# Miles Coverdale's Confession explained — The Blithedale Romance

> Chapter companion for The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

## What happens

Coverdale reflects on his life after leaving Blithedale following Zenobia's death, admitting his lack of purpose and revealing his long-concealed love for Priscilla.

## Themes in this chapter

### Idealism vs. Reality

Coverdale mourns the failure of the Blithedale utopian dream, contrasting its noble aspirations with its collapse into Fourierism and paupers.

### Secrecy and Identity

Coverdale reveals his long-hidden love for Priscilla, a secret that has shaped his entire narrative and life choices.

### Love and Sacrifice

Coverdale's unrequited love for Priscilla is tied to his passive, purposeless existence, though he never acted on it.

## Character check-ins

### Miles Coverdale

Narrator and protagonist, now middle-aged, reflecting on his empty life and confessing his love for Priscilla.

### Zenobia

Her death haunts Coverdale, making the Blithedale soil feel like her grave.

### Mr. Hollingsworth

Coverdale recalls Hollingsworth's criticism that he lacks a purpose, and notes Hollingsworth was ruined by an excess of purpose.

### Priscilla

Revealed as the object of Coverdale's secret love, which he confesses at the chapter's end.

## Key lines

> I left Blithedale within the week after Zenobia's death, and went back thither no more.

Coverdale departed Blithedale shortly after Zenobia died and never returned.

_Marks his final break from the community._

> I—I myself—was in love—with—Priscilla!

Coverdale confesses that he was secretly in love with Priscilla all along.

_The climactic revelation of the chapter and the novel._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/xxix-miles-coverdale-s-confession
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters