The Scarlet Letter: A Historical Criticism
The Scarlet Letter, a classic American novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, contains a plot that follows the controversial life of Hester Prynne, the main protagonist of the story. Set in the mid 1600’s in Boston, Massachusetts, it represented the Puritan society and its ideals at that time. Its rich plot has enticed and enraptured readers for many years, while Historical elements have allowed readers to analyze and understand the content better. The Scarlet Letter is a piece of historical fiction that contains a real representation of the period in which it is set in and is mostly historically accurate, barring a few minor inaccuracies.
One way in which The Scarlet Letter is historically accurate
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is in how it represents the Puritans religious views and practices. In that period, religion played a key role in almost every aspect of society. The Puritans believed that they were doing God’s work and that they needed to make the Church “pure” of the influences of the Catholic Church (ushistory.org and study.com). Hawthorne correctly presented the Puritan society as strict with many religious rules and principles to abide by. In many Puritan societies, church attendance was mandatory and a fine could be issued if church was missed (ushistory.org). In addition, if any man, woman, or child spoke out against the church or their religious leaders they would be dealt with harshly (usahistory.info). Finally, it was required for all members of the society to read and study the bible or be deemed a devil worshiper (tripod.com). Another way in which The Scarlet Letter is historically accurate is how Hawthorne represents the society as a whole.
In Puritan society, religion was the heart of the town and almost everything revolved around the church. Hawthorne accurately represented the public authority of the church through Dimmesdale’s role in society. Dimmesdale was the minister of Boston’s church and was very highly respected by almost all of the members of the society. He was involved in decisions of law and of every day matters; people came to him for everything from religious guidance to help with daily problems. Dimmesdale’s role in the book was historically accurate. In the actual Puritan societies, the town minister was closely involved in almost every aspect of the society. In addition, Puritan society was geared toward community instead of the individual. The focus of the society was to have a united community and punish all individuals who acted out or could harm the community. This was accurately represented by Hawthorne through Hester and her punishments for acting out and causing harm to the …show more content…
community. In addition to the previous two examples, another aspect in which The Scarlet Letter is historically accurate is how Hawthorne portrayed the punishments for breaking the societal or religious rules. The Puritans were staunchly religious and strict; hence, their punishments were harsh and uncompassionate. Harsh punishments were inflicted upon anyone who was seen as “straying from God’s work” (ushistory.org). Hawthorne represented this through Hester and the scarlet letter. Although this punishment for being an adulterer was tame for the period, it was still a real and relevant punishment. It forced Hester to experience the humility and ridicule that the town and church deemed acceptable for her, just like a real puritan society would. This makes The Scarlet Letter historically accurate in another way. Finally, The Scarlet Letter is historically accurate through its portrayal of women.
In a normal Puritan society, a woman’s most important role was that of being a mother and housewife, and women were always seen as being less than a man. The rights of women during Puritan times were very limited and they had many restrictions on what they could and could not do. For example, they could not vote in the town council, own or buy land, or command any servants that their husband or father owned (study.com). Hawthorne represented this through the societies thoughts about Hester, and through how most other women in the society act. The societies thoughts about Hester show that any women who does not follow the normal way of doing things is to be punished and looked down on, even if their actions are completely relevant and harmless. It also represents how harshly women were judged for simply just being a
woman.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s well known novel, The Scarlet Letter, extensive diction and intense imagery are used to portray the overall tone of the characters. In particular, Hester Prynne, the wearer of the Scarlet Letter, receives plentiful positive characterization throughout the novel. Hester’s character most notably develops through the town’s peoples ever-changing views on the scarlet letter, the copious mentions of her bravery, and her ability to take care of herself, Pearl, and others, even when she reaches the point where most would give up and wallow in their suffering.
Hester Prynne is a character who gave up everything, even love, for her child. Hester Prynne sacrificed her peace, her beauty, her entire being for her child and this shows her determination and profound understanding of the world. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s piece, “The Scarlet Letter” shows the other side of the sinner’s story and not as a villain, but a victim.
The Scarlet letter is a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The plot focuses on sin in the Puritan society. Hester Prynne, the protagonist, has an affair with Reverend Dimmesdale, which means they are adulterers and sinners. As a result, Pearl is born and Hester is forced to where the scarlet letter. Pearl is a unique character. She is Hester’s human form of her scarlet letter, which constantly reminds her of her sin, yet at the same time, Pearl is a blessing to have since she represents the passion that Hester once had.
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story based in the Puritan town of Boston about a young woman named Hester Prynne who committed adultery and was discovered by the Puritan government and religious authorities because she became pregnant and had a baby. Her punishment was 3 hours on the platform of the pillory at the market place, where no small amount of people watched her. She was also doomed to where a mark of her sin on her bosom, a scarlet letter A, for the rest of her life, which was certainly the greater of the two punishments. The man whom she committed adultery with, Mr. Arthur Dimmesdale, is a learned and highly renowned pastor. Everyone in the town loves him dearly and looks at him as a saint. Hester Prynne’s (ex) husband, returns from England where he stayed during Hester Prynne’s time of infidelity, and discovers what Hester did in his absence, after which he calls himself Roger Chillingsworth (his real name is never mentioned in the novel) and makes Hester swear never to reveal his true identity to anyone. Roger Chillingsworth later discovers Arthur Dimmesdale was the one whom Hester Prynne slept with in his absence, and then proceeds to take his revenge upon the frail mental state of the poor, tortured clergyman. Roger Chillingsworth became a truly evil and formidable enemy later. He became obsessed in seeking out justice against the man who wronged him, but in doing so he completely debased himself and dealt injustice against Arthur Dimmesdale.
Adultery was a terrible crime to them so Hester was to be publicly shamed for the rest of her life. They wanted to make a Utopian Society, perfect society, but this was to be impossible with all their punishment tactics. If they had what they wished for there would have been no scaffold, prison, or public shaming because there would have been no crime. The expectations of the town were appalling and Hawthorne truly wanted to expose the ugliness of Puritan societies. Women were also discriminated against in the novel The Great Gatsby.
A recurring theme in Hawthorne’s novel is the depiction of gender roles between the women and the men to symbolize a society dominated by patriarchal rule. A prime example of this is in the second chapter, upon Hester’s release from prison. The town gossips, all women, comment on how Hester has
The society in which she lives is legitimized such that people follow a certain moral code. Refraining or overlooking of such codes leads to punishment as revealed by the women “this woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die” (The Ugly Woman, 7). The narrator however, echoes concern against following strict codes of conduct. Hawthorne presents the idea that lack of compassion and forgiveness makes a society dictatorial, he believes the need to observe and practice grace is imperative. Ruling through grace was expressed by Hester when she is forgiven by a society that had once punished her for same mistakes as the young girl retorts “let her cover the mark she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart” (A Young Wife, 6). Reverend Dimmesdale finds adequate grace after seven years of not confessing his sins because of the repercussions that would come thereafter. He begs Hester to reveal his name so that he can as well reveal his sin “be not silent from any mistaken pity, and tenderness for him” (Reverend Dimmesdale, 26) YOur
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘The Scarlet Letter’ was considered by many as the controversial novel of its time, given its themes of pride, sin and vengeance. It was also set in a time when very few were thinking about the equality of of men and women, but Hawthorne managed to bring gender-based inequality to light through the novel’s male-dominated Puritan setting and by reversing the gender roles of characters, such as Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, focuses on the Puritan society. The Puritan society molded itself and created a government based upon the Bible and implemented it with force. The crime of adultery committed by Hester generated rage, and was qualified for serious punishment according to Puritan beliefs. Ultimately the town of Boston became intensely involved with Hester's life and her crime of adultery, and saw to it that she be publicly punished and tortured. Based upon the religious, governmental, and social design of the Puritan society, Hester's entire existence revolved around her sin and the Puritan perception. Therefore it is evident within The Scarlet Letter that the Puritan community to some degree has constructed Hester's character.
... like Hester. He is implying that she is the victim and that the Puritans are actually at fault for this sin. Hawthorne's main goal is to convey the Puritans as sinful and unholy. He does not approve of the sin they hide and he thinks there should be punishment for their actions.
The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in the sixteen hundreds. Hester Prynne is accused of committing adultery in her small puritan settlement but little does the town know that the father is in fact Reverend Dismmesdale. Having sent his wife ahead of him two years before hand, Hester stops her husband in the crowd as she is standing accused on the scaffolding. Hester is given a punishment in the hopes of making her ashamed; however, she turns the mockery into amazement by making the scarlet A into a beautiful piece of patch work. Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, is on the hunt from at that point to find out the child’s father but not even Pearl herself knows. The Scarlet Letter showed how early Americans concentrated their beliefs of church and home in their daily lives. Nathaniel Hawthorne words reflect the flaws in American society during the Puritan settlement. This was also the era of the Salam Witch Trials which Hawthorne’s father played a part in. The central idea reflects that suffering comes from sinning. The Scarlet Letter was the stepping stones that paved future American novels to become so successful.
Nathaniel Hawthorne uses his novel, The Scarlet Letter to critique the Puritan faith. In developing his story of the adulteress Hester Prynne, he uses both religious and natural imagery to show his disdain for the Puritan religion. The Scarlet Letter is a vivid portrayal of his utter dislike for the Puritans and everything that they stand for. Hawthorne is in complete disagreement with them and makes it clear throughout the book.
With a strong female protagonist and two mentally weak males, it is hard to consider Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter anything but a feminist treatise. He obviously intended to put down not only Puritanism, which is an obvious aspect of the novel, but to establish a powerful, secure female in American literature. Hester proves, although she has sinned in the past, she can confront her mistakes, take care of herself and her child, and help others at the same time. She can withhold a position in society that many can respect because of her character something the males of the story obviously could not succeed at doing.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the story is set in New England during the colonial times, mainly the middle of the seventeenth century. As the plot of the novel progresses, the importance of setting is further aggrandized when the main character, Hester Prynne, is isolated in a strict Puritan society. To further elucidate Hester’s situation, Hawthorne utilizes two types of settings, physical and historical setting. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne uses the settings to expose the rigidness of the Puritan society of the time period and how its obstinate and judgmental nature impacted people within the society.
The Scarlet Letter is a fictional novel that begins with an introductory passage titled ‘The Custom-House’. This passage gives a historical background of the novel and conveys the narrator’s purpose for writing about the legend of Hester Prynne even though the narrator envisions his ancestors criticizing him and calling him a “degenerate” because his career was not “glorifying God”, which is very typical of the strict, moralistic Puritans. Also, although Hawthorne is a Romantic writer, he incorporates properties of Realism into his novel by not idealizing the characters and by representing them in a more authentic manner. He does this by using very formal dialogue common to the harsh Puritan society of the seventeenth century and reflecting their ideals through this dialogue. The Puritans held somewhat similar views as the Transcendentalists in that they believed in the unity of God and the world and saw signs and symbols in human events, such as when the citizens related the meteo...