Context The Blithedale Romance

nathaniel hawthorne in 1860s

the blithedale romance work of fiction based on hawthorne s recollections of brook farm, short-lived agricultural , educational commune hawthorne lived april november 1841. commune, attempt @ intellectual utopian society, interested many famous transcendentalists such ralph waldo emerson , margaret fuller, though few of transcendentalists lived there. in novel s preface, hawthorne describes memories of temporary home daydream, , yet fact employs available foothold between fiction , reality. feelings of affectionate scepticism toward commune reflected not in novel, in journal entries , in numerous letters wrote brook farm sophia peabody, future wife.

hawthorne s claim novel s characters entirely fictitious has been questioned. character of zenobia, example, said have been modelled upon margaret fuller, acquaintance of hawthorne , frequent guest @ brook farm. circumstances of zenobia s death, however, not inspired shipwreck ended fuller s life suicide of miss martha hunt, refined melancholy young woman drowned herself in river on morning of july 9, 1845. hawthorne helped search body night, , later recorded incident @ considerable length in journal. suggested prototypes hollingsworth include amos bronson alcott, ralph waldo emerson, , horace mann, while narrator supposed hawthorne himself.