The Minister's Black Veil: A Paradigm Summary
Nathaniel Hawthorne

Biography EssayIn sketches, tales, and romances published in the second third of the nineteenth century, Nathaniel Hawthorne chose mainly American materials, drawing especially on the history of colon... Read more

Nathaniel Hawthorne was fond of calling himself the "obscurist man of letters in America." Indeed, Edgar Allan Poe, with whom Hawthorne basically created the short story form in America, once said tha... Read more

When Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on our most patriotic holiday in 1804, his ancestral roots were already deeply planted in New England. Writing in The Scarlet Letter (1850) o... Read more

Although Nathaniel Hawthorne called himself "the obscurest man in American letters," his achievements in fiction, both as short-story writer and novelist, offer models fashioned too well for contempor... Read more

In the following essay, Fogle contends that the central message of Hawthorne's “The Minister's Black Veil” is intentionally ambiguous, leaving readers to choose among compe... Read more

In the following essay, Barry turns critical attention to the roles of the secondary characters in “The Minister's Black Veil,” concluding that Hawthorne's judgment of thei... Read more

In the following essay, McCarthy illustrates how images of veils in the Bible can bring fresh interpretations to the role of Mr. Hooper and the narrator of “The Minister's Black Veil.&#x... Read more

In the following essay, Freedman follows the lead of Carnochan's 1969 article and identifies the most important aspect of “The Minister's Black Veil” as Hawthorne's ... Read more

In the following essay, Danow analyzes the “minimalist” world of “The Minister's Black Veil” and the spatial relationships created by the veil symbol. The Russian... Read more

In the following essay, Walsh maintains that the difficulty readers have in deciding whether Mr. Hooper acts as a positive or negative moral example comes from Hawthorne's careful balance of li... Read more

In the following essay, Canaday insists that “The Minister's Black Veil” is not about secret sin so much as it is about “the sin of pride with its demoniac pretensions and ... Read more

In the following essay, Morsberger maintains that Mr. Hooper's greatest sin is his Calvinist fixation on his own sinful nature and perverse pride in his own isolation and suffering. As a chr... Read more

In the following essay, Altschuler contends that “The Minister's Black Veil” represents one of Hawthorne's most explicit condemnations of the spiritual teachings and reviva... Read more

In the following essay, Canaday argues that "The Minister's Black Veil" is not about secret sin but is instead about the sin of pride. Critics have treated the sin of the Rever... Read more

In the essay below, Carnochan discusses the role of the veil both to conceal and to represent concealment. "The Minister's Black Veil," one of Hawthorne's early tales (1... Read more

In the following excerpt, Doubleday argues that "The Minister's Black Veil" is a straightforward allegory of humankind's sinful nature and that critics should accept Hawtho... Read more

In the following excerpt, Colacurcio explores the "moral history" as well as the religious context of "The Minister's Black Veil." The case of Parson Hooper is mo... Read more

According to Marius Bewley, "the fullness of life ... can only come about through self-surrender, through a refusal to withhold oneself, or any part of one's personality, in a human relationship. The... Read more

The Minister's Black Veil By Hawthorne is a captivating story. Hawthorne shows the reader about secret sin. He shows the reader that the people that seem to be perfect, are not what they seem to be... Read more

America is a conformist society in which there is no room for individuality ever since the industrialization of America. More and more people want to be in the same group, one entity like machines. An... Read more

The Disguise When you wear a veil, it can be looked at in many different ways. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil," Mr. Hooper's veil is honest, sinful, and mysterious. One reader... Read more