Abstract
The paper attempts to discuss Nathaniel Hawthornes Marble Faun (1860) with respect to the Gothic tradition and its influence. It considers the way how particular Gothic elements (persecution, fear of death and evil forces, a confused identity, the secrets of the past, the setting of the Roman Catholic South) are modified and shaped into new connections and contexts: The specific role of American Puritan experience is discussed together with the Romantic emphasis on the healing power of imagination. The feeling of the sublime is related to the central theme of transgression, which is dealt with against the background of Hawthornes mythological tales (The Paradise of Children) as well as P.B. Shelleys Gothic tragedy The Cenci (1819).
Highlights
Hawthornes work, in its revaluation of earlier features of Romanticism,”[2] includes the authors original response to both English and American versions of the Gothic tradition
The transitoriness of the human order, of individual peace and happiness is linked to the central Gothic theme of transgression, which is discussed by Fred Botting as a significant element of the sublime
Hawthornes effort to cope with the Puritan heritage connects his work closely with the American Gothic tradition
Summary
Hawthornes Marble Faun (1860) with respect to the Gothic tradition and its influence. It considers the way how particular Gothic elements (persecution, fear of death and evil forces, a confused identity, the secrets of the past, the setting of the Roman Catholic South) are modified and shaped into new connections and contexts: The specific role of American Puritan experience is discussed together with the Romantic emphasis on the healing power of imagination. The feeling of the sublime is related to the central theme of transgression, which is dealt with against the background of Hawthornes mythological tales (“The Paradise of Children”) as well as P.B. Shelleys Gothic tragedy The Cenci (1819). The English Gothic Novel, Transgression, Puritan Religion, The Fall, Transformation “We are not endowed with real life [...] till the heart be touched.“1
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