Major themes include religious fanaticism, sensationalist psychology, and voice and perception.

Clara and Theodore's father was a German immigrant who founded his own religion; he came to America just before the American Revolution with the goal of evangelizing the indigenous people.

One night, as he worships in his bare, secluded temple, he seems to spontaneously combust, after which his health rapidly deteriorates and he dies.

The first incident involves Theodore hearing a disembodied voice that warns him of potential danger.

At Theodore's house, Clara finds that everyone seems to be asleep, so she continues on to her own home, where she is to meet with Carwin.

Indeed, it is often suggested that Wieland is an attack on Puritanism (though it is also often thought of as a historical allegory, or even one that explores the writing process itself).

[5] The ability of Carwin to divorce a voice from its body via ventriloquism, or "biloquism" (meaning double-speech) as it is referred to in the text,[6] draws attention to the problem of over-reliance on the senses.

The otherwise rationalistic character mistook "prejudice, emotion, and false logic for reason"[8] when faced with a choice between believing Clara's account or the disembodied voices.

[3] Regardless of its weaknesses, however, Wieland is thought to be one of the first significant novels published by an American, and it is most certainly Brown's most successful work.

[1] Joyce Carol Oates describes Wieland as "a nightmare expression of the fulfillment of repressed desire, anticipating Edgar Allan Poe's similarly claustrophobic tales of the grotesque.

"[11] It was very influential in the later development of the Gothic genre by such writers as Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley and, most especially, George Lippard.

In particular, it provided an influence to Logan (1822) by John Neal, who considered Brown his literary father.

Other cast members include Mike Markoff as Carwin and Georgie Raiola as Henry Pleyel.

In this modern retelling, Clara is a young woman recovering from an acute eating disorder, while her brother, Teddy, is running for the United States Senate.

The outside force haunting the main characters is deepfake technology, rather than otherworldly voices; after doctored videos of the Wielands engaging in sexual intercourse emerge online, Clara begins experiencing strange visions, while Teddy becomes increasingly cruel and paranoid as he attempts to contain the videos' political fallout.