What Many Men Desire: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Short Story ‘The Golden Touch’

In the Nathaniel Hawthorne version of the Midas myth, Midas's daughter turns to a golden statue when he touches her. An illustration by Walter Crane for the 1893 edition of "A Wonder Book for Boys and Girls" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Library of Congress. Public Domain

For centuries, men have desired riches and, in particular, gold. Many have done everything possible to obtain this precious metal. Whatever motivates them, this desire has caused wars, feuds, deaths, and betrayals.

In his short story “The Golden Touch,” Nathaniel Hawthorne contemplated the dangers of gold and the consequences of an unquenchable desire for it by revisiting the story of King Midas and his golden touch.

King Midas possessed more gold than most kings, and he loved gold more than “anything else in the world.” He sought it everywhere and hoarded it like legendary dragons. Eventually, “Midas gets to be so exceedingly unreasonable, that he can scarcely bear to see or touch any object that is not gold.”

The one and only thing Midas loves more than gold is his little daughter, Marygold. She means much more to him than anything.

Manifold Riches

Yet Midas’s love for his daughter does not prevent him from craving more gold. When a young stranger visits and asks Midas what he desires most, Midas exclaims: “I wish everything that I touch to be changed to gold!”

The next morning, Midas finds that the stranger has gifted him with the golden touch. Everything he touches turns to gold: clothes, the bed, books, glasses, the stair railing, and roses in the garden.

Midas is overjoyed! Now nothing will be worthless in his eyes. Should he judge something worthless, he can instantly change it to gold.

Worth Her Weight in Gold

However, Midas’s joyful view of his golden touch soon changes. While at breakfast, the potato, hotcake, and fish that he touches turn to gold and become inedible. He becomes frustrated and groans. How can he survive without food?

Seeing her father’s distress, Marygold rushes to comfort him. Touched by her love, Midas bends down and kisses her, turning his lovely daughter into a golden statue.

In this moment, King Midas realizes too late “how infinitely a warm and tender heart, that loves him, exceeds in value all the wealth that can be piled up betwixt the earth and sky!” His blind, infatuated craze for gold has caused him to lose his only child.

Seeing Midas’s true repentance, the young stranger revokes the golden touch and advises Midas to wash himself of his avarice and greed. Hawthorne’s story tells what happened when Midas prizes gold and then again when he turns his life around.

What Many Men Desire

Hawthorne showed, as J.R.R. Tolkien said in “The Hobbit,” that “if more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” Gold brings no joy.

When we seek after gold with an avaricious, unquenchable desire, then everything else around us becomes lifeless and worthless. Our hearts grow hard, loveless, and untouchable like solid, cold gold.

Hawthorne’s story encourages us to see the beauty in everything, not just gold. We must look past the shining exterior to the beauty within. We must pursue that which is infinitely better than gold: love. Through love, we can attain higher virtues and graces that gold cannot buy.