American Romanticism (1820-1865)

Early romanticismNew England transcendentalismHigh romanticism

RomanticismValues

- passion, emotion, natural beauty - imagination, mysticism, liberalism

(freedom to express personal feelings)Describes

- personal human experiences - often social nonconformists or

outcasts

The Scarlet Letter (1850)

Time and Place of the Story

Boston1642-1649

Chapters 1-3 Market-Place. A June morning, 1642.

Chapter 4 Prison. Afternoon of the same day. Chapters 7-8 Home of Governor Bellingham.

Late summer, 1645. Chapter 12 Market-Place. Saturday night, early

May, 1649 (Governor Winthrop’s death). Chapters 14-15 Sea coast. Several days later. Chapters 16-19 Forest. Several days later. Chapters 21-23 Market-Place. Three days later.

New England Puritan’s intolerance

Hostile to witchcraft - Ann Hibbins hanged as a witch in 1656. - witchcraft trial in Salem in 1692

Hostile to other Protestant sectarians like Antinomians and Quakers

- Ann Hutchinson (1591-1643) was banished from Massachusetts in 1638 for unlawful preaching.

- counter force: religious freedom in Rhode Island

Antinomians / Quakers vs. Puritans

Antinomians / Quakers - the individual’s inner light.Puritans - no individual could hear the voice of God speaking directly to their soul.

Settlement at Boston

Established in 1630Main colony of MassachusettsEarly center of American PuritanismTheocratic-minded statesmen and ministersThe Newsletter (1704) - the 1st newspaperHarvard University founded at nearby Cambridge in 1636Commercial center

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)’s family

Salem, Massachusettes – New England Puritans Hathornes

- William: prosecutor of Quakers - John (William’s son): prosecutor of

witches - grandfather: revolutionary war hero - father: sea captain

Mother - Elizabeth Manning Hathorne

Hawthorne’s enemies

IntoleranceHypocrisy that hides the common sinGreed that refuses to share joyIncapacity for human sympathy

The Unpardonable Sin“The Unpardonable Sin might consist in a want of love and reverence for the Human Soul; in consequence of which, the investigator pried into its dark depths, not with a hope or purpose of making it better, but from a cold philosophical curiosity, - content that it should be wicked in whatever kind or degree, and only desiring to study it out. Would not this, in other words, be the separation of the intellect from the heart?”

(Hawthorne, The American Notebooks, 1844)

Discussion Topics for Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

Discussion questions

1. The function of “The Custom-House: Introductory to ‘The Scarlet Letter’” and the first three chapters in the structure of the whole novel?

2. What crime/sin was Hester Prynne found committing? Who are involved in this crime/sin? How do people in the novel react to the crime /sin?

3. Describe the traits of early Puritans as is revealed in The Scarlet Letter? Which do you think desirable and which not?

Discussion Questions

4. How do Hester, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale each react to the crime / sin? What are the consequences of their reactions? Find the things and people associated with each of these characters and their indications about these characters.

5. Tell the story of the witch in the novel. Look for evidence revealing the townspeople’s concept of “witch” and “witchcraft”. Give a comment on what a witch is.

Discussion Questions

6. Ambiguity and ambivalence in the narrative voice

7. Describe the changes in the appearances of the priest Dimmesdale and Hester's husband Chillingworth during the process of their several encounters and analyze what these changes indicate and symbolize.

Structural significance of The Custom-House: integral to the novel?

links – source of the story; reason for Hawthorne’s interest in the Puritan period; some aspects of the narrator’s character, his emotional responses to people and his situation

Chapter 1: sets the mood for the tale

Chapter 2 & 3:

introduce major characters, settings, the event that will push the plot onward.

Hester Prynne’s crime / sin

AdulteryPeople involved: Prynne, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, Pearl, and townspeopleReactions

Hester Prynne’s Reaction

Openly acknowledges her sinPublicly accepts her punishment

- wearing the scarlet letter A which is elaborately embroidered by herself

- humbly accepting all people’s derision and belittlement without feeling wronged; instead, keeping helping the poor and the diseased

Effect of Hester Prynne’s Reaction

Wins respect from the community and changing the meaning of the letter “A” on her bosomBe at peace with herself and with other peopleGrows stronger in mindSees more clearly and thinks more critically about the people about her and the sins hidden in these people

Things and people associated with Hester Prynne

A blossoming wild rose-bush (p. 48);

the sainted Ann Hutchinson (p. 48, 165)/ Prophetess (p.165)

The scarlet letter “A” elaborately embroidered on the bosom of her gown

Black hair and eyes

A spell taking her out of ordinary human beings and inclosing her in a sphere by herself (p. 54)

The image of Divine Maternity (Virgin Mary) (p. 56): perfect elegance, natural dignity of the feminine gentility (p. 53), serene beauty (p.55)

Needle / embroidery / art

Arthur Dimmesdale’s Reaction & Its Effects

Reaction: Hiding his sinEffects:

- suffers from increasing torment of conscience (his own hypocrisy)

- grows weaker both physically and psychologically

- dies from the mental torture

Things and people associated with Arthur Dimmesdale

Eloquence & fervor / speech of an angelNervous sensibility: tremulous mouth, melancholy brown eyes, apprehensive, startled and half-frightened look, emaciated form, gloom and terror, painWhite: white brow, pale cheekShadowy by-path the meteoric sign of the letter “A”Hand over his heart

Chillingworth’s Reaction and Its Effects• Reaction: - Revengeful - Hideously torments a human heart

Effects: - changes into a cold-hearted devillike

man - loses humanity and motive to live after

the object of his revenge dies.

Things and people associated with Roger Chillingworth

Dim eyes (p.58)Deformity: Misshapen shoulders (p.58…)Snake / horror / terror (p.61, 76)Blackness / darkness / duskSombre, lonely, chill (p.74…)Glare of red light / fire / flameherbDevil (p.170) / Black Man in the forest (p.77)

Ambiguity & ambivalenceAmbiguity

- Scarlet letter “A” - Pearl - Forest

Narrator’s ambivalent attitude towards: - Is adultery wrong or pardonable? - Is Hester being praised or condemned?

Theme of the Novel1. New England Puritan moral life2. a love story3. necessity of being true / criticism of

hypocrisy4. a critique of New England Puritans’

intolerance5. effect of sin on people6. conflict between society and

individual

Conflict between society and individuals

The novel represents the conflict between individuals and society by the example of the minister Dimmesdale (pp. 132-33; p. 259).

- Society needs a pious minister.

- The minister is eager to be true.

Narrative methodTelling vs. showingNarrative mode: omniscient narration with frequent author intrusionsOptional readings

The scarlet letter in the sky? A scarlet letter on Dimmesdale’s

bosom?

Assignments for Huck Finn

1. Is the book a production of racism or against racism? Comment on the character of Jim and Mark Twain’s portrayal of “niggers”.

2. Comment on the images of women in the novel.

3. Is Huck and Jim’s images in the ending (about the last 11 chapters, from chapt 33 on) consistent with those in the previous chapters? Is the ending a success, failure or disappointment?

Assignments for Huck Finn4. What are the major symbols in the novel? 5. Use examples to illustrate the effect of

using vernacular language to describe characters.

6. What’s the effect of using Huck as the 1st-person narrator?

Gerald Graff & James Phelan, eds, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. A case study in critical controversy (Boston: Bedford / St. Martin’s, 1995).