Nancy Bunge focuses on Lady Eleanore's interactions and the themes of her pride and punishment in her book, Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Study of the Short Fiction. In this first excerpt, she describes the role of Lady Eleanore's peers in the story. (courtesy of Twayne Publishers)

[T]his story directly implicates Lady Eleanore's contemporaries in her pride, as noted by a minority of the tale's commentators. Democrats, ostensibly opposed to the aristocratic leanings she represents, applaud and admire Lady Eleanore's beauty.