Edward Randolph's Portrait

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

A famous short story

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Short Stories, Horror, Literature, American

11 pages, Unknown Binding

About the author

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a 19th century American novelist and short story writer. He is seen as a key figure in the development of American literature for his tales of the nation's colonial history.

Shortly after graduating from Bowdoin College, Hathorne changed his name to Hawthorne. Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe, in 1828. In 1837, he published Twice-Told Tales and became engaged to painter and illustrator Sophia Peabody the next year. He worked at a Custom House and joined a Transcendentalist Utopian community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires, then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. A political appointment took Hawthorne and family to Europe before returning to The Wayside in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, leaving behind his wife and their three children.

Much of Hawthorne's writing centers around New England and many feature moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His work is considered part of the Romantic movement and includes novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend, the United States President Franklin Pierce.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The narrator meets a legendary friend, Mr Bela Tiffany, to get some information about a mysterious black picture in Province House. Is the picture evil? What is really shown underneath all the dirt and dust collected over the centuries? To me a bit longwinded with too many historical facts and allusions. I expected more uncanny details on the picture. The horror was a bit slow here in my opinion. Otherwise Hawthorne's style and plotting is always a pleasure!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

New Englang, zur Zeit des Unabhängigkeitskrieges: Trotz der "Warnung" durch ein teuflisches Portrait-Bildes stellt sich der Vizegouverneur gegen die Interessen der Bürger und auf die Seite des englischen Königs. Damit reiht er sich in die Ahnengalerie der Verdammten ein. So der verknappt wiedergegebene Inhalt der Geschichte.
Hawthorne lässt die Geschichte des geheimnisvollen Bildes, dessen Leinwand nur Schwärze zeigt, von einem alten Mann erzählen, der von einem interessierten Jüngeren ausgefragt wird. Durch diese Rahmenhandlung ergibt sich die Möglichkeit, erzählerisch die Vergangenheit zu glorifizieren und die "Gegenwart" (um 1838) als seelenlos und entindividualisiert darstellen zu können. Da sind die Gaslampen in den Straßen schon Boten einer fragwürdigen Moderne (und wer DOWNTON ABBEY gesehen hat mag hier an die Köchin Mrs. Patmore denken, die elektrischem Licht und dem elektrischen Toaster aufs entschiedenste misstraut) und die Architektur ähnlich aussehender Gebäude aus Stein Zeichen des Verlusts der Individualität.
Wie Washington Irvings The Adventure of the German Student, das 14 Jahre vor ERP geschrieben wurde, verknüpft Hawthorne die Geistergeschichte mit einem historischen Ereignis und auch hier fegt ein heftiger Wind über den Erzähler hinweg.
Und auch hier ist es so, dass mich die Geschichte inhaltlich weniger angesprochen hat als von der sprachlichen und erzählerischen Seite.
Das historische Interesse des fiktiven Erzählers, das durch große Sympathie geprägt ist, dürfte auch dem ewigen Neuengländer Lovecraft gefallen haben. Nicht zuletzt wird auch hier Providence erwähnt und im Titel taucht der Name Randolph auf (vgl. The Statement of Randolph Carter).

[Chris Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This classic, old short story is simply wonderful. Maybe I enjoyed it so much because it is reminiscent in style of other writers I admire, such as Bierce or Lovecraft, or maybe it's just that's it's prototypical of the age in which it was written--an age of writing in which I would be more than happy to spend all my waking/reading moments.

The description of the painting, when it is at last--albeit briefly--revealed, is fantastic. Search tho' I may, I've yet to find where some scribbler or sketcher or painter has attempted this awful face. I may do so myself at some point, as the description is devilish. The real trick will be in portraying such an array of emotion as ever sat on one, evil face, and making the whole look a hundred years old.

Edward Randolph's Portrait - Online -

[Glen Engel-Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of four (kinda ghost) tales (“Howe’s Masquerade,” "Edward Randolph's Portrait," "Lady Eleanore's Mantle," and "Old Esther Dudley”) about the house of the colonial governors of the US, mainly interesting for the insight into that period of American history and the transition between the British governance and the newly formed country. It’s a bit like trying to read Ulysses, however, in that we are so far removed now from that time period that the names of the governors and generals don’t resonate with us as they would have for people of the time or when Hawthorne wrote this.

[Myrto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Τρομερός ο Χώθορν! Ωραία αποσπάσματα σχετικά με την έννοια του χρόνου:
"And as I passed, its clock, which had warned so many generations how transitory was their lifetime, spoke heavily and slow the same disregarded moral to myself. "Only seven o' clock," thought I."
Και:
"Time had thrown an impenetrable veil over (the portrait), and left to tradition and fable and conjecture to say what had once been there portrayed."
Κατά τ'άλλα το παρόν διήγημα αλλά και όλη η συλλογή διηγημάτων ασχολούνται με την περίοδο της αμερικανικής επανάστασης, πώς οδηγήθηκαν εκεί κ.λπ. Ο μεσιέ Χώθορν κάνει την κριτική του με άνεση, σύνεση και ελιγμούς.

[carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

read for class—
did nathaniel hawthorne just redeem himself in my eyes??? i actually really liked this story. it didn’t fall victim to his usual over-description and flowery (to the point of sleep inducing) language. it was engaging and fun. i was going to say that this was kind of a picture of dorian gray knock-off, but hawthorne wrote this nearly 60 years before wilde published dorian!! anyways i really enjoyed it and alice vain was the best character.

[Jessica (JT) · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was not a lot of plot to this book. It was very slow moving and much longer than it needed to be. I liked the writing, though. I'm looking forward to reading more by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hawthorne Hawks #36
Legends of thee Province House #2
Whilst it was well written and I get that his prose is fine, it just didn't grab me, and well I wasn't as enamoured with this one as others,
The second off four books in the series and #36 in the quest.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good tale that refused to be put down until finished.

[Pixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good tale that refuses to be put down until finished.