An Interpretation Of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Political Views From The Blithedale Romance

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) is one of the greatest romanticists in the19thcentury in America. Set in New England in the1840s, his third romance The BlithedaleRomance (1852) tells a story of a group of social reformers trying to build an idealhome of equality and mutual support, which turns out to be a failure.Created under the influence of rapid social changes, political instability andpowerful tides of reforms, The Blithedale Romance contains a wealth of politicalconnotations. This thesis employs cultural criticism as the theoretical perspective tointerpret the text from the angle of history and culture. It expounds Hawthorne’spolitical views by analyzing his views towards the hot issues during his time and drawsa picture of his ideal social pattern.This thesis consists of five parts. Chapter one is a brief introduction toHawthorne’s life, his main literary achievements and the plot of The BlithedaleRomance. The literature review part teases out the research situation of The BlithedaleRomance both at home and abroad and then puts forward the feasibility andsignificance of this study. The theory of cultural criticism is also briefly introduced inthis part. Chapter two is a historical reading of The Blithedale Romance. It displays thesocial and historical background of the text and gives an analysis of Hawthorne’screative ideas. Chapter three focuses on a close reading of the text. It summarizesHawthorne’s political views systematically by analyzing his opinions on such hot issuesas reform, feminism, transcendentalism, abolitionism and the Civil War during his time.Chapter four assesses Hawthorne’s political ideas on the whole. As a matter of fact, hisdetestation for any form of radical movement is his expression of rational thinking andhumanitarian concern. Chapter five is the conclusion part. This part is centered on therevelation of Hawthorne’s ideal social pattern: a society full of love, humanitarian careand rational thinking. Faced with an age exposing various social problems, Hawthorne’sideas are beyond his age. However, he gives his full concern for human beings andsociety at that time. His principles of love, humanism and rationalism provide us withtheoretical reference in handling current problems and have far-reaching significance nowadays.