Nathaniel Hawthorne

1. Nathaniel Hawthorne 1804-1864

2. Born in Salem, Massachusetts • He was a descendant of a prominent Puritan family—these ancestors included a judge known for his persecution of the Quakers and a judge who played an important role in the Salem witchcraft trials • Hawthorne felt guilty for his ancestors actions. This shaped his character and his writing

3. He graduated from Bowdoin College in Maine in 1825 • After graduation he lived in his mother’s house in Salem for twelve years, devoting his energy to developing his skills as a writer • In 1837 he published his first collection of stories, Twice-Told Tales, which sold poorly but established him as a respected writer

4. After moving out of his mother’s house, he lived briefly at Brook Farm, a Transcendentalist commune • In 1842 he married Sophia Peabody and moved to the Old Manse at Concord, Massachusetts where Ralph Waldo Emerson had lived

5. Hawthorne moved back to Salem to work in a political position, but was forced out of office when there was a change in administration • Hawthorne then concentrated on his literary career again

6. In 1850 he published The Scarlet Letter, which was extremely successful and made him famous • When Franklin Pierce, a college friend of Hawthorne’s, became President he made Hawthorne the American consul at Liverpool, England • Hawthorne spent several years in England and Italy, and then returned home to Massachusetts • Four years after his final novel was published, Hawthorne died in his sleep