Main description:

Offering innovative, psychoanalytic readings of Nathaniel Hawthorne's four romances, this volume systematically applies Freudian theory to present significant new insights into the psychology of Hawthorne's characters and their fates.

By critically examining scenes in which the protagonists confront past traumas, Diamond underscores the transformative potential which Hawthorne attributes to encounters with the unconscious. Psychoanalytic narrative technique is employed to interpret the psychogical crises, all hidden by Hawthorne in narrative gaps, in The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables, The Blithedale Romance, and The Marble Faun. The protagonists' transformations that are illuminated are crucial to an understanding of the trajectory and resolution of the romances.

The text will benefit both academic and non-academic readers who seek a deeper understanding of the psychology of Hawthorne's romances. It will be of particular interest to educators and researchers of applied psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic technique. Since its conclusions challenge many currently held critical views, this volume is especially relevant to scholars of Hawthorne studies, interdisciplinary literary studies, and 19th century American literature.

Contents:

Acknowledgements

1. Introduction

2. The Transformations of Arthur Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter: "That self was gone!"

3. The Transformation of Holgrave in The House of the Seven Gables: "The black moment became at once a blissful one"

4. Zenobia's Suicide in The Blithedale Romance: "But, all this while, we have been standing by Zenobia's grave"

5. Miriam's Transformation in The Marble Faun: "The tragic dignity of their hour of crime"

6. Hester's Return to Boston in The Scarlet Letter: "Her whole orb of life both before and after, was connected with this spot, as with the one point that gave it unity"

Afterword: Hawthorne beyond the Couch

Index