The Dolliver Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne
"The Dolliver Romance" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is an unfinished novel written in the early 1860s. It explores themes of mortality, the quest for eternal life, and the relationship between an elderly apothecary, Dr. Dolliver, and his great-granddaughter, Pansie. The narrative intertwines the mystical idea of an elixir of life with the mundane realities of aging and loss, set against the backdrop of Hawthorne's characteristic philosophical musings. The story centers on Dr. Dolliver,
an aging apothecary who grapples with his declining health and the memory of lost family members, including his grandson, a potentially gifted but ultimately tragic figure. As he awakens one summer morning, there is an evident newfound vigor in him, possibly due to a long-forgotten cordial. His great-granddaughter Pansie, a lively and innocent child, brings light to his dreary existence, forging a poignant connection across the generations. The narrative unfolds to reveal Dr. Dolliver's efforts to tend to both his herbal remedies and Pansie's needs while hinting at the tensions between life, death, and the yearning for immortality. The story takes a darker turn with the introduction of Colonel Dabney, whose quest for immortality through the apothecary leads to tragic consequences, emphasizing Hawthorne's exploration of the dangers of human desire and ambition. The piece remains a rich tapestry of Hawthorne's themes, even in its incomplete state. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864 |
|---|---|
| Title | The Dolliver Romance |
| Credits | Produced by Mark Zinthefer, Eric Eldred, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 58.0 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read. |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 7119 |
| Release Date | Dec 1, 2004 |
| Most Recently Updated | Sep 13, 2014 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 306 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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