The Blithedale Romance

The Blithedale Romance

Hawthorne published The Blithdale Romance in 1852. The inspiration for the book came from his experience joining the Transcendentalist utopian community, Brook Farm in 1841, not because he agreed with the experiment, but because he needed to save money to marry his fiance, Sophia Peabody. Interestingly, this novel was his only published in the first person, Teachers and students looking for further summary and analysis might wish to read D. H. Lawrence's chapter on Hawthorne's The Blithedale Romance from his book Studies in Classic American Literature.

The Blithedale Romance, inspired by Brook Farm

Table of Contents

I. OLD MOODIE
II. BLITHEDALE
III. A KNOT OF DREAMERS
IV. THE SUPPER-TABLE
V. UNTIL BEDTIME
VI. COVERDALE'S SICK-CHAMBER
VII. THE CONVALESCENT
VIII. A MODERN ARCADIA
IX. HOLLINGSWORTH, ZENOBIA, PRISCILLA
X. A VISITOR FROM TOWN
XI. THE WOOD-PATH
XII. COVERDALE'S HERMITAGE
XIII. ZENOBIA'S LEGEND
XIV. ELIOT'S PULPIT
XV. A CRISIS
XVI. LEAVE-TAKINGS
XVII. THE HOTEL
XVIII. THE BOARDING-HOUSE
XIX. ZENOBIA'S DRAWING-ROOM
XX. THEY VANISH
XXI. AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE
XXII. FAUNTLEROY
XXIII. A VILLAGE HALL
XXIV. THE MASQUERADERS
XXV. THE THREE TOGETHER
XXVI. ZENOBIA AND COVERDALE
XXVII. MIDNIGHT
XXVIII. BLITHEDALE PASTURE
XXIX. MILES COVERDALE'S CONFESSION