The Scarlet Letter

By Nathaniel Hawthorne

An Introduction

The Scarlet Letter Overview• Why is this book so challenging?

• Understanding Hester’s punishment for something that is “common” now

• Grasping the concepts of sin and morality

Nathaniel Hawthorne• 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.

More on Hawthorne

• 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• His great-great-great-great grandfather,

John Hathorne, was judge at Salem witch trials

Why do we read The Scarlet Letter?

• It is a classic piece of American literature, the first “truly American novel”

• You hear about it today in movies or on TV• The themes are timeless - people are still concerned

with justice, forgiveness, revenge, hypocrisy, and love• The novel shows life in a Puritan society• Sensational Elements: the mysterious stranger, the wild,

illegitimate child, the mother who refuses to name the father, a betrayed husband, a well-respected man who hides a dark secret, hints of witchcraft, mental and physical torture, and redemption

Setting

• The novel is set in the mid 1600s in Boston, Massachusetts.

• The plot takes place over 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.

• The main characters live in Puritan New England.

Who Were the Puritans?

• Puritans were the English Protestants (non Catholics) who in the 16th and 17th centuries believed in strict religious discipline along with simplification of the ceremonies and creeds of the Church of England. They believed in freedom of religion and getting away from the money and corruption of the English church. They escaped to Holland and then to New England. They were the bulk of the early population of New England.

What Did Puritans Believe?

• Cleanse themselves through grace (no envy, lust, etc., just love for God)

• Plainness = Good (worship in plain, wooden buildings - not stained glass cathedrals)

• Divine Mission (new world was appointed by God, “city on a hill”) to be an example of good

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Writing Style

Diction - word choice is different from today

• Difficulties:– Vocabulary– Length/Complexity of sentence– Arrangement of words– Length of paragraphs

Main Characters

• Hester Prynne- wearer of the scarlet letter• Pearl- child of Hester; living symbol of

Hester’s sin• Roger Chillingworth- learned scholar;

doctor• Arthur Dimmesdale- admired young

minister• Governor Bellingham- governor and

magistrate of Massachusetts Bay Colony• Rev. John Wilson- senior minister of colony• Mistress Hibbins- Gov. Bellingham’s sister

Major Themes• Sin makes the sinner be lonely and alone

• Sin teaches the sinner with pain

• Puritan society is mainly hypocritical: they say one thing but do another

• Guilt can destroy

• Sin hurts innocents

Point of View

•Third-Person Omniscient…Hawthorne reveals the inner and outer workings of the characters and provides social criticism, history, and psychology.

Major Symbol

The scarlet letter itself is the central symbol. It changes meaning for the characters in the novel as Hester’s character changes. The A becomes a pathway to redemption for some characters as well. Watch the many ways Hawthorne uses the scarlet A as a symbol…

Quick Facts

• Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne• Written: late 1840’s in Salem and Concord,

Massachusetts• Setting: mid 1600’s in Boston, Massachusetts• Type of work: novel• Tone: thoughtful, bitter, straightforward, ironic• Protagonist: Hester Prynne• Antagonist: the community