Talia Davis Ms. Macpherson Honors English III February 24, 2014Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts. When Hawthorne was four years old his father died of yellow fever. From 1821 to 1824 he studied at Bowdoin College in Maine. After attending Bowdoin College, Hawthorne worked as a writer and periodical contributor. Throughout the novel "The Scarlet Letter" biographical criticism is shown. Hawthorne imagined a path to who he wanted to be as an author. Puritan New England was the setting for his writing journey. Hawthorne wrote novels dealing with philosophy and human emotions, and philosophy was part of the Romantic literary tradition. The Romantic literary tradition included themes such as heresy, witchcraft, and adultery, all of which were used in his works. Hawthorne argued that his work explored the depths of our common nature. Nathaniel Hawthorne's fiction is unique in two important respects. He was the first great novelist to combine high moral seriousness with a transcendent dedication to art. Furthermore, he was also the first great novelist to insist on the fundamental unreality of his works. An imaginative genius gifted with remarkable linguistic ability, he opened a path in literature that few have followed with comparable success. Like all great writers he has......middle of paper......aradoxical. Dimmesdale struggles with the awareness of his sin, with his inability to reveal himself to Puritan society, and with his desire for confession. He attempts to relieve the pressure of this position by punishing himself mentally and physically and by insisting to his parishioners that he is a vile and worthless creature. While Hawthorne was becoming a famous author, he went through some difficult phases along the way in his career. writing career. Hawthorne was living in Concord, Massachusetts at the time of his fight. Hawthorne referred to himself as having no confidence in his literary abilities as a means of livelihood. He found himself unable to write a third of the time. Hawthorne had difficulty composing ideas to write about and was moving slowly by his standards. Hawthorne referred more than once to the hatred of the pen belonging to a tired writer.