Affair of Edgar Poe and Frances Osgood in The Scarlet Letter

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​The Scarlet Letter is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s most beloved novel. Published in March of 1850, it quickly sold out of its first two printruns. It is still widely discussed in classrooms worldwide and taught as a moral allegory that warns against the mental and physical tolls of infidelity.

 

Attorney Andrew Barger has uncovered another allegorical layer of The Scarlet Letter—the rumored love affair between Edgar Allan Poe and popular author Frances Osgood. In over 500 footnotes, Barger deconstructs the novel to reveal the puritanical portrayal of Osgood as Hester Prynne, Poe as Minister Dimmesdale, Rufus Griswold as Chillingworth, and several other real-life authors of the day.

 

Entirely new historical facets of Hawthorne’s famous novel have been unlocked. Learn about this new discovery in this enlightening scholarly edition that is perfect for teachers and professors at all levels of education.

 

Andrew uncovered that a line from Osgood’s “Zarifa” poem forms a line of Poe’s “[Deep in Earth]” couplet. Andrew Barger, “Frances Osgood’s Connections to Edgar Allan Poe’s Couplet and the Stuart Manuscript of ‘Eulalie,’” Poe Studies 55, no. 2 (2022): 109-25.

 

Andrew is a member of the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society, Edgar Allan Poe Society, and Poe Society of Baltimore.

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DAGUERREOTYPES/ILLUSTRATIONS 13

FOREWORD 15

Hawthorne’s Fivefold Motivation 24

Poe’s Harsh Criticism 24

Poe’s Longfellow War 28

The Dial, Brook Farm Phalanx, and Transcendentalists 32

Poe’s Lampooning of Margaret Fuller 33

Poe’s Perceived Lack of Morals 38

 

Edgar Allan Poe 41

Nexus of Their Names 42

Broad Foreheads 43

Pale Skin 44

Large, Dark Eyes 45

Tremulous Lips 46

Dark Clothing 47

Melancholy 47

Apart from the World 51

Persuasive Speaking and Writing 53

Eloquent Speakers 53

Intellectually Gifted 55

Young Women Fawn Over Them 55

Diminishing Physical Appearances 56

Wordplay on “Providence” 63

Craft Trifecta 65

Hardworking Scholars 66

Wanderers 67

Planned Escapes 68

Sensitive Temperaments 71

Truthseekers 72

Incessant Prayers 73

Long Forest Walks 73

Dreams and Hallucinations 74

Bouts of Insanity 77

Marks on Chests 78

Hands Over Hearts 79

Both Live with a Widow 84

Annabel Lee 85

Shadow — A Parable 87

Dream-Land 87

The Raven 88

Mesmerism Stories 88

The Fall of the House of Usher 89

The Haunted Palace 90

A Dream within a Dream 91

Imp of the Perverse 91

The Tell-Tale Heart 92

Thou Art the Man! 92

Ulalume 93

Eureka! — The Election Sermon 102

 

Frances Sargent Osgood 111

Name of Hester Prynne 112

Similar Appearances 114

Beauties 115

Caused a Great Scandal 115

Mutual Ties to Boston 119

Mother’s Deceased 120

Flower Motifs 121

Feminine Natures 122

Adherers of Truth 122

Givers of Love Advice 123

Mutual Obstinacy 124

Childlike Preoccupations with the Past 125

Minds Escape from the Present 128

Popularity of Their Art 128

Black Man’s Mark 131

Ties to the Universalist Church 133

Speak! 134

Ideal Man is Unattainable 136

Encouragers 136

Forgivers 137

Vows of Silence 138

Refuse to Disclose the Father 139

Would Death be Better? 140

Overlapping Circle of Friends with Hawthorne 141

Murmuring Brooks of Osgood and Hawthorne 145

 

Fanny Fay Osgood 151

Una Hawthorne 151

Name of Pearl 152

Look Like Their Mothers 155

Hidden Away in Apartments 155

Flowerlike 156

No Physical Deformities 157

Graceful 157

Lavishly Dressed 158

Fairylike 159

Elf Children 161

Bright Skintones 162

Sickly 164

Bipolar Personalities 166

Half Welcome, Half Blame 167

On Tiptoes for a Flight 169

 

Samuel Stillman Osgood 171

Frequent Travelers 171

Change of Name to Chillingworth 174

 

Rufus Wilmot Griswold 175

Name of Roger Chillingworth 176

Grizzled Beards 177

Unattractive 178

Close Relationship 178

Psychological Warfare 179

Ultimately Hate Each Other 180

Forlorn Creatures 181

Vindictive 181

Power to Destroy Careers 182

Husbands 183

Marks Names in the Large Book 185

Finder of Hidden Virtues 187

Failing Health 188

 

Elizabeth Fries Ellet 189

Name of Mistress Hibbins 190

Witches 191

Ugly Tempered 191

Former Intimacy 192

Nonstop Necromancy 196

 

Nathaniel Parker Willis 199

Name of John Wilson 200

Same Beard 201

Ministers 201

Scholars 201

Advisors 201

Friends of the Minister 202

Minister has Finally Spoken 204

No Right to Meddle 205

The Fruits 206

Tropical Birds 206

Popular with Children 207

Lanterns 207

The Move Home 207

Write About Deaths 208

 

Thomas Dunn English 209

Name of Governor Bellingham 210

Versed in the English Way 210

Both Attorneys 210

Cohorts in Mischief 211

Speak of Bacon 211

Familiar with Coke, Noye, and Finch 212

Soldiers 212

The Four Guards 213

Plans Hatched 213

Lack of True Inventiveness 214

Welfare of the State 215

 

James Fenimore Cooper 217

Acquaintance of Chillingworth 218

Similar Appearance to Characters 218

Facial Scars 218

Extensive Seafaring Novels and Bristol 219

 

CONCLUSION 221

AFTERWORD 223

APPENDIX OF NAMES 235

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