In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Sylph Etherege Essay Example
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Sylph Etherege Essay Example

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Sylph Etherege Essay Example

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  • Pages: 3 (591 words)
  • Published: October 5, 2017
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The story begins with two individuals observing a girl named Sylvia Etherege on the balcony of her house. One of the observers, Edward Hamilton who seems to be already familiar with Sylvia decides to give her a miniature, or a doll, of herself. The other observer calls the doll a spell and doesn’t think that it would be a good idea for Edward to give it to her. Sylvia Etherege was an orphan girl, who had spent her life under the care of an old uncle.While she was still a baby, she had been the pre-determined bride of her cousin. Their future of joining together had been predictable, and would have been very useful for both families.

Edgar Vaughan, the future husband of Sylvia, had been raised in Europe, and had never seen the girl. For the past several years, the writing

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of letters had been kept up between the cousins, and had produced an intellectual relationship, though it could but poorly notify them of each other's character.As time went by Sylvia began writing to Edgar Vaughan and envisioning what he looked like, hoping for the best. When Edgar wrote back to her letters, he would call her by the name sylph, meaning slender, showing that he was at least a little conscious of her figure. When her uncle died, Sylvia was put under the care of a distant relative named Mrs.

Grosvenor. This was around the same time in which Edgar had finished his studies in Europe and was ready to return to Sylvia. He had sent his closest friend Edward Hamilton to deliver this message across the Atlantic.Three weeks after Edward arrived, a peculiar miniature,

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or doll, arrived. The miniature was a model of Edgar himself, or Sylvia’s cousin of which whom she is to marry. This was the miniature, in the study of which Sylvia was so absorbed, at the beginning the story.

She noticed that the miniature doll was like nothing she had ever seen and that her face looked similar to the miniatures face, which was a common quality for couples who are heaven destined. From then on she carried the miniature around with her everywhere she went.By the end of summer, it was told Sylvia Etherege, that Vaughan had arrived from France, and that she would meet him. She had gazed upon the doll so many times that day that it would sicken any normal human being. It wasn’t until evening that Sylvia began to feel tense about meeting the one who she is heaven destined to marry, and her body became shaky with nervousness. A voice had called out for Sylvia and she has asked who it was who called for her.

Before Sylvia could reply, the stranger entered the room, holding the lamp in his hand.Approaching the sofa, he displayed to Sylvia the features of Edward Hamilton, lighted by that evil smile, from which his face derived so individually. At this point, the miniature that Sylvia was holding had fallen on the floor and Edward had stepped on it in order to make it break. Sylph also fainted because of overwhelming, and while she is unconscious, Edward begins to speak of how he has a clear conscious and how he did nothing wrong by writing false letters to Sylph through the years and saying tat they

were from a different more ideal man.On the day that they are supposed to be married, Edward sees that Sylph is being a total and complete gossamer.

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