contexts of Nathaniel Hawthorne's fiction. I begin by establishing Hawthorne's familiarity with and reverence iii for the Bible. I then explore the connections between a selection of his characters and the biblical figures they are named after. Next, I explore the focused parallels and analogues between specific works of fiction and specific figures and events taken from the Bible. Finally, I explore the broader biblical themes derived from the story of the Fall, which captivated Hawthorne and appears throughout numerous of his works. This study provides a focused and substantial exploration of the biblical contexts of Hawthorne's fiction. Through these biblical contexts one can gain additional insight to Hawthorne's artistic and moral concerns as expressed in his writing.