Literature Network » Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Savage in the House

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From: The Arizona Quarterly
Date: 20080101
Author:Fisher, Lydia

IN 'THE BLITHEDALE ROMANCE' Nathaniel Hawthorne captures Victorian America's obsession with domestication: better nature through human intervention. The novel figures Zenobia, one of its two central women, as a spectacular but short-lived, hothouse flower. Miles Coverdale, captivated by Zenobia's distinctive charms, selects her vigorous bloom as preferable to the feminine delicacy admired by the cultivated classes. In his first description of her, Coverdale focuses on the colorful blossom adorning her abundant hair. That "exotic" accessory, "as fresh as if the hot-house gardener had just ...

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