Nathaniel Hawthorne's Concept of the Romance Novel: An Analysis of 'The House of the Seven Gables'

Abstract

American Romanticism is considered one of the most important periods in American literature. This movement focused on nationalism, imagination and individualism, and thus many writers created fictional stories with fantastic and imaginary elements. Nathaniel Hawthorne stands out as one of the most influential Romantic writers, as he developed the idea of the "romantic novel" as a different genre from the novel. It combined realism and fantastic elements, and one of the main representative works of this genre is Hawthorne's "The House of the Seven Gables". Throughout an analysis of this work, we will find how Hawthorne represented his concept of "romance" through symbolism and Gothic elements.