An Old Woman's Tale

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

3.5

Word count: 21K words
Chapters: 3

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.An Old Woman's Tale 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

Hawthorne's short story "An Old Woman's Tale" is available as a free eBook from Project Gutenberg. Brief in length, it carries Hawthorne's characteristic allegorical bent and historical musings. The story unfolds as an old woman recounts past events; the narrative voice is plain yet quietly pointed, making it well suited for experiencing the narrative rhythm and moral concerns of nineteenth-century American short fiction. As a public-domain electronic text, it is easy to search and read alongside other works, and is especially useful as a supplementary sample beyond Hawthorne's novels, showing how his short fiction invests everyday scenes with symbolic meaning. While reading, note the reliability of the narrator, the handling of time and memory, and the open ending. Because the text comes from Project Gutenberg's original English edition, readers need a certain level of English reading ability; for classroom discussion, it can be paired with other Hawthorne stories to compare allegorical techniques. Overall, this is a short story suited to close reading and teaching reference rather than a plot-driven leisure read.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English literature readers new to Hawthorne's short fiction
Teachers who need public-domain English texts for classroom discussion
Students studying nineteenth-century American short narrative techniques
Readers who prefer allegorical, leisurely-paced storytelling

Not a good fit for

Readers looking for strong plot and fast pacing
Beginners whose English reading ability is not yet sufficient for original fiction
Readers seeking in-depth analysis of Hawthorne's major novels

Reading tips

Read through once for the plot, then go back to note the time shifts and tonal changes in the old woman's narration.
Mark symbolic images as you go, and after finishing compare the allegorical method with other Hawthorne stories.
For classroom use, have students discuss whether the narrator is reliable and what the open ending accomplishes.
Read alongside brief background material on Hawthorne's life and nineteenth-century American literature.

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 book the original English edition or a Chinese translation?

This is a public-domain English eBook released by Project Gutenberg. The text is in the original English with no Chinese translation, so reading it requires a certain level of English fiction reading ability.

Is it long? Can it be read in one sitting?

This is a short story by Hawthorne. It is not long and can usually be read in one or two sittings, making it suitable as a sample for close reading or classroom material.

Do I need to know Hawthorne's other works first?

You do not need to read Hawthorne's novels first. It is a standalone short story you can go into directly; to understand its allegorical method, comparing it with other Hawthorne stories afterward will be more rewarding.

What should I keep in mind when reading the electronic edition?

Public-domain electronic texts may vary in formatting. Use reading software that supports search and annotation so you can mark narrative turns and symbolic images, and check paragraphs against different editions.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

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.