Date of Award
Summer 8-2013
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
English
Department
English
Major Professor
Dr. Carl Malmgren
Second Advisor
Dr. Elizabeth Steeby
Third Advisor
John Hazlett
Abstract
Erik Butler’s predicates for vampirism apply in some degree to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s male protagonists who skulk in the margins of “The Birthmark,” The Scarlet Letter, and “The Minister’s Black Veil.” As metaphoric vampires who seek weak prey in order to manipulate power structures, these monomaniacal parasites assume paternalistic positions in order to control and manipulate their victims, and they disguise their exploitive and egotistic sides with idealistic and altruistic passions for science and religion. This thesis explores how Hawthorne’s protagonists’ corrupt and consuming spirits echo traditional vampiristic characteristics.
Recommended Citation
Baudot, Amanda D., "Vampirism in Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark,” The Scarlet Letter, and “The Minister’s Black Veil”" (2013). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1711.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1711
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.