"Lady Eleanore's Mantle" is the third legend in the four-part

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

"Legends of the Province-House" by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

author

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

. This short story first appeared in '' The United States Democratic Review'' (Dec. 1838, Vol 2. Issue 12), and was later collected in an updated edition of ''

Twice-Told Tales ''Twice-Told Tales'' is a short story collection in two volumes by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The first volume was published in the spring of 1837 and the second in 1842. The stories had all been previously published in magazines and annuals, hence th ...

''.

Plot synopsis

Lady Eleanore Rochcliffe moves to Boston to live with her distant relative, Colonel Shute. She is known not only for her immense pride but also her magnificently embroidered mantle, which was made by a dying woman and is believed to possess magical qualities. When she arrives in town, Jervase Helwyse, a man who loves her but only receives her scorn, offers for her to step on him as she exits her coach. She accepts his offer. A ball is held in honor of her arrival. Although she remains within a circle, Rochcliffe looks upon the festivities with scorn. Helwyse arrives and asks Rochcliffe to drink from his silver cup to prove that she has not placed herself above the sympathies of others. He also asks her to remove her mantle. Laughing at him, she pulls it tighter over her head. Shortly thereafter, an epidemic of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

appears. It attacks the rich and proud before affecting the poor. Red flags are erected outside the houses of the infected. Everyone believes that the mantle is the source of the epidemic, since it was made by a dying woman and is worn by one who has placed herself above human sympathies. Helwyse arrives at Rochcliffe's province house and finds her on her death bed. Rochcliffe says Nature has retaliated against her since she has scorned others. She is buried with her mantle, and Helwyse leads the casket waving a red flag. Soon after, the epidemic subsides.

Historical setting

Hawthorne mentions that this story takes place shortly after Shute assumed the governorship of

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

. That was in 1716. From 1721 to 1722 Boston suffered from a smallpox epidemic.

External links

Text to Lady Eleanore's Mantle eBook from Wikisource {{Nathaniel Hawthorne Short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne 1838 short stories Works originally published in The United States Magazine and Democratic Review