Download The Scarlet Letter

THE SCARLET LETTER
Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Salem Witch Trials
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1692, Puritan village of Salem, MA
Fueled by politics, religion, family feuds, economics,
and fear
Began by three girls’ accusations of witchcraft
200 people jailed, based on “spectral evidence”
19 people executed
Increase Mather petitioned the Governor to
intervene
The governor pardoned the remaining prisoners,
and people ignored further accusations
 Crop failures / epidemics plagued Salem for yearsThe Puritans believed they were being punished for
the hangings of innocent people.
 Still believed to be haunted, cursed
* More in The Crucible, after TSL
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Puritan History
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Began in 1500’s- Puritans separate because of
over-influence on Church of England by the Crown
and Catholic Church
believed they could receive enlightenment directly
from the Bible
many moved to America seeking religious freedom
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American settlement began as Massachusetts Bay
Company, ruled by governor and deputy-governor;
stockholders were the General Court
the Company developed a colony; company leaders
became government leaders
colony was a theocracy- only church members were
allowed to participate in the government
Nathaniel Hawthorne
born in Salem, Massachusetts
- transcendentalist (philosophical belief in “the existence
of an ideal spiritual reality that transcends the
empirical and scientific and is knowable through
intuition.”)
- A descendant of a judge in the Salem witch trials
- friends with Henry David Thoreau (transcendentalist
leader)
- The Scarlet Letter (1850)
- The House of the Seven Gables (1851)
- The Blithdale Romance (1852)
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The Scarlet Letter
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set in mid-1600’s in Boston- Puritan movement
honored for lack of stereotyping, and the first
complete heroine
also considered the first truly American perspective
and style
“The Custom House”
Prologue added by Hawthorne after finishing novel
 Extended the length
 Semi-autobiographical – many parallels between
narrator and Hawthorne
* Must not assume Hawthorne is narrator
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Characters
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Protagonist: Hester Prynne
- young woman found guilty of adultery and
forced to wear a scarlet ‘A’ for the rest of her life
Antagonist: Roger Chillingsworth
- Hester’s husband (who has been gone for a
long time)
Additional major characters: Rev. Arthur
Dimmesdale, Pearl (Hester’s daughter)
Major Themes: Good vs. Evil
Guilt
Sin
Identity and Society
Recurring symbols: The letter ‘A’
Pearl
The Meteor
The Rosebush