Essay on Nathaniel Hawthornes The Artist of the Beautiful

Nathaniel Hawthornes The Artist of the Beautiful He had caught a far other butterfly than this. When the artist rose high enough to achieve the beautiful, the symbol by which he made it perceptible to mortal senses became of little value in his eyes while his spirit possessed itself in the enjoyment of the reality. -Hawthorne, The Artist of the Beautiful. In The Artist of the Beautiful by Nathaniel Hawthorne, creative process is represented as the practice of creating an animated mechanism in the shape of a butterfly and imbuing it with the spirit of Owen Warland – the pursuer of beauty. Owen is confronted with the skepticisms of Robert Danforth, a blacksmith, and Peter Hovenden, a retired watch maker. Both Robert†¦show more content†¦However, Hawthorne stresses the importance of the process – the intellectual thought process, effort, and imagination – of creating art rather than the usefulness of the product. From the beginning of the story, Owen Warland, a watchmaker, is alienated from the rest of the characters. Owen struggles against his own self-doubt as well as the disbelief in his efforts expressed by the other characters. He is directly contrasted and compared to Robert Danforth the blacksmith, who produces practical tools, by Owens former master, Peter Hovenden. Clearly, Peter looks down upon Owen for working on watches and machinery that has less value than a Dutch toy (Hawthorne 332). After his work has been destroyed once by Annie Hovenden, Owen withdraws himself from work. When Annie gets engaged to Robert, Owens health falters, he loses motivation, and he becomes unfit to work. Throughout the story, Owen walks a lonely path while the incredulous world assails him with its utter disbelief (337). My personal experience in visual arts tells me that sometimes artists may prefer being alone. Although Owen is alienated from the rest of the characters due to the social atmosphere in the story, when I worked on the largest pencil drawing I have ever done, I worked strictly alone; I did not listen to what others had to say about my drawing. Some did not like how I was approaching my drawing, but I felt maybe they will understand once they see the finished product. IShow MoreRelated Hawthornes The Artist of the Beautiful, Pollacks Stitches in Time, and Jungs The Spirit Man, Art and Literature1453 Words   |  6 PagesNathaniel Hawthornes The Artist of the Beautiful, Barbara Pollacks Stitches in Time, and Car Jungs The Spirit Man, Art and Literature The artist has been a mystery to many of us: unexplainably driven in his work; seemingly unconcerned with any other aspects of his life; often oblivious to the world around him. The artists in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Artist of the Beautiful, Barbara Pollacks Stitches in time, and Carl Jungs The Spirit in Man, Art, and Literature represent someRead MoreIn The Highly Analyzed Short Story â€Å"The Birth-Mark,† Author1873 Words   |  8 PagesIn the highly analyzed short story â€Å"The Birth-mark,† author Nathanial Hawthorne’s writing is shown to be an allegory with much of the allegorical themes represented through the idea of perfection in society. Hawthorne’s symbolism and themes display his belief that life consists of imperfection and the loss of imperfection results in the loss of life. In his writing he shows the readers â€Å"the power of both science and arrogance† that man is comprised of and uses the story of â€Å"the Birth-markâ⠂¬  as a depictionRead MoreThe Call Of Cthulhu, By Nathaniel Hawthorne1472 Words   |  6 PagesIn Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, â€Å"The Birth-mark,† and H.P. Lovecraft’s horror story, â€Å"The Call of Cthulhu,† there are both similarities in themes and style, however, their characterization and narration is entirely different. This lends itself to creating two different short stories, both can be classified as horror or suspenseful. Hawthorne’s story, published earlier, shares a similar theme of humanity and union with â€Å"The Call of Cthulhu.† The documentary style of H.P. Lovecraft’s shortRead MoreThe Call Of Cthulhu, By Nathaniel Hawthorne1388 Words   |  6 PagesIn Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, â€Å"The Birth-mark,† and H.P. Lovecraft’s horror story, â€Å"The Call of Cthulhu,† there are both similarities in themes and style, however, their characterization and narration is entir ely different. This lends itself to creating two different short stories, both can be classified as horror or suspenseful. Hawthorne’s story, published earlier, shares a similar theme of humanity and union with â€Å"The Call of Cthulhu.† The documentary style of H.P. Lovecraft’s shortRead More The Fate of Women in The Birthmark Essay2415 Words   |  10 PagesThe Fate of Women in â€Å"The Birthmark†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Wilson Sullivan in â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne† in New England Men of Letters states that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale, â€Å"The Birthmark,† depicts the efforts â€Å"of a deranged scientist to obtain total perfection† in   his wife by removal of a facial blemish. In this story the scientist operates on the superficial level of the physical world, while the woman, the truly heroic woman, functions on the level of the heart and soul, the more significant levelRead More Rappaccini’s Daughter - Women Essay2819 Words   |  12 Pagesare the attitudes of the young medical school student in Hawthorne’s tale, â€Å"Rappaccini’s Daughter,† toward women; of the author toward women; of   other characters in the story toward women? Are women involved in basic plot development? This essay intends to answer these and other questions about women in the short story.    Beatrice, Dr. Rappaccini’s daughter, is the prime motivating force in the story. Giovanni’s love for the beautiful daughter, mixed perhaps with pride, blinds him to variousRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Hugues Merle1580 Words   |  7 Pagesdifferent definition of an adulterer. The Scarlet Letter (Figure 1) can be recognized not only for retelling the well-known novel of Nathaniel Hawthorne, but also for the body language in which he paints Hester and Pearl, which is similar to that of the Madonna and Child (Walters Museum). This painting was William Walters’ first commission from a French artist. It came with the requirement that Merle would illustrate this story (Walters Museum). His painting represents the common themes of sinRead More Rappaccinis Daughter Essay: Finding the Heart in Rappaccinis Daughter911 Words   |  4 PagesFinding the Heart in Rappaccinis Daughter         In Hawthornes short story, Rappaccinis Daughter, Rappaccini is ostensibly a cold, calculating scientist. A pure scientist who would willingly give his daughter, himself, or whatever else most precious to him for the sake of adding so much as a grain of mustard seed to the great heap of his accumulated knowledge (1641). This leads most to believe that Rappaccini lacks any emotion and concern for his scientific subjects and their desiresRead MoreBy the end of the eighteenth century, thought gradually moved towards a new trend called1200 Words   |  5 Pagesimagination itself was the soul, and that the key to the identity of humans was embedded into the mind, therefore, they used their imagination to create the beautiful and change lives. The importance of individualism had no limits when it came to making a living in the free markets of the arts and together with imagination, romantic artists expressed an appetite for their unique varieties of art and literature Romantic Literature and Art When it comes to literature the Romantics used language andRead MoreThe Beautiful And Ethan Brand By Nathaniel Hawthorne2405 Words   |  10 Pagesstories, The Artist of the Beautiful and Ethan Brand by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the titular characters appear to suffer from an alteration of the mind, interpreted today as mental disorders, diseases that Hawthorne’s time did not recognize. Yet, this alteration sparks their endeavors. Through their deviance from society’s norms, abnormal behavior with women, and interactions with nature, the characters of Owen Warland and Ethan Brand engage in a corruption of the mind stemming from Hawthorne’s concept of