The Problem of Allegory in Hawthorne’s Ethan Brand

'THE PROBLEl\1 OF ALLEGORY IN HAWTHORNE'S . ETJIAN ·BRAND RICHARD HARTER FoGLE IN reading criticism of -Hawthorne one· is frequently struck with a difficu1,ty,_ apparent in the· work of even his most authoritative coriunen- . tators,.l ,;Hawthorne,'' his cri'tics s~y' in effect, "wa~ an-inveterate allegorist. Allegory is· an' inferior ki'nd of art. Hawthorne was-, however, indub]tably a great writer." And there the matter rests, with the implication that - -Hawtho-rne might have been greater still if he had chosen a different mode of exp_r:ession. This ·implication may be correct: if he had been able to apply his genius, otherwise than· he did, wh.o knows ·what results might not have been achieved? But the speculation is a little unrealis-t1c, a trifle barren. Hawthorne without his allegory is hard to imagine. And while the judicial critic may be quite right in- regretting that Hawthorne is not Chaucer, or Fielding, or Balzac,2 to linger too long in regretting is to run the danger of losing sight of his, positive achievement. Through. over-austerity we. may be fo_rc~d into- the awkward position of condemning in theory what we admire in fact. · The difficulty lies, it may be suggested, in. over-stringent application of theory, which fails to distinguish between the good and the bad effect.s of allegory. The allegorical method unquestion-ably has inherent disadvantages , but it may be mai-ntained that in the hands of a literary artist it possesses advantages as well. Let us consider briefly wherein it is lacking, and conversely where it may be strong. For the immediate purpose, allegory may be defined as narrative c.ontaining at least two continuously corresponding levels, Behind the narrative> which is on the surface a more or less objective representation or imitation of an action> is a consistent set of equivalents, generally abstract idea.s, so that the sur(ace-n arra tive is used to illustrate a religious, moral, or ·philosophical proposition. · - · _ The greatest danger to which allegory as a literary form is liable is that the surface-action may be sacrificed in order to emphasize the underlying meaning,- that richness and partic~larity of re-presentation may yield ·to the necessity of maintaining consistency in ideas. Characters. may be diminished to mere abstract personifications.. If, for whatever reason, the author is more interested in the hidden than the actual level, the balance of the two is likely to be upset, and the work loses verisimilitude, interest, and depth as an imitation of Hfe and action. IE,-~., Henry Jame.~, Hawthorne (New York, 1880), 61-3; W. C. Bro~n.ell 1_ "Ha.wthorne "in American Prose Mat.ltr.J (New York, 1909), 75-82; Newton Arvtn1 Hawtlwrne (Bosto~, 1929), 126-8; F. 0. Matthiesgcn,- American Rcnai.sslltJa (New } ork, 1941); 24'2-312. ~see Arvin, Hnwtlwnlf, 207. 190 ALLEGORY 'AND ETHAN BRAND 191 .Allegory may become-mere }~genious tour dejorce, in whi'ch the interes-t· -. lies in cleve'r but mechanical manipulation of thinly personified abstractions, as in Spenser occasionally, or' in the Spenserian "Cav.e of SpJeen" ca·nto of The Rape of the Lock. Or:, nnatly, aJlegory may be turned to non-literary purposes: to the service of predetermined and didactic conclusions, not . jnherent· in the literary object, as in the elaborate medieval allegorical poem, or the modern propaganda-play, which is likely to be a disguised morality. ' · Allegory> on the other hand, has positive advantages which must in candour be consiqered. · Presumably we all agree that the purpose of creative art is to get at the essential meaning of human character, of natural objects, of actions and processes-and allegory is a method of penetrating to their underlying significance. It is in itself a guarantee of purpose, gi'~ing point and reference; it affords a principle to which the action of narrative may be referred, a.'nd about which the action may be organized. Skilfully handled, the presence of the allegorical double-layer should mean an· added dimension to artistic form, which should please, enrich, and stabilize rather than impoverish and confine. Allegory> then, may be good as well as bad. The· problem...