Ethan Brand

“Ethan Brand,” like many of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s stories, explores ambiguous supernatural phenomena and Puritan ideology. The story is an example of Dark Romanticism, using its natural Massachusetts setting, dark, suspenseful mood, and internal and external conflicts to establish an atmosphere of foreboding. Hawthorne uses the setting of Massachusetts in many of his stories due to its rich history as a former Puritan colony. The era in which “Ethan Brand” is set is later than in many of Hawthorne’s works, but the story has a folkloric quality. The lime-kiln, mountain, and forest provide an isolated atmosphere that alternates between peaceful and threatening. The Puritans believed that forests were the domain of dangerous spirits and witches. Similarly, the mountains and forests of pre-industrial Massachusetts provide both a lonely, isolated environment for the tormented figure Ethan Brand and an ominous background for Bartram and the villagers, who are wary of Ethan Brand and his strange behavior.

The mood of “Ethan Brand” is somber and suspenseful, implying that if Ethan Brand has truly committed the Unpardonable Sin, he is condemned to spiritual damnation and the torment of hell.