The Blithedale Romance

by

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Blithedale Romance makes teaching easy.
The Veil Symbol Icon

The veil in The Blithedale Romance represents the mystery and allure of innocence, which all too often attracts its own destruction. The veil both obscures the true identity of the Veiled Lady and puts a target on her back by creating an alluring mystery that the audience wants to uncover. As Zenobia says in her story, young men spend hours talking and theorizing about what they’d find if they took the Lady’s veil off. They are drawn to her innocence (her veil), but only because they want to personally be the one to take the veil away. If the veil were removed, however, the Lady would no longer be an object of temptation, as her central mystery—that of her identity and appearance—would be known. She would be, in effect, ruined by the removal of her veil in the same way a woman at the time was said to be ruined by extramarital sex.

Not coincidentally, the imagery of removing the Veiled Lady’s veil mirrors the act of removing a veil during a wedding ceremony, after which the bride and groom—who are now officially married—may kiss. Therefore, for both a bride and the Veiled Lady, the state of being concealed under a veil is associated with innocence and virginity, and removing the veil—symbolically associated with sex—diminishes their value in the public’s eye. Because of this, the Veiled Lady must always be on her guard; she can’t be too open with people, she must be careful who she trusts, and she leads a rather isolated existence with a veil standing between herself and the rest of the world. It’s for these reasons that the Veiled Lady says that the veil makes her feel like a “sad and lonely prisoner,” and she clearly wants someone to liberate her from it, but only if they do it the right way: by kissing her through the veil first, thus binding them together in a marriage-like relationship. It seems that what the Veiled Lady really wants to escape is the scrutiny she’s constantly under because her veil excites so many rumors about her—and she also wants to escape the threat the veil invites, as it makes her particularly vulnerable to treacherous and lascivious young men.

The Veil Quotes in The Blithedale Romance

The The Blithedale Romance quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Veil. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Self-Interest and Utopian Societies Theme Icon
).
Chapter 23 Quotes

How strangely she had been betrayed! Blazoned abroad as a wonder of the world, and performing what were adjudged as miracles—in the faith of many, a seeress and a prophetess—in the harsher judgment of others, a mountebank—she had kept, as I religiously believe, her virgin reserve and sanctity of soul, throughout it all. Within that encircling veil, though an evil hand had flung it over her, there was as deep a seclusion as if this forsaken girl had, all the while, been sitting under the shadow of Eliot’s pulpit, in the Blithedale woods, at the feet of him who now summoned her to the shelter of his arms. And the true heart-throb of a woman’s affection was too powerful for the jugglery that had hitherto environed her.

Related Characters: Miles Coverdale (speaker), Hollingsworth, Priscilla / The Veiled Lady, Professor Westervelt
Related Symbols: The Veil
Page Number: 203
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Blithedale Romance LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Blithedale Romance PDF

The Veil Symbol Timeline in The Blithedale Romance

The timeline below shows where the symbol The Veil appears in The Blithedale Romance. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: Old Moodie
Self-Interest and Utopian Societies Theme Icon
Progressive vs. Traditional Gender Roles Theme Icon
On the night before Coverdale goes to Blithedale, he goes to see the Veiled Lady. Coverdale explains that she’s one of the first figures to win fame in the... (full context)
Self-Interest and Utopian Societies Theme Icon
Secrecy and Self-deception Theme Icon
...a name she uses to obscure her true identity from the world, much like the Veiled Lady’s veil, but a little more transparent. Moodie thanks Coverdale but says that he’d still... (full context)
Chapter 13: Zenobia’s Legend
Secrecy and Self-deception Theme Icon
Manipulation, Control, and Ambition Theme Icon
...do the story justice on paper, but he’ll try. The story is called “The Silvery Veil.” (full context)
Progressive vs. Traditional Gender Roles Theme Icon
Secrecy and Self-deception Theme Icon
Manipulation, Control, and Ambition Theme Icon
Everyone has heard of the Veiled Lady, who once drew huge crowds but abruptly disappeared months earlier. Zenobia tells of the... (full context)
Progressive vs. Traditional Gender Roles Theme Icon
Secrecy and Self-deception Theme Icon
Manipulation, Control, and Ambition Theme Icon
...patience with speculating and says he’ll make a bet that he can find out the Veiled Lady’s real identity that night. After some discussion, the men agree to terms and Theodore... (full context)
Progressive vs. Traditional Gender Roles Theme Icon
Secrecy and Self-deception Theme Icon
Manipulation, Control, and Ambition Theme Icon
Theodore steps forward to lift the Veiled Lady’s veil, but she steps back and tells him there are conditions he must hear... (full context)
Progressive vs. Traditional Gender Roles Theme Icon
Secrecy and Self-deception Theme Icon
Manipulation, Control, and Ambition Theme Icon
Theodore tells the Veiled Lady he’ll take her veil off first and decide whether to kiss her afterwards. He... (full context)
Chapter 23: A Village-hall
Self-Interest and Utopian Societies Theme Icon
Progressive vs. Traditional Gender Roles Theme Icon
Secrecy and Self-deception Theme Icon
Manipulation, Control, and Ambition Theme Icon
...he shudders and asks Hollingsworth where Priscilla is but gets no answer. Westervelt beckons the Veiled Lady forward to take her seat on stage. Westervelt says that beneath her veil, the... (full context)