The Cambridge Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

The specially commissioned essays collected in this volume establish new parameters for both scholarly and classroom discussion of Hawthorne. This Companion provides fresh perspectives on Hawthorne's classic works, and on topics such as Hawthorne's relationship to history, women, politics, and early America. It brings together a team of leading international scholars to offer the most comprehensive introduction available to Hawthorne's work and life. The Cambridge Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne, first published in 2004, offers students and teachers an introduction to Hawthorne's fiction and the lively debates that shape Hawthorne studies. In commissioned essays, twelve eminent scholars of American literature introduce readers to key issues in Hawthorne scholarship and deepen our understanding of Hawthorne's writing. Each of the major novels is treated in a separate chapter, while other essays explore Hawthorne's art in relation to a stimulating array of issues and approaches. The essays reveal how Hawthorne's work explores understandings of gender relations and sexuality, of childhood and selfhood, of politics and ethics, of history and modernity. An Introduction and a selected bibliography will help students and teachers understand how Hawthorne has been a crucial figure for each generation of readers of American literature The Cambridge Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne offers students and teachers an introduction to Hawthorne's fiction and the lively debates that shape Hawthorne studies today. In newly commissioned essays, twelve eminent scholars of American literature introduce readers to key issues in Hawthorne scholarship and deepen our understanding of Hawthorne's writing. Each of the major novels is treated in a separate chapter, while other essays explore Hawthorne's art in relation to a stimulating array of issues and approaches. The essays reveal how Hawthorne's work explores understandings of gender relations and sexuality, of childhood and selfhood, of politics and ethics, of history and modernity. An Introduction and a selected bibliography will help students and teachers understand how Hawthorne has been a crucial figure for each generation of readers of American literature. Introduction / Richard H. Millington -- Hawthorne's Labors In Concord / Larry J. Reynolds -- Hawthorne as cultural theorist / Joel Pfister -- Hawthorne and American masculinity / T. Walter Herbert -- Hawthorne and the question of women / Alison Easton -- Hawthorne, modernity, and the literary sketch / Kristie Hamilton -- Hawthorne's American history / Gillian Brown -- Hawthorne and the writing of childhood / Karen Sánchez-Eppler -- Love and politics, sympathy and justice in The Scarlet Letter / Brook Thomas -- The marvelous queer interiors of The House of the Seven Gables / Christopher Castiglia -- Sympathy and reform in The Blithedale Romance / Robert S. Levine -- Perplexity, sympathy, and the question of the human / Emily Miller Budick -- Whose Hawthorne? / Gordon Hutner. The specially commissioned essays collected in this volume establish new parameters for both scholarly and classroom discussion of Hawthorne. This Companion provides fresh perspectives on the Hawthorne's classic works, and on topics such as Hawthorne's relationship to history, to women, to politics, to early America. This Companion brings together a team of leading international scholars to offer the most comprehensive introduction available to Hawthorne's work and life Offers fresh perspectives on Hawthorne's works, and on topics including Hawthorne's relationship to history, to women, politics, and early America. Nathaniel Hawthorne spent three periods of his life in Concord, Massachusetts among a group of friends and neighbors called Transcendentalists. Edited By Richard Millington. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 266-280) And Index.