The Half-Vanished Structure: Hawthorne's Allegorical Dialectics

This book takes issue with the tendency in twentieth-century Hawthorne-criticism to blur the distinction between symbolism and allegory. Rejecting the long-standing notion that Hawthorne is a symbolist in allegorical disguise, Ullén argues that allegory is the key to understanding how religion, sexuality, aesthetics and politics are interwoven in Hawthorne’s writings.
The study presents a model for allegorical interpretation of general applicability, which is brought to bear on each of Hawt...