N. Hawthorne H. Melville Romanticism

H.Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. His earliest novels were bestsellers, but his popularity declined later in his life. He wrote sea stories based on his experience of being a sailor. "Typee" – he describes aboriginals, cannibal tribes. Under the influence of his close friend he wrote significant philosophical novel "Moby Dick" – deep study of whales, their physiology, whale hunting, studies biblical sources where they are mentioned. The novel is a mixture of different types of discourse. There are many biblical allusions. The book is full of symbols. Main character – a white whale, he's huge and dangerous, he's opposed to a mad captain Ahab. The plot awakes around the struggle of them. Moby Dick is a symbol: white colour means innocence, purity, death. Ahab is a typical romantic figure, extraordinary figure. He's obsessed to kill Moby Dick as he's a mystery he cannot understand. The ship's name is Pequod – it's the name of the Indian tribe which became extinct. The ship is the symbol of America with its international crew ecological warning.
By the time of his death he had virtually been forgotten, but his longest novel, Moby-Dick - largely considered a failure during his lifetime, and responsible for Melville's drop in popularity - was rediscovered in the 20th century as a literary masterpiece. Moby-Dick has become Melville's most famous work and is often considered one of the greatest literary works of all time. Melville also wrote Billy Budd, White-Jacket, Omoo, Pierre, The Confidence-Man and many short stories and works of various genres. His short story "Bartleby the Scrivener" is among his most important pieces, and has been considered a precursor to Existentialist and Absurdist literature. Melville's short-story diptych "The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids", as well as his posthumously published novella Billy Budd, have been seen by some contemporary critics as anticipating key issues in the fields of gender studies and queer studies.