Who Is Breasley In The Ebony Tower

“The Minister’s Black Veil” is arguably one of the most famous short stories in the history of American Literature. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, is an extremely well known writer who is recognized for his many works. From The Scarlet Letter to The House of the Seven Gables, Hawthorne’s exceptional literary skills are portrayed in each and every one of his stories. In his short story, “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses irony, symbolism, and stereotypical Puritan beliefs and behavior to expose humanity’s hypocrisy in an effort to create change.

Throughout Edith Wharton’s Transcendental novel, Age of Innocence, she creates a complex society based on social norms. During this work, Wharton suggests that power is based on wealth and that an individuals’ potential is limited to some extent by the strict rules of upper class New York society. For instance, the elites of New York refuse to let Ellen Olenska into their society because she is a woman who left her husband. These New Yorkers are worried that they will be breaking the social code by having an outcast as an acquaintance. Ellen’s struggles in fitting into society depicts the fact that one cannot ignore all social norms and be accepted by anyone worried about their own status. The amount of power and influence society has over

American currencies, specifically coins, have two sides: a head and a tail. The head and tail are different, yet they are still part of the same coin. Two American authors, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne, represent two sides of the same coin: Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism swept through America as a new worldview in the 1900’s. Transcendentalism is a philosophy that asserts the primacy of the spiritual and transcendental over the material, that deals with aspects of nature. Men committed their lives to the study of nature. Nature became a religion. Emerson, a transcendental optimist, claimed that each person is inherently good. Hawthorne, a transcendental pessimist, demanded that man was corrupt and inherently evil. Emerson

When it comes to doing what 's right; when stuck in a dilemma, how does one conform? Society is constantly edging us to submit to external pressures with the fear of being judged even if it might be the wrong decision. Two Fishermen, and The Snob illustrated by Morley Callaghan are both exceptional examples on how society views and pressures can have an impact on one’s actions towards a situation. Whether it is based on one’s hierarchy placement by assumptions or, even when one gets judged by the way they appear. Throughout these two short stories, the protagonists Michael and John are placed in tough situations making them face societal obstacles. When someone is placed in a situation they can feel uncomfortable, or threatened, which then

Gentillesse, the the capacity for a being to act compassionately and graciously, was seen as a characteristic of the noble class (Brown 175). In fact, gentillesse was a concept based on both “wealth and social distinction” as well as “character and behavior,” and these two parts were thought to be almost impossible to separate (Carruthers 286). Being an aristocrat was, therefore, a necessary condition for gentillesse; those at the cusp of nobility were not thought to have this characteristic as they were not at the top of the social hierarchy. Yet, the Franklin, a member of the landowning class but not a noble, explores the presumed relationship between the attribute and the high-class. In the “Franklin’s Tale,” the Franklin constructs parallel

People tend to be judged by how others perceive them to be, rather than how they actually are. This statement is shown in the play, Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. One example from the play in which this type of unfair judgement is displayed is when the news of Henry Drummond being the defense attorney for Bert Cates was announced. “Henry Drummond, the agnostic… A vicious, godless man… Henry Drummond is an agent of darkness. We won’t let him in the town… God didn’t make him, that he is a creature of the Devil, perhaps even the Devil himself.” (27-28). This shows an example of Reverend Brown judging Henry Drummond as an evil man who is even comparable to the Devil, despite the fact that he doesn’t truly know him and

Henry James in the funeral article of Lippincott’s Magazine from July 1877, issues a negative tone on describing the people attending, but is being positive about Mr. George Odger.

The diction of Henry James shows pity for Mr. George Odger, the man who has passed away without achieving to represent in Parliament. Henry James stay printed in Lippincott’s Magazine July 1877 expressing James’ indignant and defiant view of Odger’s funeral. Odger, a “humble’ man who “befell” and who in “vain fought to achieve his goals.” Odger, a man extoled by rich and poor for his courageous and mock-heroic actions. All Mr. Odger wanted was to be pompous but failed to achieve his goal.

Although Dimmesdale achieves great popularity as a preacher, Hawthorne reveals that Dimmesdale is constantly being “gnawed and tortured by some black trouble of the soul” (97). Hawthorne’s specific word choice helps to emphasize the nature of Dimmesdale’s suffering. “Gnawing” suggests a persistent and steady breakdown, while “torture” carries connotations of extreme pain. Hawthorne carefully chooses these words to illustrate that Dimmesdale’s soul is continuously disintegrating because of his hidden sin, causing him great pain. In fact, Dimmesdale’s whole being is so false that “the only truth… was the anguish in his inmost soul” (100). Once again, Hawthorne emphasizes Dimmesdale’s great suffering with the word “anguish,” which denotes severe mental and physical pain. Also, by narrating the falsehoods in Dimmesdale’s life, Hawthorne reveals the hypocrisy that plagues Dimmesdale’s soul. Through his eloquent usage of figurative language and word choice, Hawthorne illustrates the utter deterioration and disintegration of Dimmesdale’s

Charles Brockden Brown’s Wieland paints a picture of religion that faults its practice in early America. As a force of plot in the novel, it is blind faith in one’s religion that leads to both Elder Wieland and Theodore’s eventual demise, but as a more present force, Brown’s perspective on religion in the novel points to a distaste for enlightenment thinking based upon what happens to both Theordore and Elder Wieland.

Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ambrose Bierce express their dark romantic writing styles in a way to create a certain emotion to the reader. In Hawthorne’s “The Minister's Black Veil” and Bierce’s “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” both stories are similar in their use of symbolism and irony to add depth to the story and contrast in their use of tone.

The writer narrates a story of evil taking over an innocent man, revealing the fragility of human belief. In the story, the devil uses rhetorical techniques, such as logos and ethos, to lead Goodman Brown astray. By listing several examples of corruption, the devil successfully conveys Goodman that all people are standing on the wicked side. By calling fellow citizens “children”, the devil demonstrates that his ability, visionary, and authority are much greater than those of humans, showing that standing on the evil side is not only a “wise” option, but also a general trend. “Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked one” clearly shows that even though Goodman Brown has deep belief in Puritanism, he cannot help himself under the extreme

In “North and South,” author Elizabeth Gaskell subverts the idea that prejudice may only come from those of high stature, exemplifying the overarching reach of prejudice through the servant Dixon. Dixon’s prejudice initially presents itself through her distaste for Mr. Hale and her view that his class is socially inferior to that of her mistress, Mrs. Hale. Although she considers Mr. Hale to be “the blight which had fallen upon her young lady's prospects in life,” she finds herself “too loyal to desert [Mrs. Hale] in her affliction and downfall (alias her married life)” (Gaskell 22). The relationship she has with Mr. and Mrs. Hale illustrates Dixon’s inherent bias towards others depending on their social status. The extent of Dixon’s predisposition is interesting because she herself is a servant.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, written by Mark Twain, tells the tale of Henry “Hank” Morgan and his adventures in sixth century Arthurian England. Throughout his adventure, Twain’s derision for the Romantic literary style is illuminated through Hank’s no-nonsense assessment of situations and his critical opinion of the English nobility. The pitiful and unflattering reality of the Arthurian nobility and Mark Twain’s disdain for romantic literature are portrayed through Hank’s quest to rescue Sandy’s fellow ‘damsels’ in distress from the clutches of their ogre captors.

In the seventeenth century England, fifteen year old James Matthew, Oppidan Scholar, arrived at Eton resenting every aspect, and even more so when he met Arthur Darling. Arthur was a Colleger who immediately took a disliking to James, due to his arrogant disposition and cascading mass of dark curls combined with piercing blue eyes. James was the illegitimate son of Lord B, the Queen’s man to carry out her orders. Though connected to nobles and nobility, for all that meant, James was only able to count the number of times he had seen his father on one hand. He was ignored by his father on most occasions, so he was raised by his Aunt Emily, one of the few people in the world he truly admired.