Title: The Artist of the Beautiful
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Date of First Publication: 1846
Publisher: Mosses from an Old Manse (London: Wiley & Putnam)
Bibliographic Reference: isfdb
Type: Short story
Keywords: ANDROID; FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER; BYRONIC HERO
Critical Summary: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “The Artist of the Beautiful,” follows a watchmaker, Owen Warland, working on an ambitious project. Throughout the story, his rival, a blacksmith by the name of Robert Danforth, and his former mentor, Peter Hovendon, ridicule Owen for not performing work that is more practical. His project in creating a machine purely for aesthetic purposes distances Owen from society—not only does his machine break at the slightest touch from unskilled hands, but the knowledge that his beloved, Annie, is engaged to Robert, puts him in a deep depression. During a hiatus from his project, Owen becomes a respected watchmaker in the town, but returns to his project in the end. Owen reveals his finished product to Annie, Robert, and their young child as a late wedding gift. The machine is in the shape of a butterfly and is a part of Owen’s spirit, convincing Annie that it is alive, as it flutters between them. After marveling at the butterfly, the child breaks it almost immediately; however, Owen does not get upset since he feels as though his goal of creating something that exhibited the ideal of beauty has finally been achieved.
Owen Warland, like Victor Frankenstein, becomes rather infatuated with his project—to the point where he secludes himself from society, even losing the person he loved most for the sake of his creation. The journey to creating something nearly impossible, like recreating life or creating the manifestation of beauty, proves to be much more taxing than the creation itself. However, a child destroys Owen’s machine, and he loses the love of his life explicitly from inaction, just as Frankenstein’s inaction leads, more tragically, to the death of his beloved Elizabeth at the hands of his creation.
The rivalry between Owen and Robert further emphasizes the struggle between the values of creating something purely for aesthetic value or creating something for a specific use. The result, the butterfly, technically did nothing but flutter around. The spectacle was sublime and made viewers wonder whether or not the thing was alive. To Owen, the butterfly is merely a material form of beauty, representing his spirit. In the end, Owen may be satisfied with his now broken accomplishment, but it cost him family and friends.
Administrative Notes: Entry Author: J.D. Mayfield