# XVIII: The Boardinghouse explained — The Blithedale Romance

> Chapter companion for The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

## What happens

Coverdale, having left Blithedale, takes up residence in a boardinghouse in town. From his window, he observes the opposite house and is dismayed to find Zenobia, Priscilla, and Westervelt there, realizing he cannot escape the tangled relationships he thought he had left behind. He struggles with homesickness, guilt, and a sense of fatalism, longing for a catastrophe to resolve the drama.

## Themes in this chapter

### Secrecy and Identity

Coverdale's covert observation of Zenobia and Westervelt, and the hidden identities and relationships revealed through his spying.

### Obsession and Philanthropy

Coverdale's obsessive preoccupation with the fates of Hollingsworth, Zenobia, and Priscilla, despite his attempt to leave them behind.

### Idealism vs. Reality

The contrast between Coverdale's idealized escape from Blithedale and the harsh reality of encountering the same problems in town.

## Character check-ins

### Miles Coverdale

Narrator observing from his boardinghouse window, tormented by dreams and a sense of unresolved duty toward his friends.

### Zenobia

Seen in the drawing-room of the opposite house, elegantly dressed with a flower in her hair, engaged in conversation with Westervelt.

### Priscilla

Glimpsed in the boudoir, dressed fancifully and working with her hands; later disappears from view.

### Professor Westervelt

Appears behind Zenobia in the drawing-room, displaying a sinister smile; Coverdale notes his catlike circumspection.

### Mr. Hollingsworth

Mentioned in Coverdale's thoughts and dreams, but not physically present in the chapter.

## Key lines

> I began to long for a catastrophe. If the noble temper of Hollingsworth’s soul were doomed to be utterly corrupted by the too powerful purpose which had grown out of what was noblest in him; if the rich and generous qualities of Zenobia’s womanhood might not save her; if Priscilla must perish by her tenderness and faith, so simple and so devout, then be it so! Let it all come!

Coverdale wishes for a dramatic resolution, even a disastrous one, rather than continued uncertainty about the fates of Hollingsworth, Zenobia, and Priscilla.

_Expresses Coverdale's fatalistic despair and desire for closure._

> It fell like the drop-curtain of a theatre, in the interval between the acts.

Zenobia lets down a white linen curtain, symbolically ending the scene of observation, much like a theater curtain between acts.

_Highlights the theatricality of the scene and Coverdale's role as a spectator._

> I had wrenched myself too suddenly out of an accustomed sphere. There was no choice, now, but to bear the pang of whatever heartstrings were snapped asunder, and that illusive torment (like the ache of a limb long ago cut off) by which a past mode of life prolongs itself into the succeeding one.

Coverdale feels the pain of leaving Blithedale as if he has lost a part of himself, and the past continues to haunt him like a phantom limb.

_Illustrates Coverdale's homesickness and psychological struggle with detachment._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/xviii-the-boardinghouse
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters