close-up portrait of a figure dressed in black wearing a black veil

The Minister's Black Veil

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Media Adaptations

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A sound recording of "The Minister's Black Veil: A Parable" has been produced by Robert H. Fossum as part of the Nineteenth-Century American Writers Series, with Fossum serving as the Lecturer. This recording, created in Deland, Florida by Everett/Edwards in 1971, is available on cassette.

Another audio version of "The Minister's Black Veil: A Parable" is narrated by Basil Rathbone. Released by Caedmon (TC 1120, 1197) in 1960, this recording is available on vinyl.

Many of Nathaniel Hawthorne's stories and novels are set in seventeenth-century Puritan New England. In the 1926 film adaptation of Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, Lillian Gish and Lars Hanson portray the Puritan characters Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale.

Bibliography and Further Reading

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Sources

Canaday, Nicholas, Jr. ‘‘Hawthorne's Minister and the Veiling Deceptions of Self,'' Studies in Short Fiction, Vol. 4, No. 1, Fall, 1966, pp. 135-42.

Dryden, Edgar A., "Through a Glass Darkly: 'The Minister's Black Veil' as Parable,’’ in New Essays on Hawthorne's Major Tales, edited by Millicent Bell, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, pp. 133-50.

Melville, Herman, Excerpted in Faust, Bertha, ‘‘Hawthorne's Contemporaneous Reputation: A Study of Literary Opinion in America and England 1828-1864,’’ dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1939, p. 63.

Stein, William Bysshe, ‘‘The Parable of the Antichrist in 'The Minister's Black Veil,'’’ in American Literature, Vol. 27, November, 1955, pp. 386-392.

Further Reading

Canaday, Nicholas, Jr., ‘‘Hawthorne's Minister and the Veiling Deceptions of Self,'' Studies in Short Fiction, Vol. 4, No. 1, Fall, 1966, pp. 135-42.
Canaday contends that Hooper's decision to wear the veil highlights his overwhelming pride, a flaw that Hawthorne critiques more than many critics have acknowledged.

Crews, Frederick, The Sins of the Fathers: Hawthorne's Psychological Themes, Oxford University Press, 1966, pp. 106-11.
Crews investigates themes of sexual intimacy in Hawthorne's writings. He argues that Hooper uses the veil as an excuse to end his engagement to Elizabeth.

Dryden, Edgar A., "Through a Glass Darkly: 'The Minister's Black Veil' as Parable,’’ in New Essays on Hawthorne's Major Tales, edited by Millicent Bell, Cambridge University Press, 1993, pp. 133-50.
Dryden analyzes Hawthorne's footnote to the subtitle and concludes that, rather than clarifying Hooper's veil, the parable of Mr. Moody only deepens its ambiguity.

German, Norman, ‘‘The Veil of Words in 'The Minister's Black Veil,’’' Studies in Short Fiction, Vol. 25, No. 1, Winter 1988, pp. 41-7.
German explores the Greek and Latin roots of several words Hawthorne frequently employs together, suggesting that Hawthorne was intentionally punning for readers knowledgeable in classical languages.

Stein, William Bysshe, ‘‘The Parable of the Antichrist in 'The Minister's Black Veil,’’’ American Literature, Vol. 27, November, 1955, pp. 386-92.
Stein criticizes the Reverend Mr. Hooper as a clergyman who has forsaken the needs of his parishioners in favor of a unique message that only he deems himself morally capable of comprehending.

Turner, Arlin, Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Biography, Oxford University Press, 1980, p. 457.
Turner offers a thorough biography of Hawthorne's life, enriched by extensive quotes from Hawthorne and his family members.

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