"The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne begins in an odd way. The sexton is ringing the church bell, waiting for the pastor to arrive. When he does, the whole congregation is shocked. The pastor has something over his face; he is wearing a black, gauzy veil (Hawthorne 280). This upsets many people, and I as well found it to be odd. To wear a veil is often to hide behind or wear as a way to cover one's face. Pastors are supposed to be seen as holy men who are close to God; they are men whom the congregation can talk to as a spiritual guide. I found it odd that he was wearing a veil to conceal his face; that, to me, shows that he wanted privacy and was not interesting in connecting with anyone else. Another fact I found interesting was that it was black. Black is not typically symbolized as a happy or spiritual color. Black is usually shown as mystical, gloomy, or even Satanic. To me, that just did not make sense for a minister to be wearing a black veil.
On page 283, a man of the congregation made the comment that the minister's veil "makes him ghostlike from head to foot" (Hawthorne 283). After the service had ended, everyone had congregated outside, and the minister, Mr. Hooper, came out. He was still wearing his black veil, and people regarded him much differently than they used to, although according to Hawthorne the man's actions remained the same (Hawthorne 283). The people felt that the veil changed the minister's whole aura. The quote from the man showed that the congregation felt that the veil was making him seem a little mystical; he was not being seen as something spiritual such as an angel but instead as something a little more eerie and upsetting, a ghost. The black veil cast a strange and almost gloomy aura. This definitely is an example of Dark Romanticism; it is weirdly mysterious and a little bit upsetting.
Later, another strange thing happened. There was a funeral, so the veil fit in fine. However, as the minister walked up to the coffin to bid his farewell to the young woman, his veil hung straight down as if the woman might see his face. In the audience, one woman claimed to have seen the body of the woman shudder (Hawthorne 283). This symbolizes Dark Romanticism greatly. It is a strange, unnatural occurrence that could be seen as magical except for the fact that it is gloomy and upsetting. Also, as Hooper walked away, two women mentioned that "the minister and the maiden's spirit were walking hand in hand" (Hawthorne 284). This definitely adds to the mystery of the story, another sign of Dark Romanticism.
On page 285, Hooper is questioned about his veil. He says that he can never take it off, and that one day everyone will take off their veils (Hawthorne 285). He does not elaborate though, which makes his words kind of confusing; they could be taken many different ways. Hooper then says that he feels great sorrow, so the black veil is appropriate (Hawthorne 285). Again, he does not elaborate, and this mysteriousness along with the obvious sorrow characterizes the writing very clearly as Dark Romanticism.
As time goes on, Hooper leaves the veil on, much to everyone's dismay. Upsetting as everyone was getting, Hooper continued to wear the veil up until his dying day. As he is lying in bed, breathing his last breaths, another minister approached his bed and tried to take off the veil. All of a sudden, Hooper seemed to gain strength; he sat up and held the veil over his face. He then started shouting at the man, exclaiming how much people had been treating him differently all because of this veil, and he had seen the veil on every person as well (Hawthorne 289). Dark Romanticism is clearly portrayed; the man is seen as somewhat courageous and strong now that people understood his doings. However, since he portrayed his thoughts in such an odd, mysterious, and gloomy way, this story is seen as Dark Romanticism, not just Romanticism. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote a strong story that clearly portrayed Dark Romanticism.
WORKS CITED
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Minister's Black Veil." American Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 280-89. Print.
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