1. Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter and Puritan Society
ENG 11
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter and Puritan Society

2. Nathaniel Hawthorne

3. Nathaniel Hawthorne Born July 4, 1804 in Salem , MA
Educated at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine
Married Sophia Peobody in 1842
Held a job at the Custom House in Boston , 46-49
3 children
Moved to Europe
Died in 1864

4. Hawthorne’s Grave

5. Hawthorne said of his work..
“The Scarlet Letter is powerfully
written but my writings do not, nor
ever will, appeal to the broadest
class of sympathies, and therefore
will not obtain a very wide popularity.”

6. Some Notes As a literary artist…
First American “pro writer”: college educated, familiar with the great European writers
4,000 copies of The Scarlet Letter sold in the first 10 days

7. Hawthorne’s Life Salem- lived here in childhood
Worked at the Custom House, as Surveyor of the Port
“The Custom House” introduction creates a frame story/ introduction to the novel. This introduction gives an account of his experience as surveyor; he attacks the officials who connived in his dismissal… Like his heroine Hester, Hawthorne emerges from confrontation with a self-righteous society as an individual of integrity, passion, and moral superiority.

8. Salem Custom House

9. Scarlett Letter was Published in 1850

10. Historical Context
English Heritage (Elizabethan Age)  : Early Colonial Period- Puritan writings, no distinctive American literature  : Later Colonial Period- Age of Reason/Enlightenment (Neoclassicism, Rationalism)

11. Historical Context 1800-1850: American Renaissance/ Romanticism-
slave narratives, inner feelings, the burden of a Puritan past, the rejection of Neoclassicism
Transcendentalism was a part of this

12. Historical Context SUBDIVISION OF ROMANTICISM: -use of supernatural
GOTHIC LITERATURE, the “dark romantics”( )
-use of supernatural
-motif of double (both good and evil in
characters; sin and evil does exist)
depression, dark forests
Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Alcott
emphasis on symbolism

13. Transcendentalism TRANSCENDENTALISM
Boston-centered movement, led by Emerson was an important force in New England circles
Human existence transcends the sensory realm
Formalism in favor of individual responsibility
Belief in individual choice and consequence
Focus on the positive

14. Transcendentalism
In what ways can you see the Transcendentalist influence on Hawthorne?
(His wife was a Transcendentalist and had some effect on his literature, and he also became friends with Transcendentalists in Concord, Emerson and Thoreau)
How is he also Anti-Transcendentalist/Anti-Gothic as exhibited in the novel?

15. Transcendental Authors
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Louisa May Alcott
Henry David Thoreau
Walt Whitman
Emily Dickenson
Frederick Douglass

16. Dominant Philosophy of Boston in 1600’s
PURITANISM involved belief that the church of England was too much influenced by the Catholic church
It followed a strict code of behavior which people were expected to follow and judged upon
It rejected the belief that divine authority is channeled through any one single person (i.e. the pope)
THEOCRACY- state governed by the church

17. Theocracy
There was no such “separation of Church and State” as we know today.
Rules of the land were governed by theological doctrine.
Breaking a law, therefore, involved breaking from the doctrine of the town. It meant breaking your connection with God.

18. Society in Hawthorne’s Work
We will focus on the essential questions when reading the work:
What aspects of this type of religious society can be seen in The Scarlet Letter?
How do you think Hawthorne views this type of society?
How do you think his own past might have affected his writing?

19. How did his life affect writing the novel?
Influences on Nathaniel Hawthorne: Puritan background
John Hawthorne presided over the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 (great-great grandfather)
Major William Hawthorne ( ) persecuted Quakers(one of the original judges in colony known for harsh sentencing)
Was Nathaniel Hawthorne influenced with this aspect of his family tree?

20. Puritanism vs. Individualism
Puritan Morality
Individualism
1.Accommodation to authority 2.Conventional Gender Roles 3.Guilt Centered: sense of guilt forced by puritanical heritage/society 4.Isolation as penalty for sin 5. Patriarchal power 6. Belief in fate 7. Impossibility of earthly perfection
1. Self Trust
2. Unconventional Gender Roles
3. Reason Centered: make decisions logically and in best interests
4. Isolation choosen because of self-cause and societal cause
5. Self Powered
6. Belief in Free Will
7. Belief that perfection should be strived for

21. Overview
The Scarlet Letter tells the story of Hester Prynne who has committed adultery and must wear a scarlet "A" publicly as punishment. When her husband, whom she believed to be dead, suddenly reappears, he determines to discover the identity of the father of Hester's child, although Hester steadfastly refuses to reveal his identity. Through the use of rich symbolism and supernatural events, Hawthorne shows the destructive effects of guilt and revenge

22. Literary Elements in the Novel
Characters
Mood
Setting
Plot
Symbolism
Themes

23. Main Character- Protagonist
Hester Prynne- protagonist, married to Roger Chillingworth, committed adultery with Author Dimmesdale, gave birth to Pearl
SINNER!!!

24. The Punishment
“One the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A.”

25. Secondary (but still important) Characters
Arthur Dimmesdale- pastor, intense
suffering, tragic figure
Roger Chillingworth- Hester’s husband, physician, old,
evil, deformed, diabolical vengeance on
Dimmesdale
Pearl- beautiful daughter, sometimes
imp-like, rebellious, inquisitive

26. More Secondary Characters
Gov. Bellingham- based on actual
governor of Boston
John Wilson- eldest clergyman, based
on actual English minister
Mistress Hibbins- based on figure
executed for witchcraft, appears to know a
great deal about the adultery

27. Mood of the Novel
The SOMBER, DARK mood is well defined from the beginning of the work:
sad-colored garments of spectators
the prison door which is “heavily timbered and studded with iron spikes”

28. Setting – Boston in 1600’s Life in the Mid 1600s
Boston was founded just 2 decades earlier
1st governor was John Winthrop, who governed based on religious and civic ideals
People were hardworking and devoted
1630s- Puritans established a number of settlements in Massachusetts

29. Themes in the Novel

30. Themes in the Novel Sin, Knowledge and the Human Condition
Nature of Evil
Identity of Women
Light vs. Dark
Revenge
Compassion and Forgiveness
Guilt and Blame
Forgiveness
Justice and Judgement
Supernatural

31. Symbols in the Novel The Scarlet Letter Pearl The Meteor
The Prison Door
The Custom House
The Forest and Wilderness
The Black Man

32. Allegory
An idea where characters and events symbolize ideas and concepts
“Pearl is an allegory for sin”

33. Final Thoughts…
But there was a more real life for Hester Prynne here, in New England, than in that unknown region where Pearl had found a home. Here had been her sin; here, her sorrow; and here was yet to be her penitence. She had returned, therefore, and resumed,—of her own free will, for not the sternest magistrate of that iron period would have imposed it,—resumed the symbol of which we have related so dark a tale. Never afterwards did it quit her bosom. But ... the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world’s scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, and yet with reverence, too.