Miles Coverdale
Miles Coverdale does not confess anything to his readers in the Blithedale Romance. He thinks he confesses something, and he even goes so far as to say he is confessing. What he is really doing is covering up the fact that he, Miles Coverdale, cannot emotionally attach himself to anyone or anything, and for that reason alone, he completely obstructs any opportunities he has at becoming an emotionally whole person. The person he desires to be. If Coverdale were to confess his lack of vitality, maybe then the novel's readers could truly understand that he will never be able to change the person he is, because he will not allow himself to change.Miles Coverdale's life in Boston is one of leisure and lack of purpose. He leaves Boston to become a better person, and to search for a better life (10). He truly believes in the Utopian idea that he will be living in paradise on earth at Blithedale. As he travels into the snowy countryside with some other utopian seekers, Coverdale makes a discovery about the rural air, "Air that had not been spoken into words of falsehood, formality, and error, like all the air of the dusky city!" (11) Coverdale identifies himself with
"Methought there could not be two such men alive as Hollingsworth. There never was any blaze of a fireside that warmed and cheered me, in the down-sinkings and shiverings of my spirit, so effectually as did the light out of those eyes, which lay so deep and dark under his shaggy brows." (39) Miles Coverdale's life in Boston is one of leisure and lack of purpose. He leaves Boston to become a better person, and to search for a better life (10). He truly believes in the Utopian idea that he will be living in paradise on earth at Blithedale. As he travels into the snowy countryside with some other utopian seekers, Coverdale makes a discovery about the rural air, "Air that had not been spoken into words of falsehood, formality, and error, like all the air of the dusky city!" (11) Coverdale identifies himself with this personification. His life to this point has been one of just false existence, not as fulfilling as he wants it to be. He wants to go to Blithedale and become a changed man. Coverdale deludes himself into believing that a situation like Blithedale can create an immense change within a man- not recognizing that he must create the change himself. Zenobia, for Coverdale, is a representation of all that he thinks he will find at Blithedale. She is the anti-Boston that Coverdale is looking for. He believes that if he changes his exterior the interior is soon to follow. (352-53) He plunges in to the everday chores of shoveling manure and milking cows, thinking that somehow these experiences are going to change him for the better. In a way they do. He puts on six inches in the shoulders and he is able to breathe the clean air of the country, but these things are bound to happen when Miles places himself in that enviroment. Coverdale did not come to Blithedale for these reasons only. He still is not really living, just observing. He distances himself from everybody, by picking out their faults and using those to condemn them.
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Approximate Word count = 4437
Approximate Pages = 18 (250 words per page double spaced)
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