Final answer:
c. Nathaniel Hawthorne was not a transcendentalist; he was more of a Dark Romantic, unlike Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller, who were key figures in the transcendentalism movement.
Step-by-step explanation:
The person among the options provided who was not a transcendentalist is c. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Transcendentalism was an intellectual movement centered on the dignity of the individual and emphasized American ideals such as freedom, optimism, and self-reliance.
Key figures among these transcendentalists included Ralph Waldo Emerson, often referred to as the father of transcendentalism, Henry David Thoreau, noted for his book Walden; Or, Life in the Woods, and Margaret Fuller, a prominent female transcendentalist and advocate for women's equality.
Conversely, Nathaniel Hawthorne, while a contemporary of the transcendentalists and involved in the broader literary scene of the era, is more accurately described as a Dark Romantic, expressing skepticism about the transcendental ideals and focusing instead on human fallibility and the potential darkness of the human spirit.