Nathaniel Hawthorne is an author whose primary fiction greatly influenced the literary world during the nineteenth century. His work during the Romantic period represents his worldview through a specific writing style. Although his literature has a particularly dark tone, his stories display a variety of symbols, themes, and characters. “The minister's black veil”, “The desire” and “Dr. The Heidegger Experiment” are three stories by Hawthorne that illustrate the similar and different nuances in tone and meaning found in his writings. A common theme found in these three stories is experimentation. In each of the story plots there is some kind of experiment undertaken to improve the human condition. The most obvious of these is the experiment found in “Dr. Heidegger's Experiment." Dr. Heidegger is an elderly doctor who brings together four old friends. Three are "white-bearded gentlemen, Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew and Mr. Gascoigne" (Hawthorne, "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" 12 ), and the other is "a wizened gentlewoman, whose name [is] the Widow Wycherly" (Hawthorne, “Dr.'s Experiment Heidegger” 12). Doctor Heidegger calls them to his house so he can do an experiment on them. First he shows the group of elderly people a concoction he has and then pours it on an old, dry rose that his old lover gave him. Soon the flower regains its old color and restores its previously vibrant qualities. The four elderly friends ask to try the mixture and soon return to their prime Wycherly. After taking the mixture and becoming young again, the men return to their fight for the widow... in the middle of a sheet of paper... stories that represent the similar and different elements found in her writings. WORKS CITED Gorman, Herbert Shermann. "Hawthorn on Solitude” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. 15-16. Print.Hawthorn, Nathaniel. "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment." The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. 12-15. Print.Hawthorn, Nathaniel. "The Birthmark." The Bedford Introduction to Literature . Michael Meyer Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. Hawthorn, Nathaniel's -5. "Aminadab in THE BIRTH-MARK 67.4 (2009): 258-260 Web. 2012.