The scarlet letter

1. The scarlet letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

2. The author A few details about his life

3. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) • Born in Salem, Massachusetts • Ancestors wealthy and influential • William Hawthorne became a judge who persecuted Quakers • John Hathornesentenced many Salem women to death for witchcraft • Hawthorne was obsessed with the sins of these ancestors who reflected the religious intolerance of Puritan society.

4. More Biographical Items • Hawthorne’s father died when Nathaniel was four. • Hawthorne graduated from Bowden College, Maine, and spent next twelve years in seclusion, struggling to become a writer. • In 1837 published Twice Told Tales, earning him national fame and the admiration of Edgar Allan Poe • Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, became Hawthorne’s close friend.

5. Hawthorne’s Philosophy • Both Hawthorne and Melville reacted to the Transcendental philosophers of the nineteenth century, a reaction know as “Anti-Transcendentalism.” • Hawthorne struggled with what he considered the overly optimistic ideas of the Transcendentalists. • Evidence of this struggle between a belief in the perfectability of humanity by following one’s individual conscience and the essential evil nature of humankind is seen in the ambiguity of The Scarlet Letter.

6. Notes on Style, Setting, and Themes How he is typical of the nineteenth century romantics

7. Hawthorne’s Stories… • Deal with the strange and the mysterious • Involve symbolic imagination • Turn to the past for subject matter

8. Evil and Sin • Hawthorne focuses on the problem of evil and the nature of sin. • Not as a moralist, but as a psychologist: • He analyzes the inner world of human mind and heart • Asimple idea, like guilt, is developed by complex relationships and by symbolism • Symbolic story probes mind’s mysteries • In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne analyzes the effect of one sin on the four main characters who are closely connected due to that sin: Hester, Pearl, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth.

9. “What is Sin?” • A key question Hawthorne examines in The Scarlet Letter. • A violation of civil law is not necessarily a violation of natural law.

10. Unity of Place • All action occurs in the center of Boston and the outskirts of this village. • Three scaffold scenes: • One in the beginning, one in the middle, and one in the end. • Four main characters present and changes revealed.

11. Language and Imagery • Formal language with precise word choice • Though sentences are long and complex, they are logical and clear. • Hawthorne uses images to create mood and emphasize ideas. • Use of plant life to differentiate between characters • Use of shadows, light, the play of light in the forest, etc.

12. Narrator • Most of the story told in the form of a summary. • Between passages of explanation by narrator are poignant, dramatic scenes. • At times, Hawthorne interrupts narration to provide needed information • Other occasions, the narrator speaks directly to the reader to offer a choice of interpretations. • The reader is left to decide what is literally true and what is a device to create supernatural or symbolic effect. • Ambiguity is a problem for those who want certainty.

13. The Setting Puritanism in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1620-1730s

14. Core Ideas of the Puritans • Knowledge: comes from grace, scripture • World view: God-directed • Social view: governmental theocracy, mutual suspicion • Self-Concept: self-loathing, very self-conscious

15. Puritan View of Nature • View of Nature: emblematic of God’s purposes, the living work of God. • Earlier: fearful woods, Satan • Later: beauty

16. Themes of The Letter Transcendentalism, Anti-Transcendentalism, Romanticism, and Gothicism

17. Civil Law Versus Natural Law • Marriage is a civil institution governed by the state. • It is the solemnized commitment between two people who love one another—at least in theory. • Hester claims that even at the time of their marriage she did not love Chillingworth. • Chillingworth admits he violated a law of Nature by marrying a young and beautiful woman who could not love him. • Hester and Dimmesdale’s adultery, if motivated by true love, is a violation of civil law only. • Hester’s marriage, protected by civil law, is a violation of natural law.

18. Sin and Its Effects • The novel explores the nature of sin and its effects on the individual. • Sin results in physical deterioration. • Acts become sinful not only because they violate others, but also because they violate the individual’s inner laws.

19. Romantic Ideals (1820-1865) • Knowledge: genius, intuition, the sublime • World view: individual-directed, only know through own mind • Social view: autocracy of the soul • Self-concept: self-discovery of your true self • View of Nature: God, Man, Nature fused

20. Reaction to Romantic Ideas • The individual’s relationship to society. • Humans need to feel a connection to others. • Pearl, the child of nature who knows no rules, is isolated from society; to become a part of human society, she must share in the sorrow of other humans. • People are not self-reliant. • They have a sense of others, which creates their self-image and need for approval. • Though Hawthorne has the reader sympathize with Hester, the individual who rebels against society, her solitary life illustrates the loneliness and shame associated with breaking a law.