The Blithedale Romance Analysis

The Blithedale Romance is a work of art comprised in 1852, based in the 1800s. At this time, women were a step below men and expected to dedicate their life to their home and their family. A woman who was too vocal, too educated, or disobedient was frowned upon and deemed an undesirable wife. They could not own land, sign contracts, and nor venture out alone; an unmarried and unchaperoned woman was outright scandalous. A career was out of the question, and feminism was an innovation of the time. The most desirable woman by contrast was one who was fertile, meek, obedient, attractive and kind. Nathaniel Hawthorne makes a huge statement on “the ideal woman” in The Blithedale Romance. While giving the appearance of taking a stance behind Zenobia

On page 47, there is a window into his thoughts: “What girl had ever laughed as Zenobia did? What girl had ever spoken in her mellow tones? Her unconstrained and inevitable manifestation, I said often to myself, was that of a woman to whom wedlock had thrown wide the gates of mystery.” He is thoroughly enchanted. Hawthorne himself states in the preface that Zenobia is a “high-spirited woman, bruising herself against the narrow limitations of her sex” which is a unique quote. When the audience thinks of a character getting bruised, it’s due to an accident, and causes pain. Children generally get bruises from doing something they are not supposed to be doing. Hawthorne tries to convey the fact that she is too large and too great to fit in such a small space, but the verbiage used is interesting. Starting on page 9 and proceeding further, Coverdale compares Zenobia to Eve as a compliment. Eve, the first woman created by God, was innocent and perfect until she met Satan and ate the forbidden fruit. Eve’s naïve nature and inexperience turned out to be her fatal flaw, which then makes us wonder what Zenobia’s flaw will turn out to be. It becomes extremely apparent that Zenobia is very loud and opinionated, and while Coverdale seems to admire that and long for her attention, the woman comes across as haughty and undesirable. When young, sickly Priscilla is introduced into the novel,

Zenobia claims Coverdale is “their judge and jury”, which is also intriguing-a woman so proud and so open should have no fear of being judged, yet she is hostile towards him and openly argues with Coverdale about the equality of women though they support the same point. Hollingsworth, who has the opposing view of Zenobia, turns out to show us her fatal flaw. First, Zenobia chooses Hollingsworth over Priscilla. Though she is not aware that Priscilla is her half-sister, the idea of feminism is supporting other women. Zenobia turns against this not only vocally, but also physically: on more than one occasion, Priscilla is separated from the “pack” and Zenobia clings to Hollingsworth’s side. Priscilla doesn’t complain about this, though it’s obvious this upsets her because she cares deeply for Hollingsworth as well. Her silence is stark contrast to Zenobia’s outspoken personality. Zenobia makes a valiant attempt to be the perfect woman though; she allows Westervelt near Priscilla, and is unkind to her