童明《美国文学史》课后习题详解(霍桑、麦尔维尔和坡)【圣才出品】

第7章霍桑、麦尔维尔和坡
Questions for Discussion and Writing Assignments
1. What are the commonalities of the three writers that allow us to group them in this chapter despite their idiosyncrasies? How do they differ from the main doctrines of Transcendentalism?
Key: They all belonged to the group of romanticist writers and their literary achievements marked a new level of maturity in 19th century American literature. The three are strikingly similar in one aspect, namely: they are all masters of negative capability. The negative capability, by immersing us in ambiguities, doubts and other negative emotions, in fact strengthens us and improves our judgment by complicating our existing system of judgment. It is therefore a sign of the kind of aesthetic sophistication found only in good poets. Poe, Hawthorne and Melville were all healthy skeptics. Their ability in doubts, irony and detachment enabled them to interrogate the innocence of the age.
Of the three, Poe was not associated with Transcendentalism or any other noticeable -isms of his age. Hawthorne and Melville were marginally associated with the ideas of Transcendentalism, but they would often take a critical distance from that movement. Hawthorne was quite suspicious of the Transcendentalists’ sunny optimism. He also disapproved of their experimental community called Brook Farm. Melville’s skepticism about Transcendentalism is evident in what he
says in Moby Dick: “He who hath more of joy than sorrow in him … cannot be true—not true, or undeveloped.” Poe is unique in that his interest in the complex dynamism of the human psyche made him a precursor to the 20th century phenomenon of psychoanalysis.
2. What i s “negative capability?” Briefly discuss how “negative capability” is manifested in Hawthorne, Melville and Poe.
Key: The phrase, “negative capability,” was first used by the British romantic poet John Keats. In a letter written in December 1817, Keats defined it as the capability in good poets of including uncertainties and other negative emotions without stretching for reason and without losing reason. Keats wrote: “... that is when man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.” The negative capability, by immersing us in ambiguities, doubts and other negative emotions, in fact strengthens us and improves our judgment by complicating our existing system of judgment. It is therefore a sign of the kind of aesthetic sophistication found only in good poets.
Hawthorne was good at using ambiguities in his works. Melville created many mysteries in his works, such as in Moby Dick, the ship, the whale, the sea… are all mysterious images. Poe was good at setting up special conditions to create mysteries, thus arousing negative emotions of characters as well as readers.
3. How is Hawthorne connected with Salem witch-hunt trials?
Key: Hawthorne was a native of Salem, Massachusetts. One of Hawthorne’s ancestors was William Hawthorne who came from Cheshire to Massachusetts in 1630 among the earliest settlers and who, according to Hawthorne, had “all the Puritan traits, both good and evil.” William had a son who served as a judge in the Salem witchcraft t rial and, in Hawthorne’s thinking, was stained by Puritanism’s own sins. Hawthorn was intensely conscious of the wrongdoing of his ancestors, and this awareness led to his understanding of evil being at the core of human life, so he seemed to be haunted by his sense of sin and evil in his life. A theme evident in Hawthorne’s writings is the guilty stains of human nature.
4. What is Hawthorne’s own moral vision as compared to the Puritan tradition? Which story is a good illustration of your point?
Key: Hawthorne is not only connected with the Puritan heritage but is ambivalent towards it. The Scarlet Letter is a very typical example to illustrate my opinion. When examined more closely, this work is not so much a retrospective look at the Puritan past, to be more exact, it is Hawthorne measuring how distanced the Puritan “past” is from the Transcendentalist “present” in terms of the emotional, literary and religious patterns. The gray iron-bound law of Puritan society, one which meted out its law to Hester and her daughter Pearl, is shown to be sharply contrasted to the world of nature allowing the “freedom of
speculation,” one which is the space for Hester and Pearl. The “Boston” depicted in the novel is thus inclusive of these two worlds. Beside the scaffold, Hawthorne juxtaposes the prison—“the black flower of civilized society”—with the wild rosebush, a “sweet moral blossom” symbolizing” the deep heart of Nature.” The Hester who comes out of prison, bearing the letter “A” in her bosom and holding Pearl in her arms is an image of life. With her strong will and honest way of living, Hester transforms the mean ing of “A” so that it signifies, to her community and to the reader, not Adultery but Able or Angel. Pearl is even freer from this world and its “moral” laws. She is a child of natural innocence roaming in a forest that seems to promise a transcendental release from the fallen social world of guilt and sin. It is in Pearl, more than in the other characters, that the Emersonian idealism sneaks into Hawthorne’s moral vision.
5. How do irony and allegory work in Hawthorne’s stories to convey his moral vision? Discuss with two or three of his stories.
Key: The combination of allegory and irony is characteristically Hawthornian. For example, “Young Goodman Brown” is the dream experience of Goodman Brown who is young, innocent and, as his name suggests, an average man. Brown is newlywed and one night, he leaves his wife “Faith” behind to go on a journey in the forest. The forest, in Hawthorne’s allegorical tale, is the abode of sin and evil. There in the forest Brown discovers the Puritan community in its entirety, engaged in a collective confession of their association with evil and sin. But the
greatest shock is that he finds hi s “Faith” to be among them, at the devil worship. Just as he calls up his “Faith” to refuse the baptism of evil, Goodman Brown wakes up. Thereafter, whenever he sees his Salem Puritan neighbors, he sees them not as what they claim to be, but as secret and hypocritical sinners. Allegorically, the tale reveals that the Puritan community has an inclination towards evil in that they secretly harbor sin and the attendant guilt. What is interesting is that Hawthorne both confirms the Calvinist/Puritan tenet of original sin and exposes the hypocrisy in how the Puritan community, in their practices, tried to hide their sins. Another tale is “The Minister’s Black Veil”. Reverend Hooper wears a thin black veil for life because he feels a sense of personal guilt not confessed. The veil is a symbol of universal guilt concealed by hypocrisy. By wearing it and thus by drawing attention to the existence of the hypocrisy, the black veil enhances the ministerial power of Reverend Hooper.
6. With appropriate stories, discuss the kinds of internal conflicts in Hawthorne’s characters.
Key: The internal conflict in Hawthorne’s characters is often moral in nature and should be read in the Puritan context, as we have discussed. That’s why Hawthorne’s characters—such as Goodman Brown, Reverend Hooper, Ethan Brand, and John Endicott—are obsessed with sins. Some of the characters suffer because of unconfessed sins (e.g., Dimmesdale). Some others—such as Beatrice in “Rappcinni’s Daughter”) —suffer for their ancestors and fathers.
Hawth orne depicts “sin” not for its own sake. He allows us to study the effects of the sin on the sinners and on people related to them. However, doctrinarian morality is not the substance of Hawthorne’s moral vision. At least for his characters, the moral vision is acquired through an inner struggle or exploration which first places them in unfamiliar territories. The journey ends with the loss of innocence, and typically does not conclude with a life lived happily ever after. Some of the characters do not know what to do with their new selves or newly gained knowledge. Goodman Brown is a case in point.
7. Discuss the allegorical roles of Hester Prynne, Pearl and Arthur Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter.
Key: In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne, being the one penalized by the community for her adultery and thus the one bearing the scarlet “A” openly, gains a sympathetic knowledge of the existence of sin in other hearts. In that sense, Hester embodies this Hawthornian moral tenet: “if the truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth from many another bosom.” In contrast to Hester Prynne who finds salvation by willingly acknowledging her guilt, Arthur Dimmesdale conceals his sin so deeply that he is eventually destroyed when Roger Chillingworth coldly probes into his heart. But Dimmesdale’s weakness is in a sense also his healing power. Pearl is even freer from this world and its “moral” laws. She is a child of natural innocence roaming in a forest that seems to promise a transcendental release from the。