Scarlet Letter's Puritans

A detailed Summary of Scarlet Letter's Puritans

Discuss Hawthorne's presentation of the Puritan's throughout the novel ¥The Scarlet Letter.' You may wish to consider: „P Hawthorne's links with the Puritans „P The presentation of Puritanism in the novel The narrative methods through which Hawthorne presents Puritanism. The Puritans are complex characters and throughout the course of the novel the reader is exposed to many sides of their character. Mark Van Doren once wrote, ¥The conflict in Hawthorne of two world's between which he hung, exposing the fanaticism of one, despising the blandness of the other, is not the least source of The Scarlet Letter's power.' I agree, I think the power of The Scarlet Letter is so effective because Hawthorne is caught in-between his lineage and his own opinions. Hawthorne came from a long line of powerful Puritans. His ancestry included William and John Hathorne who were notorious in their time. ¥He was a soldier, legislator, judge; he was a ruler in the Church; he had all the puritanic traits both good and evil.' William Hathorne was infamous for his cruelty to the Quaker Ann Coleman, his son John for his part in the Salem Witch-Hunts. Hawthorne uses his own family history to show the conflict in the Puritan ideals. ¥I the present writer, as t

heir representative, hereby take shame upon myself for their sakes, and pray that any curse incurred by them.....may be now and henceforth removed.' Hawthorne uses both these examples within his own family tree to show that although his family history is soaked in the blood of the past he was able to free himself from that sphere of thinking. However, it is important to remember, his thinking has been freed from the strict confined of the Puritan way of life in his own family he still cannot escape the engulfing guilt of their crimes The first time the reader is confronted with the Puritan community is at the prison door in the market place. Hawthorne uses powerful symbolism to convey the atmosphere in the Puritan settlement. ¥iron-clamped oaken door.' This is used to represent the rigorous enforcement of the laws and the inability to break free of them. The prison door itself also serves as a metaphor for the authority of the regime, which will not tolerate deviance. Hawthorne then deliberately challenges this notion by placing Ann Hutchinson's name in the opening page. Ann Hutchinson was a religious woman who challenged Puritanical teachings and was the imprisoned in Boston. Hawthorne then uses the symbolism of the rose bush to embody his feelings about Puritanism. ¥The rose-bush, by a strange chance, has been kept alive in history; but whether it has merely survived out of the stern old wilderness.' This is used to imply that the Puritanical authoritarianism may be too rigid, to the point of obliterating things of beauty. That freedom in religion could be found in this settlement but it faced harsh opposition shown here as the starker backdrop of the ¥old wilderness.' The Puritans had many hopes for their new settlement. They had left their homes in England in pursuit of their religious ideas. King James I of England wanted to rid England of all Puritans. When they asked him to "purify" the state Church of England of certain ceremonies and usages derived from the Roman Catholic Church his reply was severe. "I will make them conform or I will harry them out of the land." These Puritans were not dangerous revolutionists but plain citizens of England who sought out their religious Utopia in America. However, Hawthorne's presentation of their idealistic settlement is a stark contrast to this. The prison and the graveyard are in prominent positions within the settlement; Hawthorne uses this to stress their importance. These symbolise that even the Puritan are only mortal men. They too can fail in their religious ways. Hawthorne uses this point to empathise that fact that the strict Puritan way of life is doomed to failure, human nature can not be confined only surpressed. Hester was only human in her mistake but the Puritan cannot see this. Hawthorne uses this description of the Puritans to convey their thoughts. ¥grim rigidity that petrified the bearded physiognomies of the good people would have argued some awful business in hand.'

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Approximate Word count = 1991
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English