Emmaline Smith Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne are two great American authors who are

both considered masters of the American Romanticism Movement. Their excellent use of symbolism, metaphors, and the supernatural tie these authors together and set them apart from many other writers of their time. Each author incorporates elements of their lives into many of their works, such as Poes isolation and Hawthornes Puritan background. Although there are many similarities in these two authors works, there are also a few differences. Edgar Allan Poe was a powerful influence in the course of American literature, and a forefather of the Romantic Movement. Both Poe and Hawthorne stretched Realism beyond reality, creating a style called Romanticism. Poe placed huge importance on the aesthetic principles of short fiction and the use of symbolism to develop the atmosphere of the story. He explores the dark side of human nature and the conflict inside of man, using symbolism and description to bring the reader into the tale to feel the story on an emotional level. Some of the feelings of isolation and loneliness that Poe felt in his own life can be seen in many of his works. Edgar Allan Poe was born in 1809 the young actress Elizabeth Poe. She was abandoned by Poes father when Poe was only one and then died one year later when she was only twenty-four years old. After her death Poe went to live with John Allan and his wife while his siblings were broken up to live with other families. Yet Poes relationship with his foster father was always troubled, and when John Allan died he left nothing in his estate to Poe. Poe began drinking soon after while studying at the University of Virginia as well as running into heavy gambling debt.

Emmaline Smith Poe married his thirteen-year-old cousin, Virginia, in 1836 only to have her die from tuberculosis when she was twenty-four. Poes drinking was a problem throughout his career. He died in 1849 at only forty years old. Echoes of Poes life can be seen in several of his stories. His poem Annabel Lee was about a young woman dying in her youth and in love, much like Poes own wife Virginia. Angelic envy is the reason for Annabels death. Poes short story, Ligeia is about the narrators lover who is revealed to have died. Ligeias beauty is considered more than merely human, with intense and expressive eyes. The narrator marries another woman after Ligeias death yet the souls of the narrator and Ligeia are so intertwined that Ligeia comes back to posses Rowenas body in the end. Poe believed that the death of a beautiful woman is the most beautiful thing in poetry. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 into a family that had a long history in New England and specifically in the Salem Witch trials. Hawthornes father died when he was just two, forcing him and his mother and sisters to move in with his grandparents in their Salem home. Not surprisingly, a Puritan setting is the backdrop for many of Hawthornes works. Hawthornes great grandfather was a prominent judge during the infamous Salem Witch trials, and this was a stain on the family that Hawthorne keenly felt. Hawthorne had much less tragedy in his life than Poe experienced, but had a very disturbing family history. Hawthornes The Black Veil is reminiscent of his grandfathers time in a Puritan town. The minister begins wearing a black veil, to which the townspeople react with fear and loathing. Yet the veil is nothing more than a simple veil, which

Emmaline Smith the minister used to symbolize the sin of his parishioners who judged him. Much like Hawthornes grandfather unjustly judged those in the Salem Witch Trials. The imaginary and reality verses dreams are major aspects which Poe and Hawthorne share. The supernatural or some aspect of the supernatural can be found in many of their works. In Poes Ligeia the narrator loses his love Ligeia and marries another woman who we are told is inferior to Ligeia in every way. Ligeia is described as unearthly beautiful and with eyes which are a window to her soul. Ligeia is described as being all soul, passion, and learning. While Rowena, the narrators second wife is described as being nervous and submissive and not loving the protagonist at all. It is after Rowena has begun dying that the lines between reality and dream begin to blur. The narrator sits with Rowena all night, as she seems to die and then come back to life over and over, at one time sensing another presence in the room. The curtains are constantly moving to remind the audience that the outside world is alive. In Poes work, stillness is equitable to death and decay. At the end of the story, Ligeia seems to come back to life. Yet here Poe makes the reader question whether the narrator is merely dreaming, or is perhaps the narrator himself has killed Rowena and is now mad. Or if the lady Ligeia killed Rowena and did truly come back to life. Hawthorne plays with fiction and reality in his story Young Goodman Brown and also makes the reader question real verses imaginary. Young Goodman Brown sets off in the morning against his wife Faiths warnings, a foreboding allusion to events to come, on an errand in the woods. Here the woods symbolize

Emmaline Smith the unknown, the evil, and dreams while the town represents safety, order, and consciousness. Goodman Brown leaves town to see what is out there and to see if he can make a safe return. He encounters a figure that looks like his father but knows it cannot be true because his father would never make such an errand. The question of can you trust what you see is brought up because the Puritans believed that the Devil could impersonate a person but no one could be impersonated unless they agreed to be. Goodman Brown sees all of the respectable figures of the town at the evil gathering in the wilderness, even his wife Faith. When he returns to town he cannot help but turning colder to his wife and the rest of the community because of what he saw. The story had a dreamlike quality to the writing, which left the reader unsure whether what Goodman Brown saw was merely imagination and a dream or was it reality. Both authors rely heavily on symbolism in most of their poems and stories. Poes use of symbolism in The Fall of the House of Usher draws the reader into the story of death, decay, and depression that is inside the House of Usher. The unnamed visitor enters the house and describes it as an excessive antiquity and the evidently decayed condition of the individual stones on the outside. The house itself is symbolic of the family inside which is also slowly decaying and weakening. Inside of the house the furniture is described as comfortless and tattered with dark draperies on the walls. This is a reflection of the depression and gloom that are a reflection of Roderick and his sister. As brother and sister die together the entire house follows them in death, finally collapsing from decay. The house is the ultimate symbol for Roderick and the whole House of Usher.

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Hawthorne uses symbolism is almost all of his works; one of his most obvious uses is in The Birthmark. Aylmer married Georgiana in the beginning and very soon after the union the small birthmark on her face begins to trouble Aylmer. Aylmer waits until after their marriage to be repulsed, trapping Georgiana with a man who hates her for her birthmark. Aylmer selects the birthmark as a symbol of Georgianas tendency to sin and her imperfections, even though Georgiana seems naturally good and not likely to sin. As Aylmer works to remove the mark, Georgiana is taken to the room next to his laboratory, and the two rooms contrast shockingly. The boudoir is free from all imperfections and has a heavenly quality while the laboratory smells like earth and is covered in soot and dirt. The two rooms symbolize the lofty ambitions of Aylmer trying to create perfection and the realities of trying to fight nature. The mark also represents Georgianas mortality, and Aylmers revulsion is in reaction to his own fear about death. As an alchemist Aylmer thinks that he can root out mortality and prolong life indefinitely. Though these two authors share many themes and ideas, they differ in writing styles. Both are Romantic authors, yet Hawthorne writes more on the lighter side of romance. Many mystical and unexplained things happen in Hawthornes works. Hawthorne believed that the meaning of life came from human conscience and soul. This can be seen in his story The May Pole where Edith and Edgar feel love in Merry Mount, and their eventual decision to leave the town of hollow mirth

Emmaline Smith and go with the Puritans. Nature plays a major role in many of Hawthornes works, such as in Young Goodman Brown venturing into the secret and evil woods. Poe drew more from the dark side of Romanticism, producing literature with more of a gothic mood. Poe explored the darker side of the human mind and heart, as well as the subconscious of his characters. The corruption and decay of the protagonist in The Black Cat culminate in violence and murder. The inner psyche of the main character is explored, Poe blaming alcoholism for the characters eventual spiral to moral decay. Possibly coming from Poes own struggles with alcoholism. Death also plays a large role in gothic writings and in Poes work, like in The City in the Sea in which death and decay have invaded, as noted by the lack of movement. All of these elements create an environment of fear of the unknown and a sense of unreality making Poes works darker than Hawthornes works. These two authors were born during the same generation and each was a major influence to the Romantic Movement. What makes Poe and Hawthorne so similar is each ones use of the supernatural and the unreal, coupled with heavy symbolism in order to draw readers into the story. Yet while Poe and Hawthorne do have striking similarities, the styles used can vary. Poes writings are consistently darker with more themes of death and madness while Hawthornes tend to be lighter with more real-life settings often in Puritan towns. Although Poe and Hawthorne wrote in the same genre they have different ways of approaching it.