Read this Nathaniel Hawthorne excerpt from "Introduction to Dark Romanticism: American Gothic."


When they met in conclave, it was never to keep up the old English mirth, but to hear sermons three hours long, or to proclaim bounties on the heads of wolves and the scalps of Indians.


What Dark Romantic theme is reflected in the excerpt?

societal reform

spiritual well-being

destructive forces of nature

human evil or cruelty