The Scarlet Letter

By Nathaniel Hawthorne

• “I believe that The Scarlet Letter, like all great novels, enriches our sense of human experience and complicates and humanizes our approach to it.”

from Solitude, Love, and Anguish: The Tragic Design of the Scarlet Letter by Seymour L. Gross

Historical Context• Boston Colony founded 1630• John Winthrop (leader)• Puritans wanted to “purify” the

Church of England of all traces of Catholicism in liturgy, theology, and church organization

• Recognized the Bible as the sole source of religious authority

• Maintained a theocracy• Believed in predestination or

Doctrine of the Elect • Inflicted public punishments to

deter others from straying from righteousness (hanging, whipping, humiliation, etc,)

Nathaniel Hawthorne• Hawthorne once

said: “I do not want to be a doctor and live by man’s diseases, nor a minister to live by their sins, nor a lawyer and live by their quarrels. So, I don’t see that there is anything left for me but to be an author.”

About the Author• 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.

• 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• Great-great-great-great

grandfather, John Hathorne, was judge at Salem witch trials

The Custom House• Hawthorne claims

to have gotten the idea for this novel from the papers of Jonathan Pue. Among the papers, Hawthorne allegedly found an embroidered scarlet A and information on Hester Prynne.

The Custom House

• Describes the interior/exterior of the Custom House

• Describes Hawthorne’s feelings about his native town of Salem

• Makes critical comments about the Whig party/ reveals Hawthorne’s involvement as a Democrat

• Describes his early attempts to write Hester’s story.

Sources for the novel• Historical figures:

gov. bellingham, john wilson, john winthrop

• Annals of salem may 5, 1694 entry

• Records and files of …essex county, mass.

The author’s inspiration• “…to enact laws

against prevailing iniquities. Among such laws …were two against adultery…those guilty of the first crime were to sit an hour on the gallows, with ropes about their necks…and forever wear a capital a …”

• “hester craford, for fornication with john wedg, as she confessed, was ordered to be severely whipped and that security be given to save the town from the charge of keeping the child.”

Plot/Setting• The novel is set in the mid 1600s in

Boston, Massachusetts.• The plot encompasses 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.

Plot of the novel• Love triangle• Husband, wife, lover• Novel begins long

after the adulterous act

• Focus is on the effects of the sin on the characters

Point of View•Third-Person Omniscient…

Hawthorne reveals the inner and outer workings of the characters and provides social criticism, history, and psychology.

Irony in the novel• Situational irony—• the husband who has

been “wronged” does not elicit the reader’s sympathy

• The physician who should “heal” only destroys

• The minister who offers spiritual guidance to others cannot guide himself

• Dramatic irony—• Hester and her lover’s

“knowing” looks in public

• Hester’s knowledge of who the strange physician really is

• Pearl’s intuitive sense regarding the minister and physician

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 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…

Symbolism

• The scarlet “a”• The scaffold• Weeds• The rose bush• The brook• The forest• Sunlight and

shadow

Motifs of the scarlet letter• Sin and its effect on

the individual• Isolation—physical

and emotional• Sin brings insight or

special knowledge• Struggle between

individual and community

• Yearning for freedom

Humiliation is a powerful weapon against crime

• Today’s judges often issue “scarlet letter” penances for those convicted of crimes like drunken driving, theft, prostitution, and juvenile delinquency

• Actual news stories appear almost daily:

• FRUSTRATED MAGISTRATESUSE OLD-FASHIONED"SHAME" SENTENCING MINOR CRIMINALS

• By Kate Shatzkin BALTIMORE SUN

• A drunken driver is ordered to carry in his wallet pictures of the people he killed. A wife-beater must apologize to his victim from the courthouse steps, with cameras rolling. A shoplifter is forced to pace outside the market from which she pilfered, wearing a huge sign that brands her a convicted thief. It is justice by sandwich board, tearful apology and posted placard, the modern versions of the stocks and scarlet letters of colonial times.

Enjoy a piece of literary history!

• Read thoughtfully and focused. You can keep the questions for each chapter in mind as you read in order to comprehend better.

• Avoid “crutches” like Spark Notes, etc. You need practice with difficult passages to practice for the EOY and AP exams.