The Blithedale Romance (Penguin Classics)

by NathanielHawthorne (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2001

  $4.04

  A superb depiction of a utopian community that cannot survive the individual passions of its members.In language that is suggestive and often erotic, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells a tale of failed possibilities and multiple personal betrayals as he explores the contrasts between what his characters espouse and what they actually experience in an 'ideal' community. A theme of unrealized sexual possibilities serves as a counterpoint to the other failures at Blithedale: class and sex distinctions are not eradicated, and communal work on the farm proves personally unrewarding and economically disastrous. Based in part on Hawthorne's own experiences at Brook Farm, an experimental socialist community, The Blithedale Romanceis especially timely in light of renewed interest in self-sufficient and other cooperative societies.

• Used

  Paperback
  1991

  $3.27

  Based on Hawthorne's own experience of a Utopian socialist community outside Boston, The Blithedale Romance tells of the attempts of a like-minded group to begin reforming a dissipated America. However, rather than dropping bad habits and changing the world, Coverdale the prurient bachelor, Hollingsworth the furious philanthropist, Zenobia the voluptuous feminist, and Priscilla the vulnerable seamstress soon find themselves pursuing egotistical paths which must lead ultimately to tragedy. Evoking a bright rural idyll which fails to survive the ravages of lust and power, Hawthorne cynically undermines the fatuities of nineteenth-century American idealism. This book is intended for general; students from A-level upwards following courses on American literature, American studies, world literature, and the novel. explanatory notes by: Dugdale, John;