The love that Hawthorne expresses for the seemingly low-keyed and stalwart Sophia, all through his turbulent life bears a strong contrast with his contempt for the captivatingly aware Zenobia whom he throws in the river. In History books, we learn that while ruling Palmyra, as regent for her son, Zenobia's act of capturing and occupying Egypt threatened the Roman Empire, which, in return captures Palmyra, causing Zenobia to spend the rest of her life in exile in Italy. While ruling Russia, also as regent, for her brother, Sophia was willing to stop at nothing in her attempt to seize the throne for herself. In retaliation, she is confined to a convent for the rest of her life. Two warrior Queens of the East, shrewd and saavy, able to outmanouver both male and female competitors and sit at the head of great Nations. So why does Hawthorne marry the one and throw the other in the river?

The answer to the above question can also be found in the next series of questions, and beyond. Why does Hawthorne go to such lengths to beseige Sophia's heart with endless love letters proclaiming and reiterating his unwaning, almost spooky affection. Are those letters a distraction? Is Sophia honey? Does Hawthorne suffer from severe phallic insecurity?

It is almost impossible to read Hawthorne's heart-dripping letters to Sophia without detecting a nervous fear that she will sleep with another man, or simply leave him for another man without as much as a backward glance; or, that she might join her feminist sister Elizabeth and the Margaret Fuller-like women, and maybe start talking Zenobia-like to him. It is also difficult to ignore Hawthorne's retaliation for those fears in the characters of Zenobia and Hester. Murfin says Sophia is "as conventional as Hester is unconventional." (282) Yet, When she's away with the children, spending time with her mother in Boston, Hawthorne's fears pictures her leaving him for another man, revealing the whole truth to him in "such perfect composure and sang-froid." (Hawthorne, 327) It is after six years of happy marriage, and two children, that Hawthorne is experiencing this, shall we say, transcendental journey into his fears. Sophia, for her part seems content with her family life, writing to her mother, only a few months prior to her trip to Boston "Oh, am I not happy? I am, --- I am" This also is the Sophia her son called, a "character and conduct" that paved the way for her husband's successful career. (Hawthorne, 39)

So why is Hawthorne still possessed by the fear of Sophia leaving him? Well, for one thing, even if Sophia was "conventional", her sister, for one, is not. A feminist and literary persona, she never married and spent her time running a bookstore. It was after she read Hawthorne's stories in the 'New England Magazine' that she developed interest in, and took the lead to establish relations with the "eccentric household" of the Hawthornes. On his first visit to the Peabody house, Elizabeth was alone with him, as Sophia, being an invalid, spent most of her time in her room. Hawthorne's friendship with the family was initially more or less a friendship with Elizabeth, and they both exchanged letters before Sophia and Hawthorne started the correspondences that would lead to their marriage. There must have been a literary click between Hawthorne and Elizabeth, as was between himself and Emerson and Fuller. Hawthorne of course fell in love with the invalid 'flower' of the family, after Elizabeth had introduced Hawthorne to Sophia's "spirit and inner character". Hawthorne no doubt had the opportunity of spending time with Elizabeth and studying her while Sophia was still locked up in her room. One cannot determine the ways of the heart, or take the lead in its course, though it is interesting to note that Hawthorne met and was friendly with both sisters, and fell in love with the invalid one, and not the one with whom he had a closer literary connection. This is not to underestimate Sophia's artistic ability, having been advised numerous times by artistic connoisseurs to take her painting seriously and even to market them. It is unfortunate that her ability to do so is greatly hampered, first by her illness, and later, her occupation with her husband and family. What would have become her own profession is traded for her husband's art, as she commits her "office" to "promote...... the favorableness of the conditions under which it should manifest itself." (Hawthorne 40)

Those headaches and pains that interfered with Sophia's work and turned her into an invalid stopped miraculously after the birth of her first child, to never again reoccur, at least not in its severity, except, it seems, after she read the final chapters of The Scarlet Letter. This was, most probably, sometime in 1848, after Hawthorne's disastrous 'dream', since The Scarlet Letter was first published in 1850. Now, the effect on Sophia of an adulterous wife who did not succeed in eloping with her heart's desire is that "it broke her heart and sent her to bed with a greivous headache". Hawthorne claims "triumph" here, a triumph inherent in his plot to bring back those migraine headaches that returns Sophia, at least momentarily, to that invalid state in which he had fallen in love with her. Those "chronic headaches" that confined her to her room, where the jealous husband might say, she is safe from the fate of Hester.

Hester, it must be noted, looses Dimmesdale, her heart's desire, only after she plans to leave, to break away from her husband, Chillingsworth and elope with Dimmesdale. It is at this point that the secret of Dimmesdale and Hester, hitherto protected, begins to spill. Dimmesdale himself begins to talk and act differently to members of his congregation he encounters in the streets; Chillingsworth gets the first tangible proof of their relationship, after he finds out about their plans to elope, and finally, Dimmesdale himself reveals all in front of the whole town. Had Sophia not come up with the plan to leave, to break away and leave in such 'sang-froid' manner, the three may have decided on some form of fourierism. Hawthorne's high-minded Coverdale did try to sell fourierism to Hollingsworth.

Breaking away is a cause for much anxiety for Hawthorne, as much in tradition as in his love life. Women who break away from tradition, or the core, such as feminists do not necessarily fare well with Hawthorne. This encourages the conviction that though Hawthorne is sincere in his participation in communities like Brook Farm, and in fourierism, he still need to find his perfect community. As Coverdale says of Brookdale, "it seeks to profit by mutual aid, instead of wresting it by the strong hand from ----- those less shrewd...." (Blithedale 51) The sense of community and togetherness these communities advocated includes allowing others, including women, to reach their full potential.

What Hawthorne on the contrary, envisions are sturdy natured women who draw strengh from the traditional way of life. For Sophia's strong influence in his professional and domestic life, "the springs of gratitude and recognition could not run dry in him." (Hawthorne, 41). His expressions are such that they are almost hard to believe to be coming from a man, especially a man over thirty-five years of age. But, the truth is, that invalid 'flower' he plucked from the Peabody household became that waterside rock of granite that was constantly needed to reassure and rekindle that constantly bedimming source of artistic treasury. His first attempt at abandoning his reclusive life and "to have something to do with this material world", would not have been successful without the existence of Sophia in his life. (Hawthorne 195)

Naturally, Hawthorne is madly in love with Sophia, and feels an "awe" towards her. An "awe" which, nonetheless, he says, "does not prevent me from feeling that it is I who have the charge of you." It is tradition, of course, that gives him this privilege which, even his bewitching sentiments does not obliterate. Coverdale may find him less insulting than Hollingsworth is to Zenobia, when he confines woman to "a man's side", but does he feel less of "the phallic power to control and master women"? (Scarlet Letter, 283) One thing Hawthorne does feel is the capability of, if not the need for, a woman to rebel. If not of himself, his community of friends establish that capability. This is reason why even as he is regulating the playing field to tow traditional lines, he is at the same time asking the question "And will not you rebel?" He asks, as though he is actually encouraging her to rebel, almost as though he will support her rebellion. But, alas, it is only a rhetorical question. It is not left open for Sophia to accept or reject. Hawthorne himself acts on his own idea, and at the same time establishes his manhood. "Oh, no, My love gives me the right, and your love consents to it." (Hawthorne, 205). Now, it is not his ego or any such thing that is desirous of this charge over her, it is love, the heart. It is his own heart that gives him the right to lead, and her own heart that consents. So what is it that makes his heart the active object in charge, and her heart the docile consenting matter. The Heart for Hawthorne represents the very seat of what Benstock calls the "paternal theological order". (Scarlet Letter, 290).

Indeed, Hawthorne's belief that the love coming from the heart can be quite a mighty weapon is prevalent in his works. Hester and Dimmesdale, led by their hearts, abandoned the norms of established society, and seem to pull it off until they decide to break away from society. It is also through faith that Dimmesdale controls the minds and lives of his congregation, to the point where no capacity exists in their minds to believe in his own fallibility. Yet the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale threw all that away and answered to his heart's calling. Likewise, Chillingsworth might not have endured problems in his marriage had he realized beforehand the inability of his "intellectual gifts" to secure the young Hester's "fantasy". (Scarlet Letter, 71)

It is no doubt to follow her heart that Zenobia sets aside her years of feminist conviction, becomes immune to Hollingsworth's deregatory remarks on women, and left Blithedale with him, for a sojourn in the City. Once her heart is hooked, she can no longer split open and analyze, and therefore can no longer see with her own eyes. Her once tart replies are replaced by the almost biblical "Well, be it so." Hollingsworth himself, cold and arrogant, reaches down for his heart when Coverdale falls ill at Blithedale.

All of these actions, fostered by the heart, are nonetheless, not single-edged, but come with some serious consequences. Even though the connection to the heart is sometimes considered weak and of a feminine character, they do indeed carry with them very dire consequences. Hester and Dimmesdale paid the consequences of their relationship; Zenobia is jilted by Hollingsworth, Dimmesdale's congregation, --- well, they returned to bliss; Chillingsworth learned his lesson well.

Hawthorne said of the relationship between men and tendernes, that they are "ashamed of..... what is best in them. No one who reads Hawthorne's letters to Sophia can accuse of not being in touch with his heart, or of lacking emotional investment his marriage life. Indeed, the timing of Sophia's appearance into Hawthorne's life seems to have worked to the heart's advantage. Two old virgins revealed to each other by fate, Hawthorne after thirty-four years in seclusion, and Sophia after twenty-seven years of invalid life. Even if Hawthorne's recluse was intentional, as some believe, the reclusive life of his mother and sisters alone who hardly know "the manners of society" is enough to spot him for the rest of his life. An invitation into company for him is "an immense misfortune" Hawthorne (216). After having lived for so long without friends, having attained the age of thirty-four in such a state, it would have been considered humanly impossible to turn back and accept another human being into his life. At this juncture it would only have been expected of such a man or a woman, to begin to finally settle into a lifetime of reclusive living. Thrity-five, which in our age today will be equivalent to about forty-five years. Sophia herself having grown up with the conviction that she would never marry, given her invalid state of health, her inablilty to endure any kind of noise or emotional activity is by no means a catch. When she met Hawthorne at twenty-seven, eight years his junior, Sophia was living at the mercy of her headaches.

Having brought Hawthorne out of his deep seclusion, Sophia is his only guide through the social and moral streets of the "material world", and, it seems, a victim of his love. His consistent reminders of his almost obsessive need of her to exist for him almost becomes a combination of Frankenstein-like and vampire-like preoccupation.

"And it is not some fearful thought that a few slight circumstances might have prevented us from meeting, and then I should have returend to my solitude, sooner or later, ....... and never should have been created at all!" Hawthorne (223)

"....you came to me and will remain forever, keeping my heart warm and renewing my life with your own." (Hawthorne 222).

Sophia becomes an embodiment of the sturdy reliable female "to a man's side", so necessary for the permanence of "paternal theological order" in society. She must continue to feed her monster and watch him grow, or else. Now, this is where the heart alone does not cut it, and Hawthorne the husband knows it, even if Hawthorne the writer does not. The reason is simple. Sophia's intellectual environment was not necessarily conducive to an atmosphere where she can be content to just feeding her monster and admire his growth. She had to have at least threatened, maybe in a most benign way, such as overly expressing admiration for a painter's talent. The unending letters are no doubt Hawthorne's carrot, and the threats imbued in Hester's fate, the stick meant to check the situation, to prevent the breaking away that haunts his dreams.

Hawthorne seems never able to completely use the "phallic power", nor completely accept a woman's rightful place in society. This might be the reason he sends everything over to the non-judgemental quality of the heart. Surely, Sophia's letters to her husband would have thrown clearer light on Hawthorne's psyche, had he not burned "great heaps of old letters", amongst them, Sophia's. It is almost hard to envision the sentimental Hawthorne burning old romantic letters from Sophia. The possibility that Sophia's letters may have been burned in The Earth's Holocaust will not be without merit. Hawthorne's fantasy may have elected to reform his heart, thereby letting go of those fantasies that elevates his heart to such high expectations of Sophia.

Everything else is probably twhy

and does go to Brookdale on her own

It is also in the heart where Hawthorne believes beauty lurks. But Hawthorne says little of Sophia's beauty, even in his gut-spilling courtship letters to her. Indeed, Hawthorne concerns himself very little with beauty. Or rather his idea of beauty is quite unlike the notion of a contrived standard of beauty as those set by Poe and Emerson which is identifiable, Hawthorne's beauty comes from the heart and cannot be planned or set up, nor does it follow a particular course or pattern that can be identified.

Though she was of small stature, and Hawthorne would ideally have prefered her to be bigger and more capable, he made sacrifices. "If you cannot grow plump and rosy and tough and vigorous without being changed into another nature, then I do think, for this short life, you had better remain just what you are." (Hawthorne 203) But, is that what Hawthorne really would have liked Sophia to be. Her son describes her as "small, graceful, active, and beautifully formed." (Hawthorne, 49). Sophia's small stature contrasts with the "spacious plan of Zenobia's entire development" that Coverdale admires so much, with her hand "larger than most women ......could afford to have". (Blithedale, 48) It is with a similar standard that Hawthorne describes Hester's "feminine gentility"; a "man-like" stature, unlike the "delicate, evanescent, and indescribable grace which is now recognized as its indication." (Blithedale, 57) Thus, according to the standards of the day, Julian refers to his mother as beautiful but does his father think likewise, given that Hawthorne's own definition of beauty rather fits that of Zenobia's structure, that "bloom, health, and vigor" which was abundant in Zenobia and qualities which "a man might well have fallen in love with her for their sake only". It is hard to say if Hawthorne's admiration of the manly built woman is derived from his -----------of the old customs and tradition or a reflection of his desire so strongly expressed in his letters to Sophia, for broad shoulders to lean on. In the Puritanic New England of his ancestors, the entire town and government came out to punish an adulterous woman. This, Hawthorne believes ensures that "the infliction of a legal sentence would have an earnest and effectual meaning."(Scarlet Letter, 60). It is not clear if an adulterous man received such attention. It is clear however, that the 'earnest and effectual meaning' of such a punishment is meant to fall on the broad shoulders of the puritanic woman. The broad shoulders which the woman must realize is meant to carry her husband's burden.

Sophia did not have broad shoulders but she still saw her Hawthorne through his late entry into the material world. It would have been curious to know how Sophia reacted to these lettters.

The need for the sturdy shoulders of a woman ------ Dimmesdale asking Hester to talk for him to think for him

But the most secure at heart of Hawthorne's characters is the little Priscilla, who loves Zenobia ____________________ and later Hollingsworth with "entire acquiescence and unquesitoning faith. (Blithedale 128) Her ever trusting nature defies even the Biblical Coverdale's advises --"How can I be dismal when my heart will not let me?"

It is only Coverdale who seems to admire physical beauty very much. He seems bewitched by Zenobia's beauty as by the 'rare beauty' of her exotic flower. Still the beauty of the flower was marred by its deficiency in sustenance. Each flower lasted for only a day.

Beauty, but a headache

Hawthorne's early reclusive life, as was the same for his mother and sister Elizabeth, had produced to the Boston society the image of a family with peculiar qualities. He saw his mother -according to tradition, soon after the loss of her husband, withdraw from society and reduced to non-existence - almost like a hindu bride. Her sister voluntarily took after her mother living only ______? to mingle with the outside world. Still Hawthorne is considered to have had a normal childhood, he had a "--------------------------/relationship with his mother".

American Literary Scholarship.

Columbia Literary History of the U.S.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ed. Ross C. Murfin. New York: St. Martin's, 1991.

---, The Blithedale Romance. Ed. William C. Cain. New York: St. Martin's, 1996.

Hawthorne, Julian. Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Wife. 2 vols. London 1885.

Leary, Lewis. American Literature. New York: St. Martin's, 1976.

The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton, 1985.