by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne: Hawthorne once
said: “I do not want to be a doctor and live by man’s diseases, nor a minister to live by their sins, nor a lawyer and live by their quarrels. So, I don’t see that there is anything left for me but to be an author.”
About the Author: Born July 4, 1804 in
Salem, Mass. Reclusive at times Served as a
magazine editor Worked in the Salem
Custom House Lived at Brook Farm Wrote Twice-Told
Tales, The House of Seven Gables, The Scarlet Letter, etc.
Married Sophia Peabody and fathered Una (who became the model for Pearl)
Served as the United States Consul to Liverpool
Died in 1864 Buried in Concord,
Massachusetts Great-great-great-great
grandfather, John Hathorne, was judge at Salem witch trials
Historical Context: Boston Colony founded 1630 John Winthrop (leader) Puritans wanted to “purify” the
Church of England of all traces of Catholicism in liturgy, theology, and church organization
Recognized the Bible as the sole source of religious authority
Maintained a theocracy Believed in predestination or
Doctrine of the Elect Inflicted public punishments to
deter others from straying from righteousness (hanging, whipping, humiliation, etc.)
The Custom House:
Hawthorne claims to have gotten the idea for this novel from the papers of Jonathan Pue.
Among the papers, Hawthorne allegedly found an embroidered scarlet “A” and information on Hester Prynne.
Nathaniel Hawthorne author
Unnamed Narrator(from Hawthorne’s time)
Narrator finds manuscript in Customs House written by Jonathan Pue from 100 years before narrator works there.
Pue’s manuscript tells the story of Hester Prynne of 100 years before Pue’s time.
Created by Mrs. W. Warren
Frame Story:
Describes the interior/exterior of the Custom House
Describes Hawthorne’s feelings about his native town of Salem
Makes critical comments about the Whig party/ reveals Hawthorne’s involvement as a Democrat
Describes his early attempts to write Hester’s story.
The Custom House:
Defining “Scarlet:”Function: adjective1 of the color scarlet2 a : grossly and glaringly offensive <sinning in flagrant
and scarlet fashion -- characterized by, or associated with sexual immorality <a scarlet woman>
Function: nounMiddle English scarlat, scarlet, from Anglo-French escarlet,
from Medieval Latin scarlata, from Persian saqalAt, a kind of rich cloth
1 : scarlet cloth or clothes2 : any of various bright redsMain Entry: scarlet letter
Function: noun: a scarlet A worn as a punitive mark of adultery
Defining “Puritan:” Main Entry: 1pu·ri·tan Function: nounEtymology: probably from Late Latin puritas purity1 capitalized : a member of a 16th and 17th century Protestant group in England and New England opposing as unscriptural the ceremonial worship and the prelacy of the Church of England2 one who practices or preaches a more rigorous or professedly purer moral code than that which prevailsSee Endicott and the Red Cross Chapter at the end of the book.
The novel is set in the mid 1600s in Boston, Massachusetts.
The plot encompasses a seven year period.
The plot involves the love triangle of wife-lover-husband.
The major theme of the novel is developed in the context of good vs. evil.
Plot/Setting:
Third-Person Omniscient… Hawthorne reveals the inner and outer workings of the characters and provides social criticism, history, and psychology.
Point of View:
1)It is a cultural allegory and structurally compact.
Writing Characteristics:
twenty-four chapters
scaffold scenesin the beginning, the middle, and the end
are knitted together
All the four major characters are at the scene.
2)Hawthorne's ambiguity—
Writing Characteristics:
People offer different views concerning the sign of the letter “A” on the dead minister's chest. The author doesn't give his views. So, people come up with different interpretations.
3)It is a kind of romance:Two lovers come together,
finally united in death. 4)Hawthorne's use of the
supernatural: The appearance of the symbol
“A” in the sky is: in twilight atmosphere, all things, natural or
otherwise, may become probable.
Writing Characteristics:
the scarlet letter “A”
the central symbol
Adultery Able Angel
a token of shame “A” appears in the sky
5) His use of symbols—Writing Characteristics:
Characters:
The main characters
Hester Prynne
Arthur Dimmesdale
Roger Chillingworth
Pearl
Hester Prynne
Arthur Dimmesdale
Roger Chillingworth
daughter
lover husb
and
Pearl
The protagonist of the novel who is an English woman and the wife of Roger Chillingworth.
She is tried and condemned for her sin of adultery with Dimmesdale and charged to wear the scarlet letter, "A", an indication of adultery, on the bosom of her gown forever.
Even though she has a daughter out of wedlock, she refuses to reveal who the father is.
As a young woman, her youthful beauty, luxuriant hair, and excellent features are diminished by her self-effacing puritanical way of dressing.
As an older lady, she returns to Boston where she is finally accepted for her kindness and service.
Hester Prynne:
Hester
Passionate — has a love affair with Dimmesdaleattractive, appealing, intelligent, capable
strong and stoic —she endures years of shame and scorn
contemplative— speculates on human nature, social organization, and larger moral questions. maternal—moderates her tendency to be rash; cares for the poor and brings them food and clothinga protofeminist
mother figure to the women of the community
Major characters in The Scarlet Letter
Major characters in The Scarlet Letter
Hester
Passionate—has a love affair with Dimmesdale
Attractive, appealing, intelligent, capable
Strong and stoic—she endures years of shame and scornContemplative—speculates on human nature, social organization, and larger moral questions. Maternal—moderates her tendency to be rash; cares for the poor and brings them food and clothing—a protofeminist
mother figure to the women of the community
A“her passport into regions where other women dared not tread”
Why does Hester repeatedly refuse to stop wearing the letter?
her behavior
She desires to determine her own identity rather than to allow others to determine it for her
She is determined to transform its meaning through her actions and her own self-perception
She is unwilling to erase her past deed and her past decisions
She is not the example of sin that she was once intended to be. Rather, she is an example of redemption and self-empowerment.
The young, handsome, and unmarried pastor of Hester's church.
Apart from committing adultery with Hester, he is guilty of hiding his sin.
His intense suffering and remorse, however, are reflected in his rundown physical appearance.
He emerges as the tragic figure of the novel around whom revolves the plot's suspense and on whom the reader's attention is centered. Thus, he is also considered a protagonist, like Hester.
Arthur Dimmesdale:
1.That Hester takes all of the blame for their shared sin goads his conscience, and is the cause of his resultant mental anguish.
2.The townspeople do not believe Dimmesdale’s protestations of sinfulness. This drives Dimmesdale to further internalize his guilt and self-punishment and leads to still more deterioration in his physical and spiritual condition.
What makes Dimmesdale’s mental anguish?
A scholarly physician who has sent his wife ahead of him to America.
He fails to join her quickly, for he is captured by Indians from whom he gathers a knowledge of herbal medicine.
He is an old, evil, vicious, ugly, and deformed man.
His diabolical vengeance on Dimmesdale, while pretending to treat him, makes him the personification of evil.
Roger Chillingworth:
His name a man deficient in human warmth
His appearance twisted, stooped, deformed shoulders his distorted soul
His identity of a “leech” he feeds on the vitality of others as a way of energizing his own projects.
He is interested in revenge after Dimmesdale dies, Chillingworth no longer has a victim. Having lost the objects of his revenge, the leech has no choice but to die.
Chillingworthtrue evil
The beautiful daughter of Hester and Dimmesdale.
She is the living symbol of the scarlet letter and has peculiar traits that make her sometimes appear as a demon.
Her love for nature and freedom, her vivacious spirit, her alienation, her rebelliousness, her inquisitiveness, and her innocent but symbolic comments reveal her distinct personality.
She is, however, a product of the difficult situation into which she is born.
Pearl:
Themes are universal ideas that an author wants to express through his/her writings.
A theme is not the “topic”, but rather an idea about the topic that an author wants to put forth. EXAMPLE: The topic of a love story is, of course, love. The theme, however, may be that real love goes beyond outer beauty and focuses on the person within.
Themes:
Forgiveness and RevengeGuilt and InnocenceTruth and LiesHypocrisy
Some Themes in The Scarlet Letter:
Chillingworth seeks his revenge for Hester's adultery, but it poisons his soul and destroys any happiness he might have found.
His only vindication comes when he leaves his inheritance to little Pearl.
Forgiveness and Revenge:
Hester accepts her guilt and her punishment without complaint.
Arthur Dimmesdale hides his guilt, and it destroys him from within. He cannot bear what he has done, but has not the courage to face his sins.
Pearl is the innocent product of her parent's guilt and sin, but she is innocent and beautiful. She grows up to live a life of luxury.
Guilt and Innocence:
Arthur Dimmesdale cannot face his sin. He does not have the courage to face his punishment. He secretly carves the “A” into his chest in a vain attempt to punish himself. The real punishment is that which his own guilt and lies do to his soul. They destroy him from within.
Hester accepts her punishment. She does not hide from it, and she is , at the end, vindicated because no one remembers her sin.
Roger Chillingworth hides his true identity. In so doing, he becomes filled with bitterness, hatred, and evil. It is only when he leaves an inheritance to little Pearl that the reader feels any sympathy toward him.
Truth and Lies:
Because both Chillingworth and Dimmesdale live a lie, they suffer more than Hester, whose sin is known.
Be True:
The townspeople shun Hester and the children are forbidden to play with little Pearl. Yet they seek Hester's skills as a seamstress, and they secretly envy the beauty of the embellished "A" that adorns her clothing....adornment that they, as Puritans of plain and simple lifestyle are forbidden to wear.
Arthur Dimmesdale enjoys the prestige of being a well-respected minister, a man of God. Yet, he is the father of Hester's child, the sinful adulterer the townspeople want Hester to name.
Hypocrisy:
It is Hester’s pride that helps her survive .
It is Arthur Dimmesdale’s pride that leads to his destruction.
It is Roger Chillingworth’s pride that leads him to be a bitter, evil person obsessed with vindictiveness.
Pride:
Everybody is potentially a sinner, and great moral courage is indispensable for the improvement of human nature.
Hawthorne
The book is an examination of the forces that shape Hester and the transformations those forces effect; it is a hymn on the moral growth of the woman when sinned against.
• Focuses his attention on the moral, emotional, and psychological effects of the sin on the people
Hester Dimmesdale Chillingworthconfesses her
guilt, faces the future optimistically， helps othersis able to construct her life, wins a moral success,
hides his guilt firstUndergoes physical and spiritual torments
moral growth,
morally degrades others by his pursuit of revenge
die
Sinners:
angel
Symbolism: The Scarlet Letter is filled with symbolism. Symbolism is when one thing is used to represent something else.
EXAMPLE: A Skull and Crossbones is a symbol of poisonous substances or something dangerous.
Sunshine seldom shines on Hester, but often on Pearl. Sunshine represents goodness while the darkness represents evil and hidden sins.
The forest is a dark and forbidding place that the Puritans felt was full of evil. This is the place where Hester and Arthur meet years after Pearl is born, and it is only there that they can feel free enough to express their long repressed feelings for one another, for it is here that the rules of society cannot penetrate.
Darkness vs. Light:
“Mother,” said little Pearl, “the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. . . . It will not flee from me, for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!”
“Nor ever will, my child, I hope,” said Hester. “And why not, mother?” asked Pearl, stopping short. . . . “Will it not come of its own accord, when I am a woman grown?”
The Sunlight Does Not Shine on Hester—
It is only in the dark of night that Arthur Dimmesdale can allow himself to come out and "reveal" his sin as he does in the dark of night on the scaffold where Hester’s sin was revealed in the light of day.
Dimmesdale Hides in the Light:
Pearl:
Pearls are formed in oysters when a grain of sand slips inside and irritates the oyster. The oyster covers the irritant and it becomes a thing of rare beauty.
Just like a real pearl, Pearl in The Scarlet Letter is born of her mother's shame and suffering, but has become a precious, rare, and beautiful child.
The prison is a place of despair and doom, but the rose growing by the door represents the beauty and forgiveness of nature.
The Rosebush by the Prison Door:
The scaffold is a place of punishment. It is a place where Hester is sentenced
to stand for hours with little Pearl in her arms.
It is this same scaffold that Arthur Dimmesdale sneaks out to in the dark of night to punish himself as he should have been punished years earlier with Hester and Pearl.
The Scaffold:
The "A" represents adultery in the beginning of the book. It is Hester's punishment for committing sin. She wears it with stoic endurance and embellishes it with gold threads until it becomes a thing of beauty.
Later in the novel, the town has forgotten Hester's original sin. The "A" is thought to represent "able" or "angel.” When the meteor makes a phenomenal "A" in the night sky, the town is in awe of its wonder. They think it must be "Angel" .
We may also associate the letter with “Alone” or “Alienation.”
The Letter “A”:
◦ For Puritan society, it just means punishment.
◦ For Hester, it means unjust humiliation.◦ For Dimmesdale, it’s a reminder of his
own sin.◦ For Chillingworth, it’s a request for
revenge.◦ For Pearl, it’s nothing but a beautiful
cloth. It is a guide for Hester to go to
heaven, and Dimmesdale hell.
What does “A” mean to the chief characters respectively?
Irony of situation : When we expect one thing to happen, but the opposite happens instead.
Verbal Irony: When someone says one thing, but actually means the opposite.
Dramatic Irony: When the reader knows something that the characters in a story do not know.
Irony:
The reader knows that Arthur Dimmesdale is Pearl’s father. The townspeople do not know this.
The reader knows that Roger Chillingworth is Hester’s husband. The townspeople do not know this.
Dramatic Irony in The Scarlet Letter:
The symbol of Hester’s sin (the “A”) that could have destroyed Hester has made her stronger and envied by those who shunned her.
Situational Irony in The Scarlet Letter:
The "A" that Hester is forced to wear, and which she hates in the beginning, becomes a valued part of her identity. She even refuses to remove it when she no longer is required to wear it. She panics when the town considers allowing her to remove it.
Irony (cont.):
The sin that Arthur Dimmesdale hides because he is afraid it will destroy his reputation as the revered minister ends up destroying his very life.
Irony (cont.):
Pearl, who is shunned along with her mother, grows up to have all the luxuries that those who shunned her will never have.
Irony (cont.):
PowerPoint by Rebecca Jones English III- Accelerated American Literature Grade 11 Advanced American Lit. Mr. Mays
Works Cited:
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