Gothic elements and religion in Nathaniel Hawthorne's fiction

Nathaniel Hawthorne has traditionally been esteemed as one of the first American writers who „discovered“ America's colonial history and portrayed it in his fiction. Proud to have what was considered a purely „American“ writer, critics only infrequently made reference to the non-American aspects and influences of Hawthorne's work. Yet the European influence in Hawthorne's work is unmistakable. Not only is much of his work flavored with the distinctive elements of European Gothic fiction, but his critical portrayal of the Puritan religion in his short storys and novels parallels elements of the English depiction of Catholicism in Gothic novels of the late eighteenth century. Since Puritan and Catholic ideology differed so greatly, it might seem unlikely that such a parallel could exist. Both Hawthorne and the English Gothicists, however, criticized the hypocrisy that separated the respective Church ideology from religious practice. This work explores the parallels and differences between English Gothic fiction and its religious critique and the fiction of Nathaniel Hawthorne.