If People Could Regain Their Youth Again
| Dr. Heidegger'south Experiment | |
|---|---|
| past Nathaniel Hawthorne | |
 | |
| Original title | "The Fountain of Youth" |
| Country | United States |
| Linguistic communication | English |
| Genre(due south) | fiction, short story |
| Published in | The Knickerbocker, Vol. IX, p. 27 |
| Publication date | January 1837 |
"Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" is a curt story by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. The story is most a doctor who claims to have been sent water from the Fountain of Youth. Originally published anonymously in 1837, it was later published in Hawthorne's collection Twice-Told Tales, as well in 1837.
Plot [edit]
Dr. Heidegger invites 4 elderly friends to participate in an experiment in his mysterious, gloomy study. He shows them a withered rose that he claims is 50-five years old. He and then displays a vase, a souvenir from an associate, that contains a generous quantity of sparkling water. Heidegger explains that this bewitching water is from the legendary Fountain of Youth, near Lake Macaco (now known as Lake Okeechobee, in Florida). The h2o wondrously causes the old rose to bloom once more when it is dropped into it.
Dr. Heidegger'due south friends become cautiously intrigued. They wish to gustatory modality the water, hoping it volition restore their youth and requite them an opportunity to live life once again, free from the mistakes they made when they were young. As Heidegger watches, they anxiously beverage the water. Their youth restored, they begin acting as fatuously as they did in their prime number. Soon, the iii men of the group begin competing for the attending of the now-youthful and beautiful widow. While experiencing their newfound youth, however, a tall ominous mirror in the report reflects an epitome of the four guests every bit still being elderly and feeble. The vase is accidentally smashed as the men fight over her, and its miraculous water is lost. The guests' transformation only lasts for minutes, and therefore returns them to their original old age. To obtain more than of the enchanted water, the four test subjects determine to travel to Florida to find the Fountain of Youth.
Characters [edit]
- Dr. Heidegger - An aged and wise medico who is the protagonist of the story.
- Colonel Killigrew - A man who, throughout his life, has had many self-indulgent, sinful pleasures.
- Mr. Medbourne - A once-rich merchant who lost about of his fortune in speculation.
- Mr. Gascoigne - A politician whose career was ruined by his corruption.
- Widow Wycherley - A formerly beautiful woman loved by the three gentlemen (Colonel Killigrew, Mr. Medbourne, Mr. Gascoigne).
- Sylvia Ward- A youthful adult female whose portrait hangs upon a wall in the study. She was supposed to marry Dr. Heidegger but died the mean solar day before their matrimony. (The rose Dr. Heidegger uses in his experiment is 1 he received from Sylvia for their wedding ceremony.)
Publication history and response [edit]
The story was offset published anonymously as "The Fountain of Youth" in the Jan 1837 issue of Lewis Gaylord Clark's The Knickerbocker magazine in New York.[1] Clarke, who had invited Hawthorne to contribute, noted that he had "rarely read anything which delighted" him more.[2]
The story was included later that twelvemonth in Hawthorne's drove Twice-Told Tales. Park Benjamin Sr. reviewed the collection for the American Monthly Mag and called it a rival to the work of Washington Irving. He specified that "Dr. Heidegger'south Experiment" served as "a very apt companion-piece" to Irving'south "Mutability of Literature".[3] An anonymous reviewer in the Boston Daily Advertiser, however, noted that the stories in the drove were of "unequal merit" and preferred "the grace and sugariness of such papers every bit 'Trivial Annie'south Ramble,' or 'A Rill from the Town-pump,' to those of a more aggressive bandage, and in which the page glows with a wider and more fearful interest, like 'The Minister's Blackness Veil' and 'Dr. Heidegger's Experiment.'"[4] Edgar Allan Poe reviewed the second edition of the collection in 1842 and wrote that "Dr. Heidegger'due south Experiment" was "exceedingly well imagined and executed with surpassing ability. The creative person breathes in every line of it."[ commendation needed ]
Adaptations [edit]
- Dr. Heidegger'south Experiment, an episode of the former-time radio program Favorite Story. Information technology first aired on May xv, 1948, and was hosted past Ronald Colman. Information technology starred John McIntire as Dr. Heidegger, Lurene Tuttle, Earle Ross, Arthur Q. Bryan, and Norman Field. It was selected by Robert Walker as his favorite story.[v]
- Billie Burke starred in an adaptation of the story on the TV version of Lights Out on November 20, 1950.[6]
- Dr. Heidegger's Fountain of Youth, bedchamber opera by Jack Beeson and Sheldon Harnick (1979) [7]
- Britannica Classic: Nathaniel Hawthorne'due south Dr. Heidegger's Experiment, adapted as a short movie, dramatized past the Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation in 1969. Available for viewing online at http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1685292/Doctor-Heideggers-Experiment. (Information technology stars Peter Brocco.)
- It was included, with significant changes, as the offset segment of the 1963 movie Twice-Told Tales starring Vincent Price
- The story was adapted by Stephen Douglas Burton as one of three 1-act operas in his 1975 trilogy, An American Triptych.[viii]
References [edit]
- ^ Miller, Perry. The Raven and the Whale: The State of war of Words and Wits in the Era of Poe and Melville. New York: Harvest Book, 1956: 14.
- ^ Wright, Sarah Bird. Critical Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts on File, 2007: 65. ISBN 0-8160-5583-1
- ^ Wright, Sarah Bird. Critical Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts on File, 2007: 66–67. ISBN 0-8160-5583-1
- ^ Wright, Sarah Bird. Disquisitional Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts on File, 2007: 67. ISBN 0-8160-5583-ane
- ^ "ST55: Dr. Heideggers Experiment by Favorite Story" Castroller.com Archived August viii, 2014, at the Wayback Automobile
- ^ "Television . . . . . . Highlights of the Week". Detroit Costless Press. Nov 19, 1950. p. 22. Retrieved Apr thirteen, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Opera versions of Hawthorne'due south works, scores, librettos, and vocal recordings" ibiblio.org 5 August 2011
- ^ The Grove Lexicon of American Music. OUP USA. January 2013. ISBN978-0-xix-531428-i.
External links [edit]
- eText on Project Gutenberg (Included in Twice Told Tales)
- A Brief Article on NYU's database site
-
Dr. Heidegger's Experiment public domain audiobook at LibriVox
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Heidegger%27s_Experiment
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