The Blithedale Romance

Nathaniel Hawthorne, a writer from the United States, published The Blithedale Romance in 1852. It is the third significant "romance," as he described the genre. The setting is a utopian farming commune modeled after Brook Farm, where Hawthorne lived in 1841 and was a founder member. The clash between the principles of the commune and the members' personal desires and sexual rivalries is dramatized in the book. She promises Coverdale that she will finally get over it but that she has to leave Blithedale right away when she is feeling well. She wants Coverdale to tell Hollingsworth that he has "murdered" her and declares that she will become a nun. Coverdale dozes off under the rock when she departs. He goes to Hollingsworth's cottage when he wakes up at midnight and asks for help; when Silas Foster awakens, he is also asked to assist. Coverdale conveys his suspicion that Zenobia had committed herself by drowning after leading them to a familiar location by the river and considering her comments. Silas Foster notices that Hollingsworth physically injured her close to her heart when he hooked her body with a rod.