Power of Blackness — (1980)

Hawthorne, Poe, Melville

By Harry Levin

“A remarkably provocative, astute study attempts to demonstrate that the introspection, tragic awareness, and sense of alienation inherent in the works of Hawthorne, Poe, and Melville give a truer pictures of the American mind and milieu than the optimistic, superficial picture painted by many of our lesser writers. The attentiveness and insight with which the author examines the symbols and concepts used by these three nineteenth-century writers result in a substantial critical work.”

Booklist

“Through a minute reconsideration of Hawthorne, Poe and Melville, Harry Levin traces the ever mysterious problem of good and evil.”

Kirkus

The Power of Blackness is a profound and searching reinterpretation of Hawthorne, Poe and Melville, the three classic American masters of fiction. It is also an experiment in critical method, an exploration of the myth-making process by way of what may come to be known as literary iconology.