About the Author:
The
Scarlet Letter was written by American author, Nathaniel Hawthorne. He was born in 1804 in the city of Salem,
Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne, Sr., and the former Elizabeth Clarke
Manning. He was a descendant of a long line of Puritan ancestors.
The Time Period:
The
story of the Scarlet letter is set in 17th-century Puritan Boston during the
years1642 to 1649. The Puritans had settled in New England to practice their
religious beliefs after leaving the Old World, where they had been persecuted.
The Puritans were a legalistic sect of Protestant Christians influenced by
Calvinism. Their beliefs emphasized God’s omnipotence and the concept of election,
the idea that salvation is predestined. Religious behavior was seen as both a
result of salvation and evidence of it. Thus, Puritan communities were centered
on the idea of purity in thought and deed, and sins were rooted out and
punished harshly.
Major Themes:
1) Sin
2) Isolation
3) Women
and Femininity
4) Fate
and Free Will
5) Memories
vs. the Present
The
Scarlet Letter is about Hester Prynes, who after going to prison, is given a
Scarlet Letter “A”
for adultery. Her husband sent her to america while he went off to
Europe. Throughout the story she refuses to reveal who her child’s father is.
This is a novel about a women and her sin, who at the same time is her
daughter.
Hester
Prynne is the main character in this book, who has been given a Scarlet Letter
for committing adultery. She has also had an affair behind her husbands back,
had a child, and refuses to tell who the lover is. Arthur Dimmesdale is the
town minister who helps Hester when the authorities come to take her child
away, he uses his power to stop them.
There
are a few conflicts going on here in this novel. The first and most noticable
one is Hester and society since she has a scarlet letter and will not reveal
the lover. Another is Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, who wants revenge on
Hester for her adultery.
The
moral of this story is about sin. It follows the Christian bible in a way that
almost exactly represents Adam and Eve’s story.
No comments:
Post a Comment