Fancy's Show-Box (From "Twice Told Tales")

"Fancy's Show-Box (From 'Twice Told Tales')" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story published in 1837. This tale appears in Hawthorne's first collection of previously published magazine stories. The work explores psychological and moral territory through Hawthorne's characteristic allegorical style—the same approach that earned both praise for its purity and genius, and criticism for being overly didactic. Part of a collection that helped establish American literature's distinctive voice, the story exemplifies Hawthorne's "depth and tenderness of feeling" noted by contemporary critics. (This is an automatically generated summary.)