Nathaniel Hawthorne Stories
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In some of his stories Nathaniel Hawthorne yokes the work of science and technology to the purposes of fiction. According to H. Bruce Franklin, three of Hawthorne's stories, "The Birthmark," "The Artist of the Beautiful," and "Rappaccini's Daughter," employ the terms and procedures of science in such a way as to fall under the rubric of "science fiction." More conventional readings of these stories, however, treat technology merely as support for a fantastic atmosphere, rather than as a device for the framing of future possibilities, the usual province of science fiction. An emphasis on their scientific and pseudo scientific elements may determine a special interpretation of these stories that places them outside the realm of "ordinary" fiction. Franklin begins his discussion of the scientific and speculative aspect of Hawthorne's stories with a definition of science fiction as distinct from other forms of fiction. Although realistic fiction, historical fiction, science fiction, and fantasy all "describe present reality," they differ in the strategies they embrace in their description (Franklin 3). Realistic fiction imitates current reality; historical fiction imitates past reality as a way of presenting current reality; science fiction describes current reality by extrapolation, usually into the future; fantasy attempts to illuminate the present by providing an impossible alternative to it. Because fantasy must contain realistic elements and even the most
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f Hawthorne's stories including "Rappaccini's Daughter," as a tale "constructed in large measure from the witch lore." It becomes, then, a tale chiefly of magic. Under those terms, the problem of science can only arise as a secondary theme subordinated, as earlier indicated, to the problem of perfecting society.
In each case, the story clearly serves the purposes of allegory. The terms of the allegory are quite different in the presence of the science fiction interpretation and in its absence. As science fiction, "The Birthmark" recapitulates in microcosm the tragic attempt of science (Aylmer) to subjugate Nature (Georgiana). As fiction with elements of science and fantasy, the story refers to the efforts of humanity (Aylmer) to reform society (Georgiana).
The two types of interpretation are not, of course, mutually exclusive. The difference, instead, is one of emphasis, and Roy G. Male's critical analysis of the story (Male 80 83), appears to straddle the line between both types of interpretation. As does Franklin, Male points to the significance of the story's placement in time: the late eighteenth century, "in those days when the comparatively recent discovery of electricity and other kindred mysteries o
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Approximate Word count = 3897
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page)
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