Was Hawthorne a Real Woman’s Man?: An Analysis of His Female Characters in His 1850s Novels

Abstract

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s (1804-64) novels in the 1850s present memorable female characters who show his concern about women’s status in a male-dominant society. Older women like Hester, Hepzivah and Zenobia either suffer from the patriarchal order or fail in overriding the outdated frame of ideas enforced by men. Younger ones like Pearl, Phoebe and Priscilla are in a better condition as they are either outside of patriarchal dominion or compliant to the established values or changing social paradigm. While Hawthorne is sympathetic to women’s status, he shows an ambivalent attitude toward them as he was passive in the issues of social reform or women’s rights. He was pessimistic about the artificial change of social order and favored feminine women to feminists. His relations with his wife and other feminists like her sister Elizabeth Peabody or Margaret Fuller can be employed in interpreting women characters in these novels.