The Blithedale Romance

Life After Blithedale

At the end of the Blithedale-Pasture chapter, we are introduced to a strange reversal of roles. Coverdale tells us that through his curiosity that he seeks out Hollingsworth many years later after Zenobia’s death. He finds an emotionally broken down Hollingsworth with Priscilla by his side. The relationship between Hollingsworth and Priscilla has totally swapped with Hollingsworth “showed a self-destructive weakness, and a childlike, or childish, tendency to press close, and closer still” to Priscilla’s side (242). Coverdale observes Priscilla as being the protector and having a watchful quality, the guardian of Hollingsworth (242). An interesting role reversal, seeing as at Blithedale Hollingsworth was Priscilla’s protector, but even though Priscilla was not self loathing, she still stayed close to Hollingsworth’s protective gaze.

This is not a complete role reversal however. With their new roles each character stayed true to themselves. Priscilla is still “deep, submissive,, unquestioning reverence, and also a veiled happiness in her fair and quiet countenance” all qualities that she possessed in her younger years at Blithedale (242). Even Hollingsworth keeps his original purpose as a philanthropist, but instead of rehabilitating other criminals, he is rehabilitating himself because he sees himself as being Zenobia’s killer (243).

Even with this role reversal you can see that the characters changed, but it is frustrating that Coverdale does not grow. He is still the self absorbed bachelor that he had been before his journey to Blithedale. In his confession he says, “I by no means wish to die, Yet, were there any cause, in this whole chaos of human struggle, worth a sane man’s dying for, and which my death would benefit, then-provided, however, the effort did not involve an unreasonable amount of trouble-methinks I might be bold to offer up my life” (246). Same old Coverdale, it appears that he is saying the right, the noble, thing to say, but reading his statement it does not appear to be genuine. The only sacrifice that he had ever made was giving up his bachelor ways for the prospect of improving his life, he was not worried about the others.