Scarlet Letter
Kristin Moseley
Professor Hooks
English 101
20 July 2009
The Scarlet Letter: Literary Criticism Published in 1850, The Scarlet Letter is considered Nathaniel Hawthorne 's most famous work, and the first quintessentially American novel in style, theme, and language. Set in seventeenth-century Puritan Massachusetts, the novel centers around the travails of Hester Prynne, who gives birth to daughter Pearl after an adulterous affair. Hawthorne 's novel concerns the consequences of the affair, rather than the affair itself. Hawthorn uses Hester 's public shaming as a springboard to explore the lingering taboos of Puritan New England during his time; furthermore, the novel raises issues that are just as controversial today as they were then. Nathaniel Hawthorne, a critically acclaimed American writer of the nineteenth century, was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804. The novelist 's book, The Scarlet Letter, is said to be his most commendable work, and universally considered a literary classic, pertaining to sin and its inherent consequences. Some speculate Hawthorne 's work related to his own personal sense of shame regarding his ancestors’ persecuting roles in the seventeenth century Salem Witch Trials, and his views pertaining to a woman’s role in society (Baym 49-70; Answers Corp., “Duyckinck”). By indirectly dealing with his sense of guilt through fictional circumstances, he shows his viewpoint as being highly critical of the Puritans, while teaching a strong moral lesson in the process. Graduating in the middle of his class from Bowdoin College in 1825, he went on to write a variety of novels, short stories, and articles. Generally, his writing contained powerful symbolic and psychological aspects of, "the effects of pride, guilt, sin, and secrecy" (Encarta Encyclopedia). In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne brought to life Hester Prynne, a beautiful, yet headstrong, Puritan woman married to an elderly husband for which she held no love, and
Professor Hooks
English 101
20 July 2009
The Scarlet Letter: Literary Criticism Published in 1850, The Scarlet Letter is considered Nathaniel Hawthorne 's most famous work, and the first quintessentially American novel in style, theme, and language. Set in seventeenth-century Puritan Massachusetts, the novel centers around the travails of Hester Prynne, who gives birth to daughter Pearl after an adulterous affair. Hawthorne 's novel concerns the consequences of the affair, rather than the affair itself. Hawthorn uses Hester 's public shaming as a springboard to explore the lingering taboos of Puritan New England during his time; furthermore, the novel raises issues that are just as controversial today as they were then. Nathaniel Hawthorne, a critically acclaimed American writer of the nineteenth century, was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804. The novelist 's book, The Scarlet Letter, is said to be his most commendable work, and universally considered a literary classic, pertaining to sin and its inherent consequences. Some speculate Hawthorne 's work related to his own personal sense of shame regarding his ancestors’ persecuting roles in the seventeenth century Salem Witch Trials, and his views pertaining to a woman’s role in society (Baym 49-70; Answers Corp., “Duyckinck”). By indirectly dealing with his sense of guilt through fictional circumstances, he shows his viewpoint as being highly critical of the Puritans, while teaching a strong moral lesson in the process. Graduating in the middle of his class from Bowdoin College in 1825, he went on to write a variety of novels, short stories, and articles. Generally, his writing contained powerful symbolic and psychological aspects of, "the effects of pride, guilt, sin, and secrecy" (Encarta Encyclopedia). In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne brought to life Hester Prynne, a beautiful, yet headstrong, Puritan woman married to an elderly husband for which she held no love, and
Cited: Baym, Nina. "Plot in Hawthorne 's Romances," Ruined Eden of the Present, edited by G. R. Thompson and Virgil L. Lokke, Purdue University Press, 1981, pp. 49-70. Duyckinck, Evert. "The Scarlet Letter (Critical Overview)." Notes on Novels. Answers Corporation, 2006. Answers.com 26 Jul. 2009. Ellis, Barbara. “Some observations about Hawthorne 's women”. WILLA 2 (1993): 13-18 Male, Roy R. Hawthorne 's Tragic Vision 4-5. New York: Norton & Co. Inc.,1957. "Nathaniel Hawthorne". Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2009. Encarta Encyclopedia. Ushistory.org. “Puritan Life”. US History Online Textbook. 2009. 20 July 2009. Van Kirk, Susan. CliffsNotes on the Scarlet Letter. Cliffsnotes. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2009.18 Jul 2009. Woodberry, George E. “The Scarlet Letter and Rappaccini’s Daughter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne". The Harvard classics shelf of fiction 10.1. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1917. Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Bartleby.com, Inc., 2000. Bartleby.com September 2000.