Hegelian synthesis in the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne

F. O. Matthiessen suggested that the first half of the nineteenth century might be called the "age of Hegel," but, surprisingly, very few scholars have examined the American literature of that period for signs of Hegelian thought. This study explores the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne and demonstrates the correlation between the philosophical principles of Hawthorne and Hegel.

Although Nathaniel Hawthorne may not have studied Hegel directly, he would have been familiar with the principles of Hegelian philosophy through his association with New England intellectuals. A close examination of Hawthorne's fiction reveals a philosophical stance quite similar to that of Hegel. Hawthorne's works can be read as a dramatic treatment of many of the principles put forward by Hegel in The Phenomenology of Spirit.

Reading Hawthorne from this perspective explains some of the ambiguities that have led to disagreements among Hawthorne critics. Two chapters are dedicated to an examination of many of the short stories. Emphasis is placed upon Hawthorne's use of thesis and antithesis as the primary characteristic of the fallen world. The tales represent Hawthorne's struggle to come to grips with the problem of alienation, a problem which both Hawthorne and Hegel saw as the chief obstacle to mankind's happiness. Both writers maintain that a synthesis of mind and substance is necessary to overcome the sense of alienation and to achieve a unified sense of self.

The following chapter deals with Hawthorne's four major novels. In the novels Hawthorne's emphasis shifts from the individual in isolation to relationships between people and to the relationship between the individual and society. An important factor in the novels is Hawthorne's concept of human progress, which follows the same sequence outlined by Hegel in The Phenomenology.

This critical approach reveals Hawthorne to be less Puritanical, less ambivalent, and more philosophically consistent than most previous studies have alleged. The study also indicates the degree to which Hegel's ideas were a part of the Zeitgeist of nineteenth-century America.