Fancy's Show-Box

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 13K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Fancy's Show-Box (From "Twice Told Tales") by Nathaniel HawthorneAuthor: Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Nov 1, 2005

Editor's review

"Fancy's Show-Box," also from Hawthorne's Twice-Told Tales, is a short story with the flavor of a moral allegory. The "show-box" of the title is itself a suggestive image, through which Hawthorne explores imagination, vanity, and self-examination; the narrative is light on its feet yet quietly sharp. The piece is brief and elegantly written, making it another good entry point into Hawthorne's short fiction. As you read, note the relationship between "showing" and "being shown," and how the narrator insinuates transcendental meaning into everyday scenes. The Project Gutenberg edition is easy to search and reread, well suited to a single pass on the commute or before bed, followed by a return to key passages. If you prefer character-driven stories with overt conflict, this may feel understated; but if you are willing to read slowly for symbol and irony, it offers delicate pleasures.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want to continue with Hawthorne's Twice-Told Tales
Literature lovers who enjoy allegorical short stories and moral metaphor
Students of English literature courses in need of short fiction material
Readers who prefer slow, close reading of classic short stories

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting tight plotting and a clear resolution may find it understated
Readers unfamiliar with nineteenth-century English will find it demanding
Readers hoping to grasp Hawthorne's novelistic style from a single story will find it of limited use

Reading tips

First note how the "show-box" recurs in the text, then consider what it symbolizes.
On a second reading, mark the narrator's evaluative remarks and observe how the irony works.
Read it alongside "The Vision of the Fountain" and compare how the two handle the theme of imagination.
After finishing, write a two- or three-sentence summary to test whether you have grasped the allegory's core meaning.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this a standalone story or part of a series?

It is a standalone short story in Hawthorne's collection Twice-Told Tales. It can be read on its own or compared with other pieces in the collection to understand the imagination and moral themes the author returns to repeatedly.

Do I need to know Hawthorne's biography to read it?

You need not rely heavily on biographical background. The work unfolds as an allegory; a general sense of nineteenth-century American Romanticism is enough, with attention focused on the text's symbolism and narrative tone.

Does the Project Gutenberg edition include annotations?

The Project Gutenberg edition generally preserves the original text with few annotations. When you encounter allusions or archaic expressions, a dictionary or a literary guide can help.

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About the author

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864 Author

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) was an American novelist known for his engagement with Puritan tradition and moral allegory. He wrote about sin, guilt, confession, and social prejudice in a restrained style with vivid imagery, often using historical settings and legendary tales to reveal the subtleties of human nature. The collection here holds 98 of his works, including the frequently translated novel The Scarlet Letter, the short-story collection Twice-Told Tales, and children's books drawn from myth and legend such as A Wonder Book for Girls & Boys, Tanglewood Tales, The Gorgon's Head, and The Three Golden Apples, showing his dual interest in New England history and classical myth. His writing has had a lasting influence on American literature's treatment of conscience and identity. Publicly available details of his life are limited, so they are not elaborated here.