| As one of the most important American romantic novelists in the Renaissance of the19th century, Hawthorn was so prolific as to create plentiful works of great aesthetic values. He initiated the symbolic form of romance in the American novels, providing the crowning torch to American literature.Hawthorn’s creation thoughts were never independent of transcendentalism, the prevalent philosophy at that time. The close contact with transcendentalists headed by Emerson exerted an imperceptible influence on Hawthorn’s creation thoughts. On one side, some ideas reflected in Hawthorn’s works like "over-soul", opinion of nature and the view of "self-reliance" and the repeated use of symbolism embodied the basic ideas of transcendentalism. It seemed that he was a transcendentalist.. But on the other side, He was never a transcendentalist who accepted everything about transcendentalism uncritically. He held special views on human nature, way of transcendence, and the relationship between man and the society, which were totally different from those of the transcendentalists. He held a suspicious and negative attitude toward the transcendentalists’views on human nature and transcendence, and showed deep animadversion to individualism worshipped by transcendentalists.For the people accustomed to linear thinking, his thoughts were vague and ambiguous, but through deep study of his works, we see that actually he was not ambiguous. Originating from that time, his thoughts were well beyond that time. Under the cover of being "paradoxical" and "ambiguous", his studious and dialectical life attitude is stashed.This paper is focused on analyzing and comparing the similarities and differences of Hawthorn’s ideas and those of the transcendentalists from a transcendental view, referring to interrelated works and materials. A new analysis of Hawthorn’s works is conducted to summarize and disclose his dialectic view of life and thus we can have a deeper and all-sided understanding of Hawthorn’s works. |
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