"The Minister's Black Veil" and Hawthorne's ethical refusal of reciprocity: a Levinasian parable.
| Publisher | Marquette University Press |
| Publication | Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature |
| Subject | Literature/writing |
| Format | Magazine/Journal |
| ISSN | 0034-4346 |
| Issues per Year | 4 |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Published | 2005-03-22 |
| Role | Type | Name |
| Author | n/a | N.S. Boone |
| Person | Criticism and interpretation | Nathaniel Hawthorne |
| Person | Works | Nathaniel Hawthorne |
| Related Content | Type |
| The Minister's Black Veil | Salem on Literature |
LET me make this clear from the start: Hawthorne does not prefigure Levinas, nor was Levinas significantly influenced by Hawthorne. I make no explicit links between the two writers. This essay is merely a parable in the Greek sense of parablos--to place side-by-side. (1) I hope that placing these two rather enigmatic expositions side-by-side can shed some light on both of them. Enough light to penetrate the meaning of the veil once and for all? No. Enough to understand how Hawthorne intends his veiled minister to be understood? Not a chance. Perhaps, though, through this parabolic...
[This journal article is 5038 words long]
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