Dr. Heidegger's Experiment
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"Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" is a short story by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, about a scientist who claims to have been sent water from the Fountain of Youth. It was first published in the collection Twice-Told Tales in 1837.
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[edit] Characters
Colonel Killigrew is a man who throughout his life has had many different woman.
Mr. Medbourne was once a rich man who lost most of his money gambling, but claimed that he lost it in a stock investment.
Mr. Gascoigne was a politician whose career was cut short when caught accepting bribes.
Widow Wycherly was formerly a beuatiful woman loved by the three gentlemen and secretly by Dr, Heidegger. When the four drink the liquid, she becomes beautiful again and everybody starts to compete for her hand.
[edit] Plot summary
Dr. Heidegger, an aging scientist and physician, claims he has discovered the Fountain of Youth. Calling four of his friends together, he shows them the power of the fountain's water by dipping a withered 55-year-old rose into the water. The rose is renewed, as though it had just been plucked. A dying butterfly is later similarly refreshed.
The four friends eagerly taste a sample of the water, and they immediately feel youthful again. However, despite the doctor's warning and their own experience, they begin to repeat the mistakes of their youth. As the three men fight for the affections of the one woman, they knock over the vase containing the water.
As the rose in the vase dries, it begins to wither. Watching this, the four subjects of the experiement feel themselves returning to their aged state. They resolve to take the long journey to the Fountain of Youth in Florida and drink from it morning, noon and night.
Dr. Heidegger, after observing these effects on his friends, says he is content to remain old and wise rather than repeat the mistakes of his youth.
[edit] Major themes
Like "Rappaccini's Daughter" and "The Birth-Mark", this story features a sinister undertone. Here the subjects of the experiment live, but they end less happily than when they began. They may have hastily drunk the water of the Fountain of Youth or it may be a delusion; the story is equivocal. Either way the result of the drink is flirtation, quarrel, and the waste of precious time. The story can also be compared to "Feathertop" and "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" in its scepticism about much human endeavour. The story can also be read as an allegory where each of the characters represents a different symbol or human flaw.
[edit] Publication history
The story was first published as "The Fountain of Youth" in 1837 in Lewis Gaylord Clark's The Knickerbocker magazine, though it was left anonymous.[1] It was soon included in the collection Twice-Told Tales.
[edit] References
- ^ Miller, Perry. The Raven and the Whale: The War of Words and Wits in the Era of Poe and Melville. New York: Harvest Book, 1956: 14.
[edit] External Links
- eText on Project Gutenberg (Included in Twice Told Tales)
- A Brief Article on NYU's database site.
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