Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne (background pp. 249-250)

"Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" (252, or follow the link here.)

Read on p. 251 the section titled Literary Focus:  Allegory.  As you read “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment,” keep an eye out for Hawthorne’s descriptions of his characters and what particular aspect of human nature he means them to represent.  Fill out the chart below as you read.

An allegory is a story or a poem in which characters, settings, and events

stand for abstract ideas or moral qualities.

Characters	Key Descriptions	Actions and Words	What Character Represents
Mr. Medbourne
Colonel Killigrew
Mr. Gascoigne
Widow Wycherly

(Once you think you've figured out what each character stands for, check your work here.)

1.       The setting of this story is important. What details describing the doctor’s study suggest the supernatural?

2.       During the experiment, what does the mirror reflect? What do you think this mirror symbolizes in the story?

3.       An archetype is an original or fundamental imaginative pattern—it could be a character, a story plot, a setting, or an object. Archetypes appear across cultures and have been repeated through the ages. The Fountain of Youth is an archetype that has been used in many stories over the years. (See “The Search for Eternal Youth” on p. 260) How does Hawthorne’s use of this archetype reveal his views of human nature?

4.       What Dr. Heidegger kisses the withered rose, he says, “I love it as well thus.” What does he mean? How does this statement connect with the moral lesson of the allegory?

5.       In the very limited space left on this page, draw Dr. Heidegger’s study. Include the most important symbolic elements from the description.