Style and Technique

Last Updated on May 6, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 134

“Ethan Brand” is subtitled “A Chapter from an Abortive Romance,” which may account for its fragmentary nature. More important, however, the subtitle is a reminder of Hawthorne’s concept of the romance as a neutral ground where the worlds of reality and fantasy could meet in a dreamlike setting. Thus, against the prosaic world of New England lime-burning, which is presented in realistic detail, there is the story of Ethan Brand’s search for the Unpardonable Sin accompanied by such gothic elements as the old Jew, who seems a devil figure, and the fantastic ending, which reveals Brand’s heart of marble. It is this careful blending of the real and the fantastic that gives much of Hawthorne’s work its unique flavor, and earns for him his reputation as America’s greatest romancer.

Download Ethan Brand Study Guide

Subscribe Now

Bibliography

Last Updated on May 6, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 228

Bell, Millicent, ed. Hawthorne and the Real: Bicentennial Essays. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2005.

Bloom, Harold, ed. Hester Prynne. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2004.

Bunge, Nancy. Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Study of the Short Fiction. New York: Twayne, 1993.

Davis, Clark. Hawthorne’s Shyness: Ethics, Politics, and the Question of Engagement. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005.

Mellow, James R. Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Times. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1980.

Miller, Edward Havilland. Salem Is My Dwelling Place: A Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1991.

Millington, Richard H., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Moore,...

(The entire section contains 362 words.)

Unlock This Study Guide Now

Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this Ethan Brand study guide. You'll get access to all of the Ethan Brand content, as well as access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts.