He has regularly despised each one of his books immediately upon finishing it.' I likewise (to confess the truth) admire it exceedingly, at intervals, but am liable to cold fits, during which I think it the most infernal nonsense.' Sophia wrote to her sister Elizabeth Peabody that her husband's reaction was typical: 'As usual, he thinks the book good for nothing. If she liked the author less, I should feel much encouraged by her liking the Romance so much. Fields that his wife enjoyed what she had read thus far and 'speaks of it very rapturously. On October 10, 1859, he wrote to his American publisher James T. Instead, he returned to England, where he would remain until July 1860, and entirely rewrote the book. Hawthorne began the manuscript and intended to complete it at home, The Wayside, in Concord, Massachusetts. In early 1858, Hawthorne was inspired to write his romance when he saw the Faun of Praxiteles in the Palazzo Nuovo of the Capitoline Museum in Rome. In 1858, Hawthorne and his wife Sophia Peabody moved the family to Italy and became tourists for a year and a half. Hawthorne, however, withholds a definite statement even in the novel’s concluding chapters and postscript.Ĭomposition and publication history Īfter writing The Blithedale Romance in 1852, Hawthorne, who was then approaching fifty, was granted a political appointment as American Consul in Liverpool, England, which he held from 1853 to 1857. Donatello amazingly resembles the marble Faun of Praxiteles, and the novel plays with the characters’ belief that the Count may be a descendant of the antique Faun. Donatello, the Count of Monte Beni, is often compared to Adam and is in love with Miriam. He cherishes a romantic affection towards Hilda. Kenyon is a sculptor who represents rationalist humanism. Her simple, unbendable moral principles can make her severe in spite of her tender heart. She is compared to the Virgin Mary and the white dove. Miriam is pursued by a mysterious, threatening man who is her “evil genius” through life. Throughout the novel, she is compared to many other women including Eve, Beatrice Cenci, Judith, and Cleopatra. Miriam is a beautiful painter with an unknown past. This romance focuses on four main characters: Miriam, Hilda, Kenyon, and Donatello. The romance mixes elements of a fable, pastoral, gothic novel, and travel guide.

The Marble Faun, written on the eve of the American Civil War, is set in a fantastical Italy. The Marble Faun: Or, The Romance of Monte Beni, also known by the British title Transformation, was the last of the four major romances by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and was published in 1860.

Hawthorne the marble faun