Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Young Faith Brown Born and raised in Salem, Massachusetts, Nathaniel Hawthorne has flourished into a true American writer. Whether it be a novel or a short story, Hawthorne writes about individuals who suffer from inner conflicts caused by sin, pride, untested innocence and hidden guilt. Readers get the chance to look inside of his characters, at their hearts, souls, and minds; which under normal circumstances would be kept secret and hidden. It is with this type of writing that the reader is given the opportunity to look at and interpret the author’s views on various subjects. Although feminism may not be Nathaniel Hawthorne’s goal when writing, he has a distinct way in which he depicts his female characters. Growing up in Puritan times it was believed that women were to be seen and not heard. Society brainwashed its people into thinking that it was “God’s” wish to have women act as if they were robots; they were to cook, clean, bare children, listen to their husband’s demands, and all the while keeping silent and smiling. Nathaniel Hawthorne recognizes this and instills in his female characters a “happy homemaker” front on the outside, while on the inside they embody sinful feelings of adultery, prid