The Blithedale Romance

To be perfectly honest; The Blithedale Romance isn’t really my kind of book. For me it lacked action or more relatable plot motivators. I prefer my books to have a little more action and suspense in them. Also I find Coverdale to be a really annoying character; he wants to seem like a good guy who gets along with everyone but he is very quick to point out the worst in people while ignoring his own flaws. With this in mind; I found the book quite difficult to get through; although I managed it in the end; after hours of struggle and getting distracted by other books. However I can see why it could appeal to other people.

The main point I found interesting in the book was the theme of paradise lost. All the characters go to Blithedale to start this new society in which everyone is equal and everyone must do part of the work within the society. Although this starts out well it soon becomes clear that the society isn’t going to work. Many of the characters are there with less than pure intentions. It seems as though Hawthorne is making a comment on the idea that people are incapable of finding paradise because they themselves will ruin it. It is the character’s desires and suspicions that cause discontent within the Blithedale community.  Hawthorne could be using this as a way to express that it is a natural part of human behaviour to put themselves before others and therefore would be incapable of a utopian society.

As the book continues the community falls apart as the characters own flaws come into focus. This is first seen with Coverdale. Coverdale has an almost obsessive need to know what is going on between Hollingsworth; Priscilla and Zenobia.  In this way he starts to become more distrustful of their motivations and commitment to the community. It’s also shown in the way that Covendale only helps others when it profits him; he will not go out of his way to help anyone if it will cause him hardship or trouble which goes against the ideals of the project.

Also with Zenobia; she appears at first to be a very strong character. She could almost be described as a modern day women; however she also shows a sense of fragility when it comes to Hollingsworth and his opinion of her. She always wants to appeal to Hollingsworth and changes her own ideals to do so. The main appearance of this weakness is Zenobia’s reaction to being rejected by Hollingsworth; it seems such an extreme reaction and one completely opposed to the image of her that she has presented.

Like I said at the beginning I said that this wasn’t my type of novel; and if I’m honest my opinion hasn’t changed. I still think the book lacks a strong plot motivator and seems a bit dull.