Wieland is an American gothic novel set in the years after the French and Indian War (1754-1763) and before the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). It is structured as a first person narrative in the form of two letters by Clara Wieland.

Clara begins her narrative by informing her readers that her tale is about the horrors that befell her family and she hopes that its telling will impart a moral lesson. Her father was an extremely religious man whose Calvinist beliefs were filtered through the lens of an apocalyptic French Protestant sect, the Camissards. His character was inclined to sobriety, melancholy, and religious ecstasy. Believing he had a missionary calling, he moved to the rural outskirts of Philadelphia from Saxony to proselytize the…

Read the full Wieland Summary

• Wieland Summary
• About Wieland
• Character List
• Glossary of Terms
• Major Themes
• Quotes and Analysis
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 1-2
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 3-4
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 5-6
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 7-8
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 9-10
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 11-12
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 13-14
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 15-16
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 17-18
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 19-20
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 21-22
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 23-24
• Summary and Analysis of Chapter 25
• Summary and Analysis of Chapter 26
• Summary and Analysis of Chapter 27
• Spontaneous Human Combustion
• Related Links on Wieland
• Suggested Essay Questions
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 1
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 2
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 3
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 4
• Author of ClassicNote and Sources

• Wieland: Major Themes
• Wieland: Essays
• Wieland: E-Text
• Wieland: Questions
• Wieland: Purchase the Novel and Related Material
• Charles Brockden Brown: Biography