Scarlet Letter Review
Name:
Professor: Bernhard Radloff
Subject: ENG 2450 B
Date: December 4, 2012
Scarlet Letter Review
Introduction
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter remains one of the best examples of Puritan literature, a novel, which points to the inadequacy of the Puritan beliefs and the moral duality of the Puritan culture. This paper reviews the author’s novel from a new, conformity vs. individuality angle. The context in which the novel was created is discussed. Hester’s silent challenge against conformity is evaluated. The goal of this paper is to understand what message the writer’s novel sends to readers. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter remains one of the brightest reflections of the conformity vs. identity conflict in the Puritan society. Written by a person of the highest moral order, the novel reveals the complexity of the Puritan ideals and beliefs and points to the moral inadequacy of the Puritan culture. The novel itself was created during one of the most difficult moments in the littérateur’s life – his fight against the prejudiced conventions of the Puritan society added rigor and pain to the moral and physical tortures of his characters. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne’s characters constantly fight to maintain a balance of uniqueness and conformity. The appearance versus purity contradiction accompanies the protagonists in their way to self-actualization and happiness. Hawthorne’s novel is profoundly philosophical and exposes the deficiencies of the Puritan world. In this literary work, Nathaniel sends the final message of duality in the Puritan culture, in which society tries to achieve the ultimate point of conformity, and individuals use silence and physical tortures to construct and reproduce their identity in the repressive realities of life.
Hester Prynne: Silence as a Passive Revolt against Conformity The duality of the Puritan society and an ongoing fight between conformity and individuality are the main threads of Hawthorne’s
Professor: Bernhard Radloff
Subject: ENG 2450 B
Date: December 4, 2012
Scarlet Letter Review
Introduction
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter remains one of the best examples of Puritan literature, a novel, which points to the inadequacy of the Puritan beliefs and the moral duality of the Puritan culture. This paper reviews the author’s novel from a new, conformity vs. individuality angle. The context in which the novel was created is discussed. Hester’s silent challenge against conformity is evaluated. The goal of this paper is to understand what message the writer’s novel sends to readers. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter remains one of the brightest reflections of the conformity vs. identity conflict in the Puritan society. Written by a person of the highest moral order, the novel reveals the complexity of the Puritan ideals and beliefs and points to the moral inadequacy of the Puritan culture. The novel itself was created during one of the most difficult moments in the littérateur’s life – his fight against the prejudiced conventions of the Puritan society added rigor and pain to the moral and physical tortures of his characters. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne’s characters constantly fight to maintain a balance of uniqueness and conformity. The appearance versus purity contradiction accompanies the protagonists in their way to self-actualization and happiness. Hawthorne’s novel is profoundly philosophical and exposes the deficiencies of the Puritan world. In this literary work, Nathaniel sends the final message of duality in the Puritan culture, in which society tries to achieve the ultimate point of conformity, and individuals use silence and physical tortures to construct and reproduce their identity in the repressive realities of life.
Hester Prynne: Silence as a Passive Revolt against Conformity The duality of the Puritan society and an ongoing fight between conformity and individuality are the main threads of Hawthorne’s
Cited: Ghasemi, Parvin and Pyeaam, Abbasi. "A Thematic Analysis of Hawthorne 's The Scarlet Letter." k@ta [Online], 11.1 (2009): 1-17. Web. 4 Dec. 2012 Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings: Authoritative Texts, Contexts, Criticism. Ed. Person, Leland S. 4th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc., 2005. Available at http://books.wwnorton.com/books/978-0-393-97953-4/