The Blithedale Romance

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Blithedale Romance: Mood 1 key example

Definition of Mood

The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Chapter 2: Blithedale
Explanation and Analysis:

The Blithedale Romance has a dynamic mood that becomes increasingly negative as the story progresses. It undergoes a drastic change from the first half of the story (which is told with optimism) to the second half of the story (which devolves into a bitter yet languid mood). For example, the first part of the story has a markedly hopeful mood. In Chapter 2, when the narrator goes to Blithedale, he calls it "paradise":

Paradise, indeed! Nobody else in the world, I am bold to affirm—nobody, at least, in our bleak little world of New England—had dreamed of Paradise, that day, except as the pole suggests the tropic. Nor, with such materials as were at hand, could the most skilful architect have constructed any better imitation of Eve’s bower, than might be seen in the snow-hut of an Esquimaux. But we made a summer of it, in spite of the wild drifts.