Media Adaptations
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
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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