The indefatigable Monika Elbert has done it again: assembled a collection of thirty-five essays prefaced by her own introduction and accompanied by twenty-three illustrations, notes on contributors, a list of further readings for each essay, and a thorough index. The contributors include seasoned emeritus and distinguished professors to younger professors and several international Hawthorne scholars. All have published widely on Hawthorne and applied their skills in the several schools of Hawthorne criticism that developed from 1960 to the present, giving the collection the richness of differing views and critical methods. Elbert divides the book into five categories whose subheadings I use in this review. Each section contains six to eight essays averaging ten pages each plus notes and a short bibliography, a useful arrangement that allows students and scholars to read selectively. Although most of Hawthorne's fiction is represented many times over, leading to considerable repetition of plot, characters, and...

You do not currently have access to this content.