[Illustration: HILDA'S TOWER, VIA PORTOGHESE, ROME]
In _The Scarlet Letter_ it was shown that the moral law forces evildoers to
pay the last farthing of the debt of sinning. _In The Marble Faun_ the
effect of sin in developing character is emphasized, and Donatello, the
thoughtless creature of the woods is portrayed in his stages of growth
after his moral nature has first been roused by a great crime. The question
is raised, Can the soul be developed and strengthened by sin? The problem
is handled with Hawthorne's usual moral earnestness of purpose, and is
expressed in his easiest and most flexible style. Nevertheless this work
has not the suppressed intensity, completeness of outline, and artistic
symmetry possessed by _The Scarlet Letter_. The chief defects of _The
Marble Faun_ are a vagueness of form, a distracting variety of scene, and a
lack of the convincing power of reality. The continued popularity of this
romance, however, is justly due to its poetic conception, its atmosphere of
ancient mystery, and its historic Roman background.
_The Blithedale Romance_ and the cooperative settlement described in it
were suggested to Hawthorne by his Brook Farm experience, although he
disclaims any attempt to present an actual picture of that community.
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