Nathaniel Hawthorne's last story, The Elixir of Life, concerns Septimius, who wants to live forever. Nathaniel didn't know this would be his last book, as he died while he was writing it. His wife and son finished up the manuscript after seven or eight years and it was then published after his death.
This story has some remarkable themes. In fact, although it is written over one hundred and fifty years ago, the character's desires and ambitions appear quite modern. The movie HIghlander comes to mind without the sword play. The joy for me was to see this great author, who ruminated over the moral crucible of the Puritans, deal with some possible downsides of living forever.
I don't think the Puritans had that in mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment