2. Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne

3. The Scarlet Letter –Author –Born –Inspiration for Work –Nathaniel Hawthorne –Salem, Massachusetts, 1804 –Related to John Hawthorne, a judge for the 1692 Salem Witch Trials –Hawthorne was enamored with his relative’s involvement in the trial and with Puritan culture as a whole

4. The Scarlet Letter –Transcendentalist Influence –Became a part of a highly intellectual group that included Ralph Waldo Emerson –Transcendentalists tried to become one with nature and abandon the evils of society –True happiness and feeling of self could only come through embracing their own individual thoughts and feelings

5. Background Information: The Scarlet Letter –Puritan Culture –A majority of Hawthorne’s works focused on America’s Puritan forefathers –The Puritans were a group of religious zealots who came to America in the 1630s to practice their religious beliefs freely

6. Background Information: The Scarlet Letter –Puritan Culture –Puritans were supposed to be solely focused on their relationship with the Lord –Their people has little tolerance for ideas or any behavior that differed from what they considered the norm –Any behaviors that were not done with God in mind were considered amoral.

7. Overview: The Scarlet Letter

8. The Scarlet Letter: Overview Hester Prynne is a member of a Puritan community Her husband is thought to be lost at sea and in his absence she has an affair with Arthur Dimmesdale, a young minister

9. The Scarlet Letter: Overview The result of the affair is two-fold: Hester has a child named Pearl, and she is forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her bosom that brands her as an adulterer. Despite intense pressure from the community Hester refuses to reveal the identify the father of her child Although an outcast, Hester proves herself to a generous, giving person capable of great charity

10. The Scarlet Letter: Overview In secrecy her husband, now going by the named of Roger Chillingworth, plots revenge against her wife for her unfaithfulness Suspecting Dimmesdale, Chillingworth hatches a plot to undo the Minister and Hester

11. Literary Focus: The Scarlet Letter

12. –Date of Publication –Setting (time) –Setting (place) –1850 –Mid-Seventeenth Century –Boston, Massachusetts The town is situated between the sea and the rest of unsettled America. What lies outside the town is a "black forest," strongly symbolic of moral absence and evil.

13. Literary Focus: The Scarlet Letter –Point of View –Protagonist –Antagonist –1 st person narrative The narration is unique because it is told from an omniscient customhouse surveyor who is writing about these events two hundred years after they have taken place –Hester Prynne –The judgmental, harsh nature of Puritan society

14. Literary Focus –Themes and Conflicts –The Burden of Sin –Feelings of Guilt –Lust and Desire –Individual vs. Society –Psychological Anguish –Change and Transformation –Strength in Identity –Nature’s Civilization vs. Society’s Civilization

15. Literary Focus –Irony Puritan society, supposedly a moral beacon, is judgmental and cruel, whereas Hester and Minister Dimmesdale, humbled by guilt and shame, act in charitable and empathetic ways that are very moralistic Hester’s punishment was supposed to weaken her resolve and make her apologetic, but it has instead allowed her to see the hypocrisy of society around her

16. Literary Focus –Central Symbol The Scarlet Letter One of the most powerful symbols in all of literature Multiple possible meanings depending on how the novel is read; different possible meanings even as the novel progresses Possible meanings: –Representative of Hester’s shame –Representative of Hester’s new, independent, humble identity –Representative of her “Abilities”— she is thought to be a leader by outsiders like Native Americans –Representative of her affair with Dimmesdale –Representative of ambiguity; by the end of the novel is it more of a symbol of her transgressions or her inner strength?

17. Literary Focus –Other Symbols Pearl Minister Dimmesdale The name itself is representative of beauty—the character has value and beauty just like the piece jewelry has value Representative of a living version of Hester’s letter as well as a constant reminder of his sexual sin Representative of the Puritan ideal of self-suffering, but also representative of man’s inability to escape its sinful nature

18. Characters: The Scarlet Letter

19. The Scarlet Letter: Characters –Hester Prynne –Passionate, intelligent and strong –Endures shame and scorn from her Puritan community –She is an outcast from society, but this alienation gives her unique perspective on the actions of others

20. The Scarlet Letter: Characters –Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale –Hester’s lover –Famed in England for his elegant and powerful sermons –Feels tremendous guilt and inner-conflict between his commitment to the church and his love for Hester

21. The Scarlet Letter: Characters –Roger Chillingworth –Hester’s husband; remains in disguise throughout the novel –Seeks revenge against Hester and makes it his personal mission to discover and torture her lover –Indulgent and presented as both physically and mentally twisted