Tuesday, 19 October: Nathaniel Hawthorne, introduction 2170-2173.  “The Minister’s Black Veil,” 2195-2203.

Reader: Rhonda Bender

The Course Objective covered in this presentation will be:

Objective 2:

To study the movement of “Romanticism,” the narrative genre of “romance,” and the related styles of the “gothic” and the “sublime.”

The style of the “gothic” as utilized by Hawthorne in “The Minister’s Black Veil” is gothic in the conventional sense of haunting or eerie settings, the interplay of light and dark, and the memory of a past sin or crime. As well as maintaining the traditional use of the gothic style, Hawthorne also focuses on the “moral gothic,” or the conflict between good and evil, sin and virtue. 

On page 2196, first paragraph, a description of the black veil conveys Mr. Hooper’s probable perception of his congregation:

On a nearer view, it seemed to consist of two folds of crape, which entirely concealed his features, except the mouth and chin, but probably did not intercept his sight, farther than to give a darkened aspect to all living and inanimate things. With this gloomy shade before him, good Mr. Hooper walked onward…

The gothic convention of darkness is used to show the effects of the veil on Mr. Hooper. The veil has given a “darkened aspect” to everyone and everything that Mr. Hooper sees. It is a “gloomy shade” before him, constantly painting a dark and grim picture of those in his congregation. In the way that Mr. Hooper perceives his congregation, there are also elements of the “moral gothic.” Because Hooper’s veil now actually makes all that he views physically dark, it also seems to make his congregation spiritually or emotionally dark to him. This plays into the conflict between sin and virtue.

Referring to a previous student presentation given by Robin Stone in 2002, of the same passage quoted above, she explains how the use of light and dark contrast the beginning of the parable, which starts off “light and pleasant” with this passage when it “turns dark with the sight of the parson.” I found this an interesting, underlying hint of the gothic.

In another passage, the congregation’s view of Mr. Hooper seems to be changed by the black veil. On page 2197, second to last paragraph, “The black veil, though it covers only our pastors face, throws its influence over his whole person, and makes him ghost-like from head to foot.” I thought the term “ghost-like” illustrated the gothic very effectively. Images of ghosts or demons suggest darkness and death, and show how Mr. Hooper has come to be seen as someone almost evil due to the black veil, as opposed to someone virtuous, as we would presume a minister to be.

Hawthorne’s use of haunting or eerie settings in “The Minister’s Black Veil” is illustrated by a passage on page 2201, second paragraph, “The impertinence of the latter class compelled him to give up his customary walk, at sunset, to the burial ground: for when he leaned pensively over the gate, there would always be faces behind the grave-stones, peeping at his black veil.” The use of the “burial ground” as a setting for Mr. Hooper’s walks is extremely gothic. A cemetery obviously creates “gothic” notions of death and darkness, as do the actual “grave stones” behind which people wait to see Mr. Hooper and his black veil.

The one passage in Hawthorne’s parable I found to be “sublime” goes back to page 2198, first paragraph. “It was a tender and heart-dissolving prayer, full of sorrow, yet so imbued with celestial hopes, that the music of a heavenly harp, swept by the fingers of the dead, seemed faintly to be heard among the saddest accents of the minister.” That a prayer can be at once seen as “full of sorrow” yet still “imbued with celestial hopes” seems sublime to me. Also sublime is “that the music of a heavenly harp” can be “swept by the fingers of the dead.” “The music of a heavenly harp” seems like it would be a beautiful, divine sound, yet we learn that this music is being made by “the fingers of the dead,” which seems like a horrid image to be associated with that of a heavenly sound, so it is beautiful, yet scary, or morbid at the same time.

One other aspect of the parable struck me as sublime, though I don’t have an actual passage related to it. Hooper is willing to suffer for many years under the black veil, alienating himself from his community and relinquishing any worldly desires he may have. Though this must have been difficult, Hooper makes this sacrifice to satisfy his own faith by obtaining spiritual peace on earth and securing his place in Heaven. So, while he suffers under the scrutiny of his community, he derives peace and pleasure from his sacrifice, therefore his plight is simultaneously painful and joyous.

Question: