English Resources

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven." Matthew 5: 13 – 16

English 112 Resources

A map of the most inhabited part of New England, containing the provinces of Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire, with the colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island, divided into counties and townships; the whole composed from actual surveys and its situation adjusted by astronomical observations. 
Augsburg, I. M. Probst, 1777. Library of Congress.

Ralph Waldo Emerson:

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Henry David Thoreau:

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Nathaniel Hawthorne:

Dr. Heidegger's Experiment - Critical Analysis

“Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” is said to have been about Nathaniel Hawthorne’s study of right and wrong in human conduct. The story is about an old doctor who introduces water from the Fountain of Youth to his four elderly friends. The friends drink the water, re-experience the youthful pleasures of life, and seem to make all the same mistakes over again. The reader may believe that the study of right and wrong is only about the four elderly people, since they made so many mistakes as they were growing old and then made the same mistakes as they were growing young. However, with a deeper connection into the story and an analysis of word choice, the conclusion can be made that Dr. Heidegger was playing a mean trick on his four elderly friends using magic and strong liquor which he called “water from the Fountain of Youth” that was so strong the four elderly people actually believed that they were becoming young again.

There are a few details in the story which advocate that Dr. Heidegger was simply playing a trick on his friends. The reader must first realize that the doctor is not the nice old man he seems to be. This is revealed in the fourth paragraph of the story: “Above half a century ago, Dr. Heidegger had been on the point of marriage with this young lady; but, being affected with some slight disorder, she had swallowed one of her lover’s prescriptions, and died on the bridal evening.” This shows that he was actually cruel enough to kill his own bride. It may have been an accident, but one would think that he would take the utmost care in ensuring the safety of his loved one.

One detail which reveals that the water from the Fountain of Youth is a gag is that Dr. Heidegger does not partake of the water himself. He provides an excuse for this when he says, “For my own part, having had much trouble in growing old, I am in no hurry to grow young again.” (Hawthorne 537) However, although he advised his friends that is would be wiser to drink the water slowly, he kept the glasses full and allowed them to drink as much and as fast as they wanted. At the end of the story, when Dr. Heidegger saw the mess he had made of his friends, he started to regret what he had done. “‘Come, come, gentlemen! – come, Madam Wycherly,’ exclaimed the doctor, ‘I really must protest against this riot.’” (Hawthorne 539) This is said after they had fought and overturned the table, shattering the vase in which the water was held, so Dr. Heidegger felt the need to put an end to his mischief.

It is made clear by description and various actions of Dr. Heidegger that he is a lunatic who practices magic. The description of Dr. Heidegger’s study reveals some evidence that supports this. First of all, there is a bronze statue of Hippocrates “with which according to some authorities, Dr. Heidegger was accustomed to hold consultations in all difficult cases of his practice.” (Hawthorne 534) This could mean that he is downright crazy, but it could also mean that the statue has magical properties which somehow advise him in his work. Another part of the description of the room is the big black book. “It was a ponderous folio volume, bound in black leather, with massive silver clasps … It was well known to be a book of magic.” (Hawthorne 535) It may be a rumor, but rumors such as this usually have some truth to them.

Some of the actions of Dr. Heidegger also disclose that he is practicing magic. The rose, for instance, was a trick that he performed in order to get his friends to believe that the water from the Fountain of Youth was legitimate. His friends didn’t even believe it at first. “‘That is certainly a very pretty deception,’ said the doctor’s friends: carelessly, however, for they had witnessed greater miracles at a conjurer’s show…” (Hawthorne 536) The second trick the doctor performed was with the mirror in his study. As Widow Wycherly gazed into it after she had “become young”, the doctor enchanted the mirror so it would reveal to Wycherly the image which she hoped it would reveal.

There is quite a bit of evidence that the water is nothing more than strong liquor. Even when it is first seen in the story, the table on which the vase of water was placed is set also with champagne glasses. The appearance of the water also suggests that it is liquor, with its little bubbles and its “cordial and comfortable properties.” (Hawthorne 537) At times, the author even ventured to call it liquor.

As soon as the four drank their first glass, they were already feeling the effects, “not unlike what might have been produced by a glass of generous wine.” (Hawthorne 537) They were already so intoxicated as to imagine that they were getting younger. The more they drank, the younger they believed they were becoming. They were not really growing younger, however. This is suggested by certain key words thrown into the text, such as in the following sentences: “They gazed at one another and fancied that some magic power had really begun (to smooth away their wrinkles)” (Hawthorne 537) and “The Widow Wycherly adjusted her cap, for she felt almost like a woman again.” (Hawthorne 537)

More proof that the fluid they were drinking was alcohol is the way they were acting after they swallowed it. One of the four, Mr. Gascoigne, began babbling about politics, “but whether relating to past, present, or future could not easily be determined” (Hawthorne 538) since he was drunk and didn’t really know what he was talking about. Another of them, Colonel Killigrew, “all this time had been trolling forth a jolly bottle song, and ringing his glass in symphony with the chorus, while his eyes wandered toward the buxom figure of the Widow Wycherly.” (Hawthorne 538) This is a clear illustration of a drunken man.

Although many people may believe that Hawthorne’s study of right and wrong in human conduct is seen solely in the actions of the elderly people, after closer examination, a reader will find that it is also in the lack of morality of Dr. Heidegger. It is clear that Dr. Heidegger was playing a trick on his friends using magic and liquor. The story could appropriately be renamed “The Cruel Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment”, because Dr. Heidegger is clearly a cruel man.

Works Cited:
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment.” Adventures in American Literature. Ed. Renee Belle Inglis, et al. Harcourt, Brace, and Company: New York, 1952. 533-540.

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Herman Melville:

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Emily Dickinson: