| The Blithedale Romance Contributor(s): Hawthorne, Nathaniel (Author) |
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ISBN: 048642684X ISBN-13: 9780486426846 Publisher: Dover Publications OUR PRICE: $4.50 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: July 2003 Annotation: A group of Utopians, unhappy with dissolute, mid-19th-century America, takes to the pastoral life; but the members find little satisfaction in the communal life. Instead of changing the world, they pursue self-centered paths that ultimately lead to tragedy. Absorbing 1852 novel about love, idealism, and politics bristles with Hawthorne's perceptive wit and intelligence. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Classics - Fiction | Historical - General |
| Dewey: FIC |
| LCCN: 2003040966 |
| Series: Dover Thrift Editions |
| Physical Information: 0.43" H x 5.3" W x 8.22" (0.30 lbs) 176 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 19th Century - Cultural Region - New England - Demographic Orientation - Rural - Geographic Orientation - Massachusetts |
| Accelerated Reader Info |
| Quiz #: 52119 Reading Level: 10.6 Interest Level: Upper Grades Point Value: 16.0 |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: A group of Utopians, dispirited by a mid-19th-century America they view as dissolute, takes to the pastoral life, but finds little satisfaction in its socialist living experiments. Little by little, the members' hypocrisies, contradictions, and ideological and economic paradoxes are exposed -- even as they attempt to create the ideal community. Among the group are Hollingsworth, an idealistic but egotistical reformer; Zenobia, an ardent feminist and exotic beauty; Priscilla, her frail and mysterious sister; Old Moodie, the sisters' manipulative father; Westervelt, a demonic mesmerist; and Miles Coverdale, whose narrative of the Blithedale experiment reveals the sexist and classist oppression permeating the Utopian group. First published in 1852, The Blithedale Romance was based in part on Hawthorne's disillusioning experiences with the Brook Farm experimental community near Boston in 1841. An engrossing novel about love, idealism, and politics tragically gone amiss, this captivating work bristles with the author's perceptive wit and intelligence. |