Hawthorne, Brown and Poe Essay

The chivalric component of the American Romantic Period of 1800-1860 produced several eerie and black letter works by talented literary minds. Three such pieces, The tell-tale magnetic core, The Birthmark, and Wieland were indite by Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Charles Brockden Brown. These works of fiction delve into the minds of seemingly unstable protagonists, and in so doing participated in the general Romantic theme of reacting against reason. These authors also adhered bring forward to the Romantic notion of elevating the human spirit as persons in requisite not of salvation but of being aroused to a truer blood with the self.Thesis The main characters of each story defy the conventions of the time by dint of gothic settings, anti-religious demonstrations and revolutionary mental insights that lead to a better judgement of the dark side of human capabilities.A. Wieland by Charles Brockden Brown1. Wrote extensively on an array of topics2. Ushered in the ide as of the American Romantic Period3. Strong psychological state of fe masculine character4. Weak psychological state of male characters5. External force having the power to awaken his true characterB. The tell-tale heart by Edgar Allan Poe1. Psychologically challenged character2. More insight into the inner whole kit and caboodle of the unsound mind3. Takes the reader into uncharted territory4. Narrator an go in self- acquaintance5. Death of a beautiful womanC. The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne1. Death of a beautiful woman2. Gothic tradition of phantom and mystery3. Puritanical hypocrisy4. Salvation through self knowledgeConclusion The three authors Brown, Poe, and Hawthorne, along with their works Wieland, The tell-tale heart, and The Birthmark, portray several aspects of the American Romantic Period in which they were written. They display the gothic preoccupation with the ghostlike and/or mysterious qualities of the unknown. They also delve into the psychological mysterie s of the mind and demonstrate the moral weaknesses of humans. Finally, they seek to bring humans into such contact with the self so that elevation and improvement of the mind and spirit can have about through a thorough knowledge of the self and its functions.