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The relationship between Hawthorne and the scarlet letter
What is hawthornes theme about sin in the scarlet letter
What is hawthornes theme about sin in the scarlet letter
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Early American literature is unique in that it is abundantly influenced by Biblical themes and ideas. Being that this country was founded by the strict, fundamentalist Puritans, it seems obvious that the literature would be pervaded by such things as the presence of evil and its impact on goodness and holiness. The “evil” that is found in Melville and Hawthorne is interesting because it reflects the Biblical idea of evil tempting good and attempting to convert it rather than simply destroy it. The stories of Poe reflect the turmoil and evil that is contained within a person and tempts him or her to commit evil acts.
What is fascinating about this literature is that in Billy Budd, The Scarlet Letter, “The Imp of the Perverse,” and “William Wilson,” evil is always victorious. In today’s society, it is tempting to read stories and watch films in which good always prevails and the characters live happily ever after; however, at the time of these writings, there was still an air of Calvinism and the lasting idea that mankind is innately evil. Modern society is uncomfortable with the term “evil,” but at the time of this literature, it was a common term that was used freely and had clear definitions. Therefore, because of the strong Biblical influence, the aforementioned tales are centered on this presence of evil and its temptation and torturing of that which is holy until goodness is overcome.
Melville’s Billy Budd is a tale in which the Biblical influence is quite obvious. There are many images of snakes and serpents, which is often symbolic of Satan. Many critics read the story as an allegory to the Christ story in which Billy and Claggart “play the roles of Jesus and Judas” (Wright 133). There is imagery throughout th...
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...he adultery and temptations in The Scarlet Letter, and the murder in both “The Imp of the Perverse” and “William Wilson” all were easily classified as evil. Today, many of these actions would be subscribed to the doers’ childhoods or to other traumatic experiences and the people themselves would not necessarily be held responsible. It is difficult in today’s society to classify good and evil because those areas are no longer black and white; however, in early American times, evil was easy to identify and was seen as the influence of the devil. The aforementioned literature of Melville, Hawthorne, and Poe all contains tremendous influence from the Bible and therefore displays this evil temptation from the devil himself. Sadly, in each of the stories, evil always seems to triumph, and the characters are forced to realize their own wickedness and depravities.
In America, the period of Romanticism brought up many depictions of society that held their place in America many decades ago. This society was made up of Puritans who held a strong belief system and was even their form of governing. Romantic authors like Washington Irving, who wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker”, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote The Scarlet Letter included Puritans in their stories to convey a message. In both works, the authors focus on Puritans in their stories to convey an image of who Puritans were and what they did, though not in a positive light through the use of the devil and the setting of a forest. This is because of how Romanticism generally satirized Puritans and tried to portray them as completely contradictory
During the American Renaissance, writers were put into one of two categories. The categories were the Dark Romantics and the Transcendentalists. Some Dark Romantics include Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Washington Irving. The Dark Romantics stories included creepy symbols, horrific themes, and psychological effects of guilt and sin. The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving gives a few examples as to why life is meaningless to some people.Humans are not all good, there are some cruel people in this world. The Pit and the Pendulum tells you exactly why.
In the novel The Scarlet Letter and the short story “The Minister’s Black Veil”, Nathaniel Hawthorne incorporates romantic elements, such as beauty, truth, innocence, and sin, in his criticism of Puritan societies. In both texts, Hawthorne argues that all people, even those in strictly religious societies with corrupted standards, are capable of sin. Hawthorne uses symbolism and light and dark imagery to convey his argument.
As America slowly began molding into the creases of different values and cultures, so did its literature. One trait that had always been securing itself within the lines of these literary texts was the protagonists’ naivety. Theses characters typically established an intention to do good things, but eventually fail due to tumbling upon tempting obstacles and falling into the trance of distractions. An example of this situation occurred long ago during the 16th and 17th century. A cult of English Protestants known as Puritans aimed to “purify” the Church of England by excreting all evidence of its descent in the Roman Catholic Church. The Puritans enforced strict religious practices upon its believers and regarded all pleasure and luxury as wicked or sacrilegious. Although their “holy” cond...
...n idea about the human psyche and the nature of evil. Throughout the novels, we have acts that were dubbed as evil. Some of these were: the acts of the rabbi’s son, the killing of Simon, and even the joy Eliezer felt at the death of his father. All of these points and the many that weren’t mentioned all shared a singular idea. It was that the ulterior motive of these acts revolved around people reacting on instinct and desire. From these, we gain the final message of the novel that was proven time and time again. This message was that evil isn’t an act that just isn’t moral. Evil is the primal, instinctual, an animalistic rage that lives in the darker part of our heart, a part of the heart that is brought to light upon the moment the chains of civilization are broken..... A moment where we fall prey to our instincts and our conscience disappears into the darkness.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the first American writers to pioneer the unprecedented and unforeseen gothic genre which resulted in the exposure of darker themes across America in the 19th century. This new genre sprouted the “brooding” romantics who revolved around the human’s capacity for evil as a main theme of their works. Being one of the “brooding” romantics, Hawthorne followed the Puritans’ belief that everyone is a sinner as a result of being a descendent of the Puritans associated with the infamous Salem witchcraft trials. Not only was he related to the despicable Puritans, but also, he had to live with the guilt that his dishonorable great-great grandfather, Judge Hathorne, was “the only one who refused to apologize for his role
This is paralleled by the enormous amount of Biblical allusions in Melville's Billy Budd. Even though Melville was a religious skeptic, his friend Hawthorne said that he was neither believe nor be comfortable in his disbelief, and he is too honest and courageous not to try to do one or the other. This could be a showing of his religious side. The very interpretation of Billy Budd as a recreation of the Bible is also very interesting. The only problem is that there are flaws to this interpretation. The addition of Billy's "fatal flaw" is a problem faced when comparing Billy to Jesus. There's also a problem in that Billy is so innocent that he cannot possible comprehend that there is evil in the world. Claggart doesn't have enough motivation to be evil. It is only explained that Claggart could be naturally evil. This is a problem because he had no motivation that can be explained for him to be so evil. Vere is also a problem. Vere acts in a way that is against his own judgement. This is unlike the God that he symbolizes. Therefore, Melville could have not meant Billy Budd to be a retelling of the Bible. However, there is also religion in Billy Budd in that of the chaplain trying to instill Billy with the fear of death. The plentifulness of the Biblical allusions is also interesting. Melville uses many examples such as Adam before the fall to describe the main characters
In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne there are many characters who have committed sins. In Puritan community they followed the word of god and banned all sins. These sins in The Scarlet Letter were look as The Black Mans work meaning satans work. The sins committed were harmful and hurtful to people and their souls. Hester and Mr. Dimmesdale committed adultery with bearing a child named Pearl. But Roger Chillingworth committed the worst sin by using his gifts for evil.
Biblical Allusions were used vividly throughout this work. In fact, a significant reference was made between Billy Budd, the protagonist, and John Claggart, Billy’s Foil, throughout. Billy Budd was compared to Adam of the Garden of Eden and John Claggart to a serpent which would indicate Satan. From a reader’s perspective Herman Melville used this to evoke associations between the two characters and the Bible. Billy resembled Adam of the Garden of Eden because he was often described as a complete innocent. John Claggart, on the other hand, was referred to as someone who had a compliant exterior, but an evil and sinister interior. Moreover, there was another great reference that involved another important character, Captain the Honorable Edward Fairfax Vere, who was linked to God with Billy linked to Jesus. How? According to the Bible, God had to sacrifice his own son Jesus Christ to obtain obedience from his Kingdom. In Billy Budd, Sailor, Vere was perceived to possess strong feelings of care for Billy almost like a father would for a son. Vere had an internal conflict that had him choose between Billy to stay alive or dye...
Herman Melville’s use of religious images not only demonstrates his genius as a romantic author, but also displays the human capacity for evil. Melville specifically chooses these religious images to make a powerful statement on how evil is used as a weapon against people. Melville’s use of religious imagery is deliberate and even on the verge of calculating. Melville uses religion multiple times to show how being ignorant of one’s surroundings can be incredibly damaging.
Colacurcio, Michael J. The Province of Piety: Moral History in Hawthorne's Early Tales. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1984.
Nathanial Hawthorne, an American author during the 19th century witnessed the power of sin to wreak havoc not only to an individual but a whole community. His novel The Scarlet Letter expresses this very idea by exposing the follies of mankind and the potentially detrimental effects of sin trough Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth who all affected by sin in different ways. Utilizing powerful symbols and light/dark imagery, Hawthorne conveys to the readers, through these characters, the power of how one’s response to sin can positively change an individual or gradually destroy one by spreading like a contagious disease and ultimately consuming the victim.
Popular Romantic writers of the 1800s focus their writing on many facets of human nature, both benevolent and malevolent. However, three aspects of human nature are key to Romantic literature: those being madness in the human mind, the forces of good and evil, and the result of guilt after sin. Hawethorn’s The Scarlet Letter incorporates all of those aspects, and various works of Poe’s do as well, creating multiple parallels in their stories. The first comparison of their works is in Usher in “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Chillingworth, the second is with the narrator of “The Tell Tale Heart” and Dimmesdale, and the third is with Montresor from “The Cask of Amontillado” and Puritan
Evil is a commonly used theme in literature; it is used to provide contrast between the protagonist and his/her trials. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Shakespeare’s Othello, and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”, the horror of evil is manifested into the plot, affecting the characters in the story. Evil is embodied into story because of those who neglect it, its concentration into one character, and its manipulative power.
How does one define evil? It is universally thought of as bad, negative, harmful, vicious, corrupt and wicked. In all of humanity there stands an image or figurative concept of evil, differing from each culture of the globe. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1836—enunciated a theory of symbol in his first book Nature, that retained validity through much of the century (Dunne 107). A fundamental doctrine of many mid nineteenth century American writers was a belief in the symbolic authority of nature (Dunne 107). Nathaniel Hawthorne has intended to emphasize that no single person can endure the escape from the devil’s nature in his short story “Young Goodman Brown”. Using an abundant amount of symbolism, Hawthorne