Charter Street Burying Point, established 1637; oldest cemetery in Salem(photography by Bruce Hibbard)
Excerpt from "David Swan"
This passage from "David Swan" points to Hawthorne's belief in a "superintending
Providence" which makes both "regularity" and "foresight" available to human
beings.
Excerpt from "Fancy's Show-Box "
In this passage Hawthorne proclaims a fellowship with the guiltiest among
us and, at the same time, strongly suggests that harsh judgment of one mortal
by another would be among the most serious of moral errors. This attitude
may account for his unwillingness to adopt a doctrinaire posture in his own
life despite his apparent deep interest in religious matters.
Excerpt from "Sunday at Home"
While Hawthorne almost never attended church, in this passage he claims the
central-even holy-importance of a church in a community.
Excerpt from "Sunday at Home"
In this passage Hawthorne admits to a kind of theological confusion, one in
which his mind seems to be in frequent disagreement with his heart. It may
be that this sort of thoughtful bewilderment contributed to his reluctance
to join any single religion.
Excerpt from "Sunday at Home"
Despite the fact that Hawthorne did not belong to any church, he apparently
still kept the Sabbath and in this passage acknowledges his "instinct of faith."
Excerpt from "The Village Uncle"
While the voice of the Uncle who narrates this story is probably not the voice
of Hawthorne himself, it is not unlikely that the author shared some of the
Uncle's perceptions. The elderly man's sense of a divine presence even in
something as simple as a pool of water seems consistent with Hawthorne's faith
in Providence.
Excerptfrom Chapter 1 of The
Scarlet Letter, "The Prison Door"
Hawthorne's admiration for Anne Hutchinson comes across clearly in this passage,
as does the suggestion that the Hester Prynne and Anne Hutchinson are in important
ways similar to each other.
Excerpt from Chapter 2 of The Scarlet Letter,
"The Market Place"
Hester's, beauty, humility, and damaging pride come through in this description
of her as she walks to the scaffold early in the novel. In demeanor and attitude,
she reminds one of Hawthorne's sketch of the Antinomian, Anne Hutchinson.
Excerpt from Chapter 13 of The Scarlet Letter,
"Another View of Hester"
In this passage Hester is represented as a woman of an independence of mind
equal to that of religious dissident Anne Hutchinson. It is probable that
Hawthorne would have seen this quality simultaneously as a great strength
and a terrible fault.
Excerpt from "Mrs. Hutchinson,"
Hawthorne's provocative representation of religious dissident Anne Hutchinson
bears some remarkable similarities to Hester Prynne of The Scarlet Letter.
His ambivalence toward Hester is mirrored in his admiration and censure of
Mrs. Hutchinson, a figure who may have influenced him when he was composing
The Scarlet Letter. In this passage from "Mrs. Hutchinson" Hawthorne
imagines the trial of Anne Hutchinson by some of the leading religious figures
of her time. While Hawthorne clearly admires Hutchinson’s spirit and intelligence,
he deplores her tremendous pride and, one surmises, comes to agree with the
judgment delivered upon her.
Excerpt from "The Hall of Fantasy"
Hawthorne expresses his delight in the realized, as opposed to idealized,
earth and articulates a mild opposition to the Millerite idea that the world
is coming to a hasty end. He wants the world to continue, but will not insist
upon that, trusting instead to Providence.
Excerpt from "The Hall of Fantasy"
It may be that Hawthorne's failure to take up the cause of the abolitionists
is related to his failure to subscribe to any single religious doctrine. This
passage suggests that the abolitionist may be as foolish as the man who has
placed his faith in a potato. This is not to suggest that Hawthorne was in
favor of slavery, but rather that he believed that adamant adherence to any
doctrine, however benign, was dangerous. It is useful to compare this idea
with his "moralizing" about the father's good intentions in "The Snow Image."
Excerpt from "Monsieur Du Miroir"
Here Hawthorne speaks to his reflection as if it were another person, one
with access to the deepest of life's mysteries and suggests that, in the face
of his longing to know more than he can, even that "unreal image" might smile
at the vanity of the questions. Hawthorne suggests that our longing to understand
the mysteries of human experience is not likely to be fulfilled and that "Divine
Intelligence" has provided us with what we need to know.
Excerpt from "The Old Manse"
In this passage Hawthorne makes it clear that formalized books of religion
have so little bearing on the attainment of grace as to be actually impertinent.
This skepticism about the value of formalized theology may account in part
for Hawthorne's unwillingness to subscribe to any one religious doctrine.
Full text
of "The Old Manse"
Excerpt from "The Procession of Life"
In this darkly optimistic passage Hawthorne contends that we are all brothers
because Death is the great leveler, the true leader of the Procession of Life,
but that even death knows not where it leads. That knowledge is God's alone
and it is, consequently, in our interest to have faith God will not abandon
us, even as we die.
Excerpt from "The Procession of Life"
In this passage Hawthorne shows how sectarian adherence blinds one to the
virtue in others-even if the sectarian is virtuous himself. Assuming that
this is an expression of his genuine sentiments, it is not difficult to understand
his failure to adhere to any one religious teaching.
Excerpt from "The Snow Image"
After the father's insistence on bringing the living snow image into the presence
of the fiery stove, which has melted her to nothing, Hawthorne "moralizes"
upon the event and suggests that judgments, even those made with the best
intentions, need to be made carefully as an "element of good to one may prove
absolute mischief to another." This idea is consistent with Hawthorne's skepticism
of those who, like Young Goodman Brown, operate out of a judgmental certainty
and with his own reluctance to adopt any doctrinaire postures in his private
life. It is helpful to compare this passage with Hawthorne's comments on abolitionists
in "The Hall of Fantasy." Full text
of "The Snow Image"
Excerpt from "The Great Stone Face"
Ernest, the model of virtue in this tale, abandons his own idea of what the
great redeeming personage would be like in favor of accepting what appears
to be the work of Providence. Hawthorne thereby suggests that true belief
entails, at least in part, the setting aside of our own wishes and conceptions
in favor of those of a higher power.
