Queering Zenobia in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Blithedale Romance

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Blithedale Romance (1852/1986) is a romance about the narrative of a utopian community, Blithedale, and the gender dynamics of its members within this community. It was based on his experience at Brook Farm, which advocated for achieving mental freedom along with labor. Many critics have regarded Zenobia as a feminist figure and a model of Margaret Fuller, who was a transcendental feminist and an acquaintance of Hawthorne. This paper interprets Zenobia as a queer figure in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Blithedale Romance. However, her defiance of traditional gender roles, complex relationships, and dual identity functions as a critique of social norms of patriarchal and heteronormative society. First, I reinterpret Zenobia’s advocacy for women’s rights and her independent, assertive personality that challenges 19th-century century19th-centurys of femininity. Also, I explore her complex relationships with Priscillia, Hollingsworth, and Coverdale that subvert conventional gender norms and customs. Moreover, I examine the duality of Zenobia’s character and her tragic downfall. Her ambivalent character that traverses between nurturing and rebellious, divine and evil, reflects the fluidity and complexity of her identity.
Furthermore, her tragic downfall underscores the societal constraints on queer individuals who deviate from normative gender and sexual roles imposed by patriarchal structures. I use Sarah Ahmed’s theory to argue that a happy ending is a gendered construct. In conclusion, I emphasize the religious significance and meaning of reading Zenobia through a queer lens.