Scarlet Letter And The House Of The Seven Gables

Many readers have been challenged in understanding the meaning of Puritanism in the books The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. A close examination of The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables will reveal how Puritanism plays a role in these books. Many essays have been written explaining “Hawthorne’s Style” of writing towards Puritanism. An examination of Hawthorne’s setting, limited characterization, and tone will reveal how Puritanism plays a role in these novels.
First, Hawthorne uses setting in The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables to explain how these novels use Puritanism. In The House of the Seven Gables Hawthorne uses Puritanism by explaining the history of the Pyncheon family of New England dating back two hundred years before the book actually begins. “In The Scarlet Letter it starts off in colonial Boston, among the first generation of Puritan settlers, those who emigrated from
“Symbolism means that each of his characters represents an aspect of life or of society” (Diorio 63). In The Scarlet Letter limited characterization is also used by Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter shows characterization through Puritanism. “Since the Puritans revere authority, their authorities really are their representatives; and this is why the only developed Puritan characters in The Scarlet Letter are the rulers of church and state. The others are anonymous; the Puritan people as a whole are simply a crowd that Hawthorne calls on occasionally for general effect” (“Who?” 54). Hester Prynne is the main character in The Scarlet Letter “Most of what the readers know about Hester, however, comes from the picture Hawthorne paints of her life after adultery” (Diorio 51). As you can see these two novels use mostly Puritanism and some Symbolism to give descriptions of the