American Romanticism (1820-1865)
Early romanticismNew England transcendentalismHigh romanticism
RomanticismValues
- passion, emotion, natural beauty - imagination, mysticism, liberalism
(freedom to express personal feelings)Describes
- personal human experiences - often social nonconformists or
outcasts
The Scarlet Letter (1850)
Time and Place of the Story
Boston1642-1649
Chapters 1-3 Market-Place. A June morning, 1642.
Chapter 4 Prison. Afternoon of the same day. Chapters 7-8 Home of Governor Bellingham.
Late summer, 1645. Chapter 12 Market-Place. Saturday night, early
May, 1649 (Governor Winthrop’s death). Chapters 14-15 Sea coast. Several days later. Chapters 16-19 Forest. Several days later. Chapters 21-23 Market-Place. Three days later.
New England Puritan’s intolerance
Hostile to witchcraft - Ann Hibbins hanged as a witch in 1656. - witchcraft trial in Salem in 1692
Hostile to other Protestant sectarians like Antinomians and Quakers
- Ann Hutchinson (1591-1643) was banished from Massachusetts in 1638 for unlawful preaching.
- counter force: religious freedom in Rhode Island
Antinomians / Quakers vs. Puritans
Antinomians / Quakers - the individual’s inner light.Puritans - no individual could hear the voice of God speaking directly to their soul.
Settlement at Boston
Established in 1630Main colony of MassachusettsEarly center of American PuritanismTheocratic-minded statesmen and ministersThe Newsletter (1704) - the 1st newspaperHarvard University founded at nearby Cambridge in 1636Commercial center
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)’s family
Salem, Massachusettes – New England Puritans Hathornes
- William: prosecutor of Quakers - John (William’s son): prosecutor of
witches - grandfather: revolutionary war hero - father: sea captain
Mother - Elizabeth Manning Hathorne
Hawthorne’s enemies
IntoleranceHypocrisy that hides the common sinGreed that refuses to share joyIncapacity for human sympathy
The Unpardonable Sin“The Unpardonable Sin might consist in a want of love and reverence for the Human Soul; in consequence of which, the investigator pried into its dark depths, not with a hope or purpose of making it better, but from a cold philosophical curiosity, - content that it should be wicked in whatever kind or degree, and only desiring to study it out. Would not this, in other words, be the separation of the intellect from the heart?”
(Hawthorne, The American Notebooks, 1844)
Discussion Topics for Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
Discussion questions
1. The function of “The Custom-House: Introductory to ‘The Scarlet Letter’” and the first three chapters in the structure of the whole novel?
2. What crime/sin was Hester Prynne found committing? Who are involved in this crime/sin? How do people in the novel react to the crime /sin?
3. Describe the traits of early Puritans as is revealed in The Scarlet Letter? Which do you think desirable and which not?
Discussion Questions
4. How do Hester, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale each react to the crime / sin? What are the consequences of their reactions? Find the things and people associated with each of these characters and their indications about these characters.
5. Tell the story of the witch in the novel. Look for evidence revealing the townspeople’s concept of “witch” and “witchcraft”. Give a comment on what a witch is.
Discussion Questions
6. Ambiguity and ambivalence in the narrative voice
7. Describe the changes in the appearances of the priest Dimmesdale and Hester's husband Chillingworth during the process of their several encounters and analyze what these changes indicate and symbolize.
Structural significance of The Custom-House: integral to the novel?
links – source of the story; reason for Hawthorne’s interest in the Puritan period; some aspects of the narrator’s character, his emotional responses to people and his situation
Chapter 1: sets the mood for the tale
Chapter 2 & 3:
introduce major characters, settings, the event that will push the plot onward.
Hester Prynne’s crime / sin
AdulteryPeople involved: Prynne, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, Pearl, and townspeopleReactions
Hester Prynne’s Reaction
Openly acknowledges her sinPublicly accepts her punishment
- wearing the scarlet letter A which is elaborately embroidered by herself
- humbly accepting all people’s derision and belittlement without feeling wronged; instead, keeping helping the poor and the diseased
Effect of Hester Prynne’s Reaction
Wins respect from the community and changing the meaning of the letter “A” on her bosomBe at peace with herself and with other peopleGrows stronger in mindSees more clearly and thinks more critically about the people about her and the sins hidden in these people
Things and people associated with Hester Prynne
A blossoming wild rose-bush (p. 48);
the sainted Ann Hutchinson (p. 48, 165)/ Prophetess (p.165)
The scarlet letter “A” elaborately embroidered on the bosom of her gown
Black hair and eyes
A spell taking her out of ordinary human beings and inclosing her in a sphere by herself (p. 54)
The image of Divine Maternity (Virgin Mary) (p. 56): perfect elegance, natural dignity of the feminine gentility (p. 53), serene beauty (p.55)
Needle / embroidery / art
Arthur Dimmesdale’s Reaction & Its Effects
Reaction: Hiding his sinEffects:
- suffers from increasing torment of conscience (his own hypocrisy)
- grows weaker both physically and psychologically
- dies from the mental torture
Things and people associated with Arthur Dimmesdale
Eloquence & fervor / speech of an angelNervous sensibility: tremulous mouth, melancholy brown eyes, apprehensive, startled and half-frightened look, emaciated form, gloom and terror, painWhite: white brow, pale cheekShadowy by-path the meteoric sign of the letter “A”Hand over his heart
Chillingworth’s Reaction and Its Effects• Reaction: - Revengeful - Hideously torments a human heart
Effects: - changes into a cold-hearted devillike
man - loses humanity and motive to live after
the object of his revenge dies.
Things and people associated with Roger Chillingworth
Dim eyes (p.58)Deformity: Misshapen shoulders (p.58…)Snake / horror / terror (p.61, 76)Blackness / darkness / duskSombre, lonely, chill (p.74…)Glare of red light / fire / flameherbDevil (p.170) / Black Man in the forest (p.77)
Ambiguity & ambivalenceAmbiguity
- Scarlet letter “A” - Pearl - Forest
Narrator’s ambivalent attitude towards: - Is adultery wrong or pardonable? - Is Hester being praised or condemned?
Theme of the Novel1. New England Puritan moral life2. a love story3. necessity of being true / criticism of
hypocrisy4. a critique of New England Puritans’
intolerance5. effect of sin on people6. conflict between society and
individual
Conflict between society and individuals
The novel represents the conflict between individuals and society by the example of the minister Dimmesdale (pp. 132-33; p. 259).
- Society needs a pious minister.
- The minister is eager to be true.
Narrative methodTelling vs. showingNarrative mode: omniscient narration with frequent author intrusionsOptional readings
The scarlet letter in the sky? A scarlet letter on Dimmesdale’s
bosom?
Assignments for Huck Finn
1. Is the book a production of racism or against racism? Comment on the character of Jim and Mark Twain’s portrayal of “niggers”.
2. Comment on the images of women in the novel.
3. Is Huck and Jim’s images in the ending (about the last 11 chapters, from chapt 33 on) consistent with those in the previous chapters? Is the ending a success, failure or disappointment?
Assignments for Huck Finn4. What are the major symbols in the novel? 5. Use examples to illustrate the effect of
using vernacular language to describe characters.
6. What’s the effect of using Huck as the 1st-person narrator?
Gerald Graff & James Phelan, eds, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. A case study in critical controversy (Boston: Bedford / St. Martin’s, 1995).