# Love and Sacrifice in The Blithedale Romance

> Theme guide for The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

The relationships among Coverdale, Hollingsworth, Zenobia, and Priscilla are marked by unrequited love, jealousy, and self-sacrifice, with Priscilla's devoted care for the broken Hollingsworth and Zenobia's tragic demise highlighting love's capacity for both redemption and destruction.

## Where it surfaces

- [IX: Hollingsworth, Zenobia, Priscilla](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/ix-hollingsworth-zenobia-priscilla): The romantic tensions among Hollingsworth, Zenobia, and Priscilla suggest potential sacrifices and tragic outcomes.
- [Eliot's Pulpit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/xiv-eliot-s-pulpit): Zenobia's hidden love for Hollingsworth and Priscilla's silent suffering highlight the sacrifices and emotional turmoil of unrequited affection.
- [XX: They Vanish](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/xx-they-vanish): Priscilla's passive acceptance of Hollingsworth's bidding and her departure with Westervelt suggest a sacrificial submission to the wills of others.
- [Fauntleroy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/xxii-fauntleroy): Priscilla's selfless, almost worshipful love for her unseen sister sustains her life, reflecting the theme of love as a redemptive force.
- [A Village Hall](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/xxiii-a-village-hall): Priscilla's flight to Hollingsworth suggests a sacrificial trust and the power of genuine affection over artifice.
- [The Three Together](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/xxv-the-three-together): Priscilla's offer of sisterhood to Zenobia and Hollingsworth's declaration of love for Priscilla illustrate the complex interplay of love, sacrifice, and power.
- [XXVI: Zenobia and Coverdale](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/xxvi-zenobia-and-coverdale): Zenobia's love for Hollingsworth is portrayed as a sacrifice that leaves her broken; she gives up her pride and her jeweled flower.
- [XXVII: Midnight](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/xxvii-midnight): Zenobia's suicide is framed as a tragic outcome of unrequited love and rejection by Hollingsworth.
- [Miles Coverdale's Confession](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/chapters/xxix-miles-coverdale-s-confession): Coverdale's unrequited love for Priscilla is tied to his passive, purposeless existence, though he never acted on it.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/themes/love_and_sacrifice
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_blithedale_romance_se/themes