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Nathaniel Hawthorne > Feathertop: A Moralized Legend

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message 1: by Joanna (new)

Joanna Discussion thread for Feathertop: A Moralized Legend.


message 2: by Doreen (new)

Doreen Petersen | 321 comments Mod
A rather unique story involving witchcraft.


message 3: by Joanna (new)

Joanna Doreen wrote: "A rather unique story involving witchcraft."

Ooh, looking forward to this one!


message 4: by Doreen (new)

Doreen Petersen | 321 comments Mod
Mother Rigby creates a man out a scarecrow she was building for her field.


message 5: by Doreen (new)

Doreen Petersen | 321 comments Mod
Oh I'm really liking the ending to this one!


message 6: by Joanna (new)

Joanna I loved this too, Doreen!


message 7: by Hannah (new)

Hannah Alane | 662 comments Hahaha, this reminds me of the Cinderella story turned on its head! Pumpkins for a head instead of a carriage; witches for a fairy godmother; rags to riches...but in this case its back to rags again. This was quite different.


message 8: by Joanna (new)

Joanna Hannah wrote: "Hahaha, this reminds me of the Cinderella story turned on its head! Pumpkins for a head instead of a carriage; witches for a fairy godmother; rags to riches...but in this case its back to rags agai..."

😄 Now that's a fascinating comparison!


message 9: by Hannah (new)

Hannah Alane | 662 comments I had heard where some of the New England authors, as they were trying to come up with their own great American Lit and epics, found inspiration in German tales. Do you know if Cinderella was a German story? I feel like that would explain why it's so fairytale-esqeu.


message 10: by Joanna (new)

Joanna Hannah wrote: "I had heard where some of the New England authors, as they were trying to come up with their own great American Lit and epics, found inspiration in German tales. Do you know if Cinderella was a Ger..."

That's true. Many went to study in Germany too, including Longfellow. But I just looked up the origins of Cinderella and it seems to be an ancient Greek story!
Hawthorne mentions it being a tale he heard at his grandmother's knee. I wonder if it really was something passed down in his family or if it was entirely from his own ingenious mind!


message 11: by Joanna (new)

Joanna A good article on Feathertop...

http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Liter...


message 12: by Hannah (new)

Hannah Alane | 662 comments Thank you Meg for the article! I look forward to reading it!

Ha, I wonder if it was a case that his great-grandfather the judge was involved in and passed the strange story down into the family - and then Hawthorne just embellished it.


message 13: by Werner (new)

Werner | 612 comments Mod
Meg, good article! (I just finished reading it.) Thanks for the link.


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