Psychoanalytic Readings of Hawthorne’s Romances: Narratives of Unconscious Crisis and Transformation

Offering innovative, psychoanalytic readings of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s mature novels, this volume expertly applies Freudian theory to present new insights into the psychology of Hawthorne’s characters and their fates.

By critically examining scenes in which protagonists confront past traumas, Diamond underscores the transformative potential which Hawthorne attributes to confrontations with the unconscious. Psychoanalytic narrative technique is used to illuminate psychological crises of the protagonists in The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables, The Blithedale Romance, and The Marble Faun, showing the transformations they undergo to be central to our understanding of the trajectory and resolution of Hawthorne’s romances.

The text will benefit researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in applied psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic technique, and Freud in particular. Since its conclusions challenge many currently held critical views, this volume is especially relevant to those interested in interdisciplinary literary studies, Hawthorne studies, 19th century literature and romanticism.