24 pages • 48-minute read
The Hollow of the Three Hills
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Essay Topics
What role does the setting play in the story? How would the story be different if it were set in a different time of day and place, such as in the morning in a crowded area filled with live vegetation?
What role does isolation play in the story? Why does the lady refer to herself as “a stranger in this land” (Paragraph 4)?
Are the visions definitively true in the world of this story, or is there evidence that they could be wholly or partially false? Cite textual examples.
Does Hawthorne present the lady more as a sympathetic character or as a villain? Cite textual examples.
Why is it important to the story that the antagonist is a witch? If the old woman were a member of the church, how would that change the visions that the lady sees?
The story is full of religious imagery. What religious imagery helps characterize the lady? Cite textual examples.
Why did Hawthorne choose to have both main characters be women? Would the story be different if one of the main characters was a man?
How does the description of the lady’s husband aid in his characterization? Is he a sympathetic character? Explain your reasoning.
Hawthorne’s criticisms of the Puritan church are well-known. Does the story show any affinity with the congregants of the church? With the old woman? Cite textual examples.
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