I. Edith and Edgar realize that foolish jollity is naive.

A. The Lord and Lady of the May learn to love truly.

B. The Lord and Lady learn that the focus of life is more than simple pleasures.

II. Edith and Edgar realize that pessimistic gloom is dispensable.

A. The Lord and Lady see Endicott softened.

B. The Lord and Lady understand that the focus of life is more than sin.

III. Edith and Edgar realize that life is neither all jollity nor all gloom.

A. The Lord and Lady are able to bring joy to the Puritans.

B. The Lord and Lady have no desire to return to the forest.

The American Romantic Age of literature, where authors focus on emotions, was a reaction against the Neoclassic Age of literature, where authors focused on rational thought. The Romantics began writing about the individual and nature by focusing on imaginative literature that uses distant settings, in time and space. "The Maypole of Merry Mount," by Nathaniel Hawthorne, contains many of these attributes which classif

Edith and Edgar realize that life is neither all jollity nor all gloom. The Lord and Lady are able to bring joy to the Puritans; "so, in the tie that united them [Edith and Edgar], were intertwined all the purest and best of their early joys" (766). These "early joys" are from their experiences at Merry Mount. Edith and Edgar even bring joy to the "Puritan of Puritans" (764) as he accepts them into his community. Endicott notices potential in the young couple; "'There be qualities in the youth, which may make him valiant to fight, and sober to toil, and pious to pray; and in the maiden, that may fit her to become a mother . . . bringing up babes in better nurture than her own hath been'" (766). Endicott is also softened and "[smiles] at the fair spectacle of early love" (766). The couple succeeds at bringing joy to a dismal group.

Thus the experiences of Edith and Edgar help to explain the falsity of a people ruled by either simple pleasures or harsh pessimism. "The Maypole of Merry Mount" is Hawthorne's allegorical short story in reaction to the conflicting attitudes of the Puritans of Plymouth and those who oppose the Puritans, the people of Merry Mount. "Hawthorne stands clearly on both sides of this opposition; he makes it clear that one must reject the unreality of Merry Mount; but he balances this with a less elaborate though equally clear rejection of the Puritans" (Becker 23). Hawthorne stresses the necessity of finding the right balance in life between jollity and gloom; this message is written for all his readers.

y this story as a Romantic piece. This allegorical story also shows Hawthorne's objection towards the ideas of two different groups of people. In "The Maypole of Merry Mount," Edith and Edgar represent the error of both jollity and gloom.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1548
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)