Nathaniel Hawthorne's Distortion

This thesis deals with Nathaniel Hawthor's irony towards Puritan beliefs and the Platonic philosophy.The first chapter deals with his "Night Sketches";it is used to demonstrate his distortion of Plato's allegory of the cave.The second chapter deals with his "The Minister's Black Veil" and "Young Goodman Brown";these tales are used to reflect his sarcasm towards the Puritan attitude and way of life. According to this thesis, he criticizes Puritanism and Platonism because of his inclination towards ambiguity and the indefinite quality of everything in existence.