The Black Veil

Dark Romanticism, a sub-genre of the Romanticism Literary Period, was based around the darker side of human nature, mythical creatures, and human flaws. Two very famous Dark Romanticism authors are Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne. One of Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories or parables during the Dark Romanticism Literary Period is "The Minister's Black Veil." This is meant to be an eye opener, and it is written with many dark romantic characteristics to accomplish this.
The story is basically a mystery in a certain way. It is about a well respected minister who starts to wear a black veil across his face. The town is baffled by this, and eventually they come to fear him for it. He lives a lonely life with his black veil, as he refuses to take it off, even when coaxed by his wife. As he is dying, a new young minister begs him to take it off, but the minister with a dying breath tells the people that he will never take it off as long as he is on earth, that every one is hiding behind their own black veil, as he is; and then with that last statement, the minister dies. He is buried with his black veil on, and no one takes it off or looks under it. No one knows what the minister does that makes him wear the black veil, and it is this dark secrecy that separates him from the rest of the world. Dark romantics often wrote mysteries as this one could be classified.
Another characteristic of dark romanticism, and really just romanticism, is the symbolism used through out the story. The black veil is a symbol of secrecy, of sin, of darkness. Black is often the color of death, darkness, and sadness; and a veil covers something up, in this case, his face and his soul. "When Mr. Hooper came, the first thing that their eyes rested on was the same horrible black veil, which had added deeper gloom to the funeral, and could portend nothing but evil to the wedding" (Hawthorne, 284).
Also, the fact that the black veil covers the face of a minister is very interesting. Dark romanticism dealt with the side of human nature that we associate sin, greed, lust, and other darker elements with. The minister, someone who was respected and thought to be a pure messenger of God, was wearing the black veil, associated with sin and secrecy. "There was the black veil swathed round Mr. Hooper's forehead, and concealing every feature above his placid mouth, on which, at times, they could perceive the glimmering of a melancholy smile. But that piece of crepe, to their imagination, seemed to hang down before his heart, the symbol of a fearful secret between him and them" (Hawthorne, 285). The secrecy, sin, and darkness mentioned with the minister shows that even the people considered as righteous and good are even affected by sin and covered by it. Every one is covered by a black veil. "I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil" (Hawthorne, 289)!
The main point of this story is that every one is affected by sin, and though they may try to hide it, it is still there. They conceal themselves from the world in hopes of being unnoticed, so that people will not know their deepest and darkest secrets and sins. Hawthorne concealed this point symbolically in a story of a minister. However, even a Black Veil cannot hide the characteristics of Dark Romanticism in this story.

Works Cited

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Minister's Black Veil." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature. Ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill. 2010. 280-289. Print.