Question

Analyze the characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" and list their traits. Cite evidence from the story to support your analysis.

Answer 1

Answer: "Mr. Medbourne’s character is greedy. This is evident from the way in which he lived his life. He "had been a prosperous merchant, but had lost his all by a frantic speculation." Colonel Killigrew is gluttonous or lustful. He indulged in sinful pleasures, and his gluttony becomes more apparent after he consumes the elixir and begins to leer at the young widow. Mr. Gascoigne is pompous and loves to listen to himself speak. "Now he rattled forth full-throated sentences about patriotism, national glory, and the people's right; now he muttered some perilous stuff or other, in a sly and doubtful whisper." Widow Wycherly, who is transfixed by her own beauty when she becomes young again, is vain and can’t stop admiring herself in the mirror: "She thrust her face close to the glass, to see whether some long-remembered wrinkle or crow's foot had indeed vanished." Dr. Heidegger is shown as a wise old doctor who has lived a good life and is comfortable in his old age. He does not harbor any desire to repeat his youth."

Answer 2

Mr. Medbourne’s character is greedy. This is evident from the way in which he lived his life. He "had been a prosperous merchant, but had lost his all by a frantic speculation." Colonel Killigrew is gluttonous or lustful. He indulged in sinful pleasures, and his gluttony becomes more apparent after he consumes the elixir and begins to leer at the young widow. Mr. Gascoigne is pompous and loves to listen to himself speak. "Now he rattled forth full-throated sentences about patriotism, national glory, and the people's right; now he muttered some perilous stuff or other, in a sly and doubtful whisper." Widow Wycherly, who is transfixed by her own beauty when she becomes young again, is vain and can’t stop admiring herself in the mirror: "She thrust her face close to the glass, to see whether some long-remembered wrinkle or crow's foot had indeed vanished." Dr. Heidegger is shown as a wise old doctor who has lived a good life and is comfortable in his old age. He does not harbor any desire to repeat his youth.