The American Novelist
Nathanael Hawthorne’s reputation rests in part upon the fact that he was dedicated to the idea of American writers eschewing European influences to instead focus upon stories that were distinctly American. The idea was quite literally to create something which as yet did not exist: American Literature. Naturally enough, his novels are set in America, though sometimes in the pre-revolutionary colonial version of the country. It is therefore ironic that Hawthorne’s last completed novel, The Marble Faun, is not only set in Europe, but focuses on many thematic elements related to continental society.
The Fallen
In describing Beatrice, Hilda confesses to Miriam her belief that “She is a fallen angel—fallen, and yet sinless.” The term fallen angel is a Biblical allusion to the idea that angels which have trespassed the rules get kicked out of heaven. As a metaphor, the phrase is a common description of anyone who has lost their elevated status as a result of committing some unpardonable sin. This makes the committing of sin a definitive necessary for being a fallen angel. So, Hilda’s characterization that Beatrice could be both a fallen angel and sinless simultaneously is an ironic paradox.
Donatello’s Loss of Innocence
The turning point in the story occurs when Donatello commits murder. The narrator’s commentary on the consequences of this act asserts that “It had kindled him into a man; it had developed within him an intelligence which was no native characteristic of the Donatello whom we have heretofore known.” The message being forwarded here is one that is a common thematic element throughout the work of Hawthorne. Acts of evil—or at the very least, commissions of sin—ultimately always produce a positive outcome in some way. In this example, the execution of murder has the effect of taking Donatello’s innocence, but in doing also engineering a sudden infusion of maturity.
The Complexity of Innocence
The thematic concept that innocence is a more complex state than the one generally viewed favorably is confronted ironically several times in the story. In addition to the downside of Donatello’s innocence, which is corrected after the murder, Miriam addresses this issue of complexity with her outburst “O Hilda, your innocence is a like sharp steel sword.” The irony of declaring innocence to be akin to a sharp blade swung with violent intent is fairly obvious, but the meaning is applicable to the very concept of innocence being more complicated than usually thought.
The Complexity of Sin
Almost immediately after castigating Hilda’s innocence as a weapon, Miriam flips the argument over and looks at it from the other side. Addressing Hilda, Miriam ponders that “Beatrice’s sin may not have been so great: perhaps it was no sin at all, but the best virtue possible in the circumstances.” The irony of this argument is in keeping with the book’s thematic preoccupation with Hawthorne’s obsessive insistence that good cannot exist without evil and vice versa. In the suggestion that Beatrice’s transgression might actually be a demonstration of virtue rather vice, she is voicing out loud the underlying subtext that good and evil are not necessarily working in opposition to one another, but are instead working together as one far more complicated entity.
