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A review by mpaloma
The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne
2.0
I found this one a lot more tolerable to read than The House of the Seven Gables.
In The Blithedale Romance, Hawthorne sets his story on a experimental socialist farm, slightly inspired by Brook Farm, where Hawthorne had spent some time prior to writing the book. Most notably, this is Hawthorne's only completed novel written in first person. We have four main characters, and it is all narrated by Miles Coverdale, a middle-aged bachelor. Our other characters are Hollingsworth, a man driven by his desire to build a facility for criminal reform; Zenobia, a wealthy socialite, activist, and artist; and Priscilla, a shy, innocent girl who we will come to know is Zenobia's long-lost sister.
None of the characters really seem invested in this society they are helping to create. They are all self-interested, and step on each other's toes to get what they want. The Blithedale Romance is another one of Hawthorne's self-proclaimed romances, but ends in tragedy and features little to no actual romance.
While both men hold what on the surface appears to be romantic interest in Priscilla and Zenobia, there is no real romance, just as The Scarlet Letter lacks the sordid affair one would expect. Hollingsworth changes his interest in Zenobia and Priscilla based on who stands to inherit the money he needs to build his facility, and Coverdale changes his interest almost in competition with Hollingsworth. Again, Hawthorne has given us the function of heterosexuality with no actual sex. The relationship we get the greatest insight into, although perhaps this can be partially attributed to Coverdale being our narrator, is the relationship between himself and Hollingsworth. Between these two the most intimate conversations take place, rather than with either of the two supposed love interests. Interestingly, some scholars believe this book was written after Hawthorne and Melville's falling out, and that the relationship between Hollingsworth and Coverdale was meant to mirror their own relationship.
In the end, each character leaves the farm in one way or another. I think what is most interesting about this book is the unreliable narrator. It's interesting to read back over the novel and see the inconsistencies in the plot Coverdale tries to sell us on, and this is one I may give a reread at some point.
In The Blithedale Romance, Hawthorne sets his story on a experimental socialist farm, slightly inspired by Brook Farm, where Hawthorne had spent some time prior to writing the book. Most notably, this is Hawthorne's only completed novel written in first person. We have four main characters, and it is all narrated by Miles Coverdale, a middle-aged bachelor. Our other characters are Hollingsworth, a man driven by his desire to build a facility for criminal reform; Zenobia, a wealthy socialite, activist, and artist; and Priscilla, a shy, innocent girl who we will come to know is Zenobia's long-lost sister.
None of the characters really seem invested in this society they are helping to create. They are all self-interested, and step on each other's toes to get what they want. The Blithedale Romance is another one of Hawthorne's self-proclaimed romances, but ends in tragedy and features little to no actual romance.
While both men hold what on the surface appears to be romantic interest in Priscilla and Zenobia, there is no real romance, just as The Scarlet Letter lacks the sordid affair one would expect. Hollingsworth changes his interest in Zenobia and Priscilla based on who stands to inherit the money he needs to build his facility, and Coverdale changes his interest almost in competition with Hollingsworth. Again, Hawthorne has given us the function of heterosexuality with no actual sex. The relationship we get the greatest insight into, although perhaps this can be partially attributed to Coverdale being our narrator, is the relationship between himself and Hollingsworth. Between these two the most intimate conversations take place, rather than with either of the two supposed love interests. Interestingly, some scholars believe this book was written after Hawthorne and Melville's falling out, and that the relationship between Hollingsworth and Coverdale was meant to mirror their own relationship.
In the end, each character leaves the farm in one way or another. I think what is most interesting about this book is the unreliable narrator. It's interesting to read back over the novel and see the inconsistencies in the plot Coverdale tries to sell us on, and this is one I may give a reread at some point.