LITR 5535: American
Romanticism
Student Presentation on Reading Selections, summer 2002
Reader:
Jennifer Thurik
Recorder: Kayla Logan
June 11, 2002
Two-Way Correspondence in Hawthorne’s
“May-Pole
of Merry Mount” and “Minister’s Black Veil”
I would like to examine two aspects
brought up from our previous class: The interplay between physical light and
dark with moral good and evil, and the transference of correspondence between
the inner behaviors’ ability to change the outer world. I will be using both
stories, so I will try to go somewhat quickly.
“The May-Pole of Merry Mount” (pg.
623)
On page 626, middle paragraph, 4 lines down:
“At harvest time, though their crop was of the smallest, they made an image with the sheaves of Indian corns, and wreathed it with autumnal garlands, and bore it home triumphantly.”
· Even though their crops did not yield huge returns, they continued to celebrate and embrace the vegetation around them.
In the next paragraph, 2nd sentence:
In
contrast, the Puritans who lived nearby “wrought in the forest or the
cornfield, till evening made it prayer time again.”
·
The Puritans rarely celebrate and work the fields all day.
The contrast between these two peoples
continues throughout the story and is emphasized by Hawthorn’s use of color
schemes.
On page 626, middle paragraph:
“All the hereditary….”
·
He describes the beauty of the MayPole and its surroundings.
Everything is colorful and alive which corresponds to the life of the
celebrants who are dancing and singing around it.
In the next paragraph:
In contrast, “Unfortunately, there were men…”
·
These people are not celebrating in a traditional sense; therefore,
Hawthorne doesn’t use much color to describe them.
He turns to their behaviors, and not their surroundings to show their
personas.
Hawthorne continues this trend
throughout the story. Every time he
describes the people of Merry Mount, they are embracing nature and celebrating
around the MayPole. When he
describes the Puritans, he shows that they work hard and pray hard and are
unhappy with the behavior of their neighbors. Once
they’ve had enough, the Puritans are able to control the revelers by simply
cutting down their MayPole, thus killing their spirit.
On page 628, 2nd full
paragraphs:
“And with his keen sword…”
·
The Puritans have enslaved the people of Merry Mount with one swipe of
Endicott’s sword. He has taken
their hearts and their reasons for living.
Their beautiful, colorful, foliage-filled tree is now gone, so is the
life they once loved. They are now
subjected to living with the Puritans and under their laws. By
Hawthorne’s pen, their outer environment will trigger their inner thoughts and
behaviors. A prime example of
correspondence.
In another example of Hawthorne’s
use of color and correspondence, look at “the Minster’s Black Veil” on
page 630.
People changed the way they interacted
with Mr. Hooper since placing the veil on his face.
On page 631, beginning with the 2nd
large paragraph, halfway down the paragraph:
“He seemed not….”
“Mr. Hooper had the reputation… gloom of Mr. Hooper’s temperament.
Page 632, bottom of last big
paragraph:
“None, as on former occasions, aspired … settlement”
Page 636, 5th paragraph:
“… good Mr. Hooper was ….”
Page 637, 2nd full
paragraph:
“In this manner… anguish.”
Page 637, bottom of same paragraph:
“All through
life…eternity.”
Page 637, first full paragraph:
“By the aid of his mysterious emblem…black veil.”
·
Looking at the correspondence in this story, did Mr. Hooper change his
environment with the placement of the veil on his face, or did the environment
of sinners change Mr. Hooper? Who
really did change in the end? Wasn’t
he the same person/minister he was before?
Why now is he sought after for his powerful delivery?
In tying both stories together, how
does Hawthorne’s use of the light and dark influence the characters in his
stories? Additionally, does
correspondence work in both directions? Can
it even be separated at all? How
can we as readers and thinking, emotional people determine specifically what
alters our perceptions and behaviors?
Class
Discussion
Beth:
reading from page 631: “simple
piece of crepe, pale faced…” mutual give and take
Dr. W: The
two changes are isolated and both darken, so which way is the darkness passed?
Jenn:
Why doesn’t anyone ask the Minister about the veil?
Does one action have to influence the other?
David: Are
they just too polite, or do they not want to know?
He has been separated from the flock.
Do they really want to know the reasons?
Dr. W: The
idea is that everyone sins. Some
are repelled by the veil. Some are
drawn to the veil
Jenn:
That’s why they go to him in times of sorrow.
They are joined with him behind the veil.
Dr. W: Really
shows the Puritan background of Hawthorne.
In the idea of Original Sin, the first way to repent is to identify the
sin.
Kayla: The
veil is sublime in that it attracted and repelled simultaneously
Dr. W: It’s
more Gothic than Sublime because it’s not on a grand scale.
Kayla: It’s
similar to the charisma of sin or the forbidden fruit as in Paradise Lost.
Milton was a Puritan.
Linda: It’s
also present in Rowson.
Al:
Is there a sense of rebellion here in Hawthorne’s stories?
No one is black or white. Even
the Merry Makers know that mirth is the counterfeit of happiness.
Hawthorne describes the Revelers as happy and Puritans as stern at first,
but compassionate in the end towards the newlyweds.
The positions are exchanged.
Dr. W: Yes,
the two groups come to sympathize with one another.
Al:
Hawthorne encodes his works with meaning.
The Puritan being a “stern man.”
The May-Pole being a phallic symbol and one of castration as it is cut
down. Similar to the Scarlet Letter
in that the forest is the wild/carnal paradigm of forcing nature into something.
Krisann; There is a constraining of
natural wealth- the wealth of nature.
Natasha:
Just like real people. This
makes them appear more real.
Jenn:
Hawthorne recognizes that Puritans have problems too.
Dr. W: Hawthorne
never lands anywhere. He doesn’t
pin down the truth, but the story allows the morality to be in flux.
It becomes a tough question that Hawthorne doesn’t allow an answer to.
Jenn:
Is the fact that they live in color the reason for their happiness and
the lack of color in the Puritan world make them sterner?
Do their surroundings influence their behavior?
Dr. W: It
keeps coming back to unlimited wealth of America.
What is the reaction? Do you
dive in or do you impose something on nature?
Linda: The
question comes up also in Cooper.
David: We
must impose limits on nature. Man
can find himself only within nature.
Dr. W: With
Romanticism, nature is good, but because Hawthorne is working with Puritans,
nature can be too wild, excessive, and frivolous.
The influence of the Puritans is profound.
Look at Max Weber and the Protestant Work Ethic.
Goes along with Rowlandson’s story of the waste.
We saw conflict between the Puritans and Indians.
The Puritan goal was to increase profits and save for a rainy day.
The Indians enjoyed the fruits of their labor and had much more leisure
time. The Puritans were much more
concerned about the future than Indians were.
Jenn:
The Puritans hated the celebration, so when they came to America, they
didn’t bring that aspect of their lives with them.
Dr. W: That’s
why the Puritans didn’t celebrate Christmas when they came to America, it had
become too commercialized in England and they wanted to get away from that.
Another justification of this is the lack of holidays they celebrate.
Al:
Man imposes his will over nature.
Jenn:
Which way does the darkness go? Like
in Poe’s Usher, Black/white/red- color intrudes and affects the scenes and
characters.
David: Jews
wore colors too, the yellow star.
Jenn:
Did you notice that the minister won’t’ look at his own reflection?
Kellye:
The point of Hawthorne is that everyone has sin.
No one ever reveals all of lets their veils down entirely.
Sin is real, like the veil; therefore, no one wants to sense that.
Al: It’s like a cult of mourning. They want to be reminded of their own guilt.