Nathaniel Hawthorne – 1804-1864

Born and raised in New England and steeped in its history and lore, Hawthorne produced some of the greatest fiction in American literature, including his masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter (1850). Hawthorne was fascinated by the large themes of guilt, conscience, and community, and by his own heritage of New England Puritanism, which included an ancestor who had been a judge during the infamous Salem witchcraft trials of the 17th century. Hawthorne wove these themes and fascinations into richly atmospheric explorations of the human character, creating situations that made extensive use of allegory and symbolism to probe what he considered the darkest secrets of the soul.