Independence in 19th Century a

A detailed Summary of Independence in 19th Century a

Independence is a "characteristically American" feature of the 19th century. The United States sought independence politically, economically and culturally. It took its independence in 1776 in declaring "That these United Colonies are...Free and Independent States". It made the thirteenth states of America independent from each other as well as from Britain. Furthermore, the United States can supply to its own economic needs, industrial and agricultural. Finally, it acquired its own culture throughout the 19th century. In the field of literature, American writers came to differentiate themselves from the English. They created their own type of writing, the romance. Before going any further, let us make a distinction between freedom and independence. One can be free while being subject to the laws and conventions of society, or one can be free and independent. Freedom is the state of exemption from the power or control of another, exemption from slavery and servitude; one is free to do 'nearly' what one wants, 'nearly' because this freedom is usually limited in a democratic state. Independence is the state of not being subject to the control of others, not subject to influence. Independence is being free, unconstrained, not subo

Hester is a needlewoman. She can provide for their financial needs, for her and her child. "She possessed an art that sufficed ... to supply food for her thriving infant and herself. It was the art ... of needlework. She bore on her breast, in the curiously embroidered letter, a specimen of her delicate and imaginative skill..." (chap. 5, "Hester at Her Needle") Through her creativity and her artistry, she frees herself from her imprisonment.. She embroiders her work, and makes things different from what they seem to be. She transforms the reality through her art. In her hands, the scarlet letter loses its previous meaning. It is no longer a negative sign, it has become a token of artistry. Its meaning moves from Adultery to Artist. Hester manages to create a new world, a world of her own, a world of independence.

In having been put on the range of society, in living apart from it, Hester builds her own way of thinking, of viewing the world she lives in. Puritanism when viewed from inside is good whereas when it is viewed from outside, as Hester sees it, it becomes evil. Hester becomes aware of the hypocrisis of Puritanism. "Little accustomed, in her long seclusion of society, to measure her ideas of right and wrong by any standard external to herself, Hester saw - or seemed to see - that there lay a responsibility upon her, in reference to the clergyman, which she owed to no other, nor to the whole world besides. The links that united her to the rest of human kind ... had all been broken." (chap. 13 "Another View of Hester"). She is forced to draw by herself the line between right and wrong, to define by herself what is good and what is evil. She starts rethinking the Puritan world.

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Approximate Word count = 2691
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English