"Despair and "Death" are two descriptions of the mood that prevails in Nathaniel Hawthorne' short story "The Wedding-Knell". Ultimately the bride's faults in her past and life affected the mood of the story. The bride's faults lead her to a tomb. When the bride enters the church for the wedding, the bell let out a deep knell, usually reserved for funerals. This story is set by the funeral bells ringing during the wedding. "If you dearest Julia, were approaching the alter the bell would ring out, its merriest peal. It has only a funeral knell for her." When the funeral knells began to play the whole church became filled with despair and horror. The bells have sealed the brides fate and brings to the story level mystery but also confusion to
