Hawthorne's science fiction short stories, such as "The Birthmark" and "Rappaccini's Daughter," are set in the 17th century. His novels, however, The House of the Seven Gables and The Blithedale Romance, are set in the 19th century, his own era. The progression of the science of alchemy to the psychological and social sciences occurs in reality and is evident as a shift in Hawthorne's fiction. By the 19th century, science was no longer simple physical chemistry, but was evolving into psychology, a science based on the human mind and its behavior. With the onset of the American Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, these scientific advances occurred rapidly; therefore, an important element still lies in the stages of experimentation in 19th century science. Experimentation is a key element of Hawthorne's 17th-century stories, and the fear of alchemy is still present in later contexts. Yet Hawthorne's 19th-century fiction also shows a rationalization of science, as experiments progress from using people as physical reactants to social subjects. This transition to streamlined modernity is also reflected in gender. The gothic motifs of “Rappaccini’s Daughter” and “The Birthmark,” like the “mad scientist,” become less visible. Rather, Hawthorne's fiction evolves in a utopian tradition, where social science exists as a method of reform. However, this gender transition does not happen easily. Motifs from the Gothic tradition, such as the dilapidated setting and the virginal maiden, still appear in Hawthorne's novels. Therefore, progress in Hawthorne's fiction, particularly in science, is difficult to achieve without the past acting as an inhibitor. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The House of the Seven Gables is a novel focused on how the past influences future actions and intentions. Hawthorne's symbolism extends beyond the inanimate to exist in people, Hepzibah and Clifford Pyncheon. Hepzibah's reaction to Mr. Holgrave, the tenant, and his art of daguerreotype, an early form of photography, suggests that the difficulty of progress comes not only from the procedure, but also from the people. This suspicion of Holgrave is specific to the older generation. Hepzibah “had reason to believe that he was studying animal magnetism and […] black [arts].” Hepzibah's "reason" is based on past fears. Just as Brown is suspicious of the intentions of his seemingly innocent inhabitants in “Young Goodman Brown,” Hepzibah, in her skepticism, also belongs to the 17th-century context. For the ancients, the practice of science is still synonymous with alchemy, the devil and “black magic”. This belief suggests that science continued to be associated with the dangers of uncertainty in the 19th century, despite the increasing amount of knowledge collected in this field. Hepzibah's "reason to believe" in Holgrave's witchcraft is based entirely on suspicion. His position is underscored by Phoebe, Pyncheon's hopeful young cousin, who trusts and comes to love Holgrave with only a few questions. Hawthorne therefore presents a conscious transition beyond the “mad scientist” motif. In this novel, Holgrave could align with the stereotype through his unfamiliar practice. As beliefs evolve, science is accepted as progressive and daguerreotype is presented as harmless. Instead ofthis, Hepzibah aligns herself with the character hysterical in her suspicions, as someone who has been inadvertently affected by a 17th century version of the "mad scientist", Matthew Maule. The emphasis is therefore on “belief” and not “reason”. Hepzibah's suspicions come from her mind and are not based on facts. Charles Poyen suggests that many in the 19th century found the authority of witchcraft easier to believe than pseudoscience. Hawthorne reverses this concept. With the introduction of Phoebe and Holgrave as a new, streamlined generation, witchcraft becomes the absurd suspicions of an old woman. Hepzibah is a necessary and common character in this novel, representative of a generation struggling to progress as the new generation can. The inability to progress from the past in The House of the Seven Gables is based on the inability to gain the necessary knowledge on how to break the curse of ancient times. The Pyncheons, especially Clifford, cannot escape their family's "curse" due to their ignorance of Jaffrey Pyncheon's true nature. Holgrave uses his daguerreotypes to psychoanalyze people, suggesting that the Pyncheons must also seek truth from living people, as opposed to their ancient ancestral history. Holgrave's daguerreotype allows us to recognize Judge Pyncheon's false benevolence, a key aspect of the rest of the plot: "Would you like to be at his mercy?" To this mouth? Could he ever smile? Daguerreotype, as the first form of photography, should reproduce the subject. However, Holgrave instead constructs a physical appearance that reflects the true character of the Judge, the character who accused Clifford of their uncle's murder. The social sciences therefore extend to physiognomy the capacity to attribute temperament to external appearance. By identifying the “mouth” as incapable of smiling, Hawthorne implies that the judge's internal character is also incapable of doing good. Hawthorne perhaps consciously uses daguerreotype in “The Birthmark” also to show the scientific advances being made. Aylmer's attempted image is "blurry and indefinable", suggesting an inability to perceive and therefore imitate Georgiana's true character, which is more than merely external. Even if Holgrave's image is more precise, his psychoanalysis remains obviously primitive. However, he cannot be identified as a "mad scientist" because his procedure is precise, moderate and does not sacrifice human life. Additionally, his appearance refuses to fit expected conventions. The two scientists in “Rappaccini’s Daughter” and “The Birthmark” physically embody their evil nature. As Hawthorne's fiction moves toward the 19th century, scientists cannot and should not necessarily be identified by appearance alone, because their science is less threatening. The sciences of the 17th and 19th centuries had extremely different procedures. Yet they agree in their insistence on progress. Aylmer and Rappaccini put human lives at risk to “find a perfect future in the present.” The social science of reform evokes the same persistence, an impatience that Hawthorne believes will lead to inevitable failure. Scientifically and socially, moving toward this “perfect future” requires patience and time, and without these qualities, there is harm. In the 19th century, reform movements swept across New England to encourage the “restoration of human unity.” In The Blithedale Romance, the characters look beyond this restoration toward complete reformation toward a "paradise system." Yet as a skeptical protagonist, MilesCoverdale calls the system “Arcadian.” The importance of this concept is underscored by Hawthorne's consideration of the title The Arcadian Summer for the novel. This concept differs from "paradise" because it implies a lack of sustainability in their planned utopia, or perhaps a completely imaginary aspect. The Blithedale Project aims to “restore” human unity by abolishing the artificial social boundaries that restrict it. Striving for this “paradise” involves the ultimate restoration back to the beginning of humanity in the Garden of Eden, an incredibly high standard for reformers to achieve. Taylor Stoehr argues that it is dangerous to abandon social boundaries altogether, because one loses contact with traditional laws of social conduct, such as gender relations. This idea is established in the novel. Without the introduction of revised rules for a better society, the original boundaries of social hierarchy could be easily reestablished. But it is this complete abolition of boundaries that allows characters to make human errors, and which results in individual reform. For reform to happen on a broader societal scale, the people of Blithedale need a more structured and specific idea of ​​the conditions they want. As has been established previously, scientific progress has been met with resistance, particularly in light of the introduction of new procedures. While Hawthorne was skeptical of people's capacity for immediate social reform, he was also skeptical of mesmerism as a process capable of spiritual elevation and reform. Benjamin Storey presents mesmerism as reducing “the passions we most deeply feel as our own” to “reverberations of underlying magnetic forces.” This suggests that any emotion experienced is unoriginal, caused by an external source, and not based on emotional particularities. Hawthorne inverts this measured 19th-century concept – in 1845 a Boston mesmerist, Dr. Robert H. Collyer, claimed to have discovered phrenomagnetism, the ability to excite the brain through magnetic action – through a flashback in the chapter “Alice Pyncheon”. By regressing to an earlier time when mesmerism was considered a spiritual phenomenon, it reintroduces fear as a reaction. It also reaffirms the action as a sin that seeps into “thy holy of holies,” and not as a mere scientific process. Alice Pyncheon, Colonel Pyncheon's great-granddaughter, possesses "a power she never dreamed of [...] [putting] its hold on her maiden soul." Hypnotist Matthew Maule is aligned with the “mad scientist” again. Hawthorne's use of the motif outside of his science fiction suggests that categorization depends not on a specific scientific procedure, but on an inherent greed for power. Matthew Maule asserts patriarchal domination by placing his “grip” on Alice’s “soul”. As a “maiden” and presumably a virgin, Alice is vulnerable due to her naivety. It is assumed that Maule's "will" extends to the sexual and that his purity is tarnished. Psychological manipulation is therefore undoubtedly more heinous than physical slavery. As psychological control was considered achievable only through witchcraft, it is suggested that the average mortal cannot be freed from such slavery by traditional methods. By indicating the abuses of this power, Hawthorne suggests an authority behind fears of scientific progress. The stereotype of the “mad scientist” therefore still exists beyond the Gothic tradition. However, in the 19th century, the abilities of these scientists were more threatening, as they, 1978)