...Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing was influenced through his upbringing in a Puritan town. Puritans are a group of believers that separated fro the church of England because they wanted to purify the church. (19) Puritanism comes from the church of England. (1)They go by the name Puritans. (1) Puritans are non-separating congregationalists with the Church of England. (1) They separated from the Church of England to “purify” the Church because they believed the church was corrupt. (2) There are three types of Puritanism, Quakers, Antinomians, and Baptists. (1) Baptists carry out the “essential idea of Puritanism”. (1)They believe that each individual has an indestructible God.(1) The Puritans have a certain set of beliefs that they follow strictly....
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...Nature has always been a source of astonishment and fear for mankind. The natural world is deeply rooted in the formation of all societies, religions, and cultures. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne explores the interaction between nature and man. The setting of the Hester Prynne’s tale is in an American Puritan town, in the middle of a forest. It is physically surrounded by nothing but nature, yet the Puritans renounce that part of their lives completely. The natural world serves to contrast the rigid and structured, yet often bizarre behavior of the Puritans. Although nature is often described in peculiar and frightening ways in The Scarlet Letter, the reader realizes that they can find many of its characteristics in themselves....
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...the dominating species throughout history and have expected women to repress their nature. For the most part, females kept their place in society and played their role but there were some who broke the norm. There have been serious consequences for females who have attempted to liberate themselves, especially when they attempt to do so sexually. Females have the ability to achieve their sexual liberation despite the patriarchal societies in which they live. Two females which have attempted to achieve sexual liberation are Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter and Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar named Desire. Both Hester Prynne and Blanche Dubois’s attempts to achieve sexual liberation were hindered by the patriarchal societies in which they lived in; making only one of them successful. The Scarlet Letter, written in 1850, takes place in the late 17th century in Massachusetts. At this time Massachusetts is a Puritan colony. A Puritan, according to Oxford Dictionaries, is a member of a group of English Protestants of the late 16th and 17th century who regarded the Reformation of the Church of England under Elizabeth as incomplete and sought to simplify and...
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...Similarities and Differences between Anne Hutchinson and Hester Prynne While many people may feel that Anne Hutchinson has nothing in common with Hester Pyrnne they actually more alike than most people would think. Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of “The Scarlet Letter,” used many references to Anne Hutchinson in his book. During his life, he wrote a sketch of Hutchinson thus portraying his interest towards her and the characteristics of her life. It could be accurate to say that Anne Hutchinson was used as a guide to make the character of Hester Prynne. Therefore, Hawthorne creates Hester’s character to resemble and to differ from Hutchinson. Hester Prynne and Anne Hutchinson show their similarities and differences through those who influenced them, their religious beliefs, leadership, and personalities. In the beginning of each of their lives Hutchinson and Pyrnne both started at a divergent road. Hester had an impulsive behavior. Her parents had to always keep an eye on her because she was oblivious and incautious. She married at smart man while she was young and tried to convince herself she was happy. Anne, on the hand, was forced into a life that made her strong and intelligent. Her father had been imprisoned for preaching against English ministers. Later, Anne was taught by her father of his religious views. She read many of his theology and religion books. This influenced her religious views and made her into the strong minded female. Both of these women show differences...
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...Side of Letters The Scarlet Letter was set in the 17th- century puritan Boston, Massachusetts during the years of 1642 to 1649. The people thought the church of England was to complex and wanted simpler truths and better structured forms of worship. They want to “purify” the church of England, they got the name of Puritans from that. The Scarlet letter starts off to let everyone know "all the characters are saved, and by this measure the novel is a comedy” ( Samuel Coale). The reason he is saying that is because through out the story they are not acting Christian like one bit. Dimmesale is the biggest hypocrite of them all, he will preach from the bible but does not live by it. Dimmesdale becomes the biggest sinner of them all when he declared himself from the scaffold after he finished his election sermon. “Dimmesdale is irreparably...
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...In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, it is considered by many timeless and universal, which makes his novel a work of classic literature. Determining what makes a classic taken from his novel Why Read the Classics? Italo Calvino defines: “A classic is a book which each rereading offers as much of a sense of discovery as the first reading.” Hester Prynne is first introduced with her infant daughter, Pearl, and she is being displayed by the onlookers of Boston as sinful because she has committed adultery. Later, it is revealed that Hester and the young minister Arthur Dimmesdale had an affair. Although Dimmesdale did not know that he befriended Hester’s once lost husband Roger Chillingworth, Dimmesdale is also punished for his sin. Themes...
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...different countries where their culture is the most important thing to them. They never forget it, its what keeps them close to who they are and where they come from. Culture is a way of life it sets the path to who you become and how you see the world. In some stories, it shows how their culture affect their decisions. “Battle Royal” by Ralph Ellison, talks about a time where blacks weren't treated equally. It was their tradition to be inferior and to do as they were instructed. In the short story, there is a young man who came to the gathering to say a speech he worked on, but before he could do so, he had to join in an event called Battle Royal. “I was told that since I was to be there anyways I might as well take part in the battle royal to be fought by some of my classmates as part of the entertainment.” (Ellison pg.231). Being as he was already there he either had to take part in the event or leave. At their time black people’s culture was to do as they were told because they wasn't good enough to be treated as one Another story that shows that culture makes decisions for you is “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. “The Scarlet Letter” tells a story of a puritan society where how they live and make the right choices came from the Bible. This story is about a woman named Hester Prynne, where she is accused for adultery and is forced to wear the letter “A” and her child would have to live with the guilt of her mother. Their culture punished those who went against...
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...The Scarlet Letter A: Write an analytical essay (900 - 1200 words) on the excerpt from Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter (1850). Part of your essay must focus on the narrative technique and the theme of Puritanism and slut shaming. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter”, a dark tale of shame and condemnation, centres on a small Puritan society of Boston during the 17th century. Set in Puritan New England, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, a Puritan woman who has a baby out of wedlock. Although written many years ago, Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” covers themes and ideas related to modern readers. The themes of slut-shaming and breaking society’s expectations are ones to which many young people can relate to today. Seen in this context, the novel can be approached as the story of a young woman who let her heart rule her head and suffered the consequences. In a dedicated Puritan town, a young married woman named Hester Prynne conceives a child. There is a glitch, however; her husband, a doctor, has been missing for a long time. The society magistrates imprison her for this sin and commands that she must wear a scarlet “A” on her dress as a sign for adultery, shame and sins. Additionally, she must stand on a scaffold, exposed to public humiliation. The reason why is she had an affair with the local minister, Reverend Dimmesdale. The fact that he is a reverend makes the case much worse and also shows hypocrisy in the community, since the minister...
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...A novel that I personally found insightful on its critique of cultural identity/social change was Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. The book takes place in a mid-1600s Puritan Massachusetts community, where a young woman named Hester becomes demonized after accusations of her adultery leak through to the public. As a result, the community embroiders a large letter A on her chest, which Hester has to live with for the remainder of her days while she and her daughter reside in an exiled part of the town. Through a simple plot, Hawthorne manages to tackle our society's cultural identity by highlighting our similarities with our Puritan roots. Like the Puritans, not only do we take to anointing those who are the epitome of the American...
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...ago, have written entire plays based upon the respectable and illicit relationships between men and women. Infidelity alone is talked about in over one-hundred and sixty six verses in the Bible while marriage is mentioned one-hundred and seventy seven times. The fact of the matter is that the bonds between men and women are interesting, complex, and scandalous many times. It’s for this very reason we have entire magazines dedicated to following the social lives and relationships of famous people. Three works of literature in particular shed light upon the development and consequences of these illicit relationships. These three works are Fortunata and Jacinta by Benito Perez Galdós, Adolphe by Benjamin Constant, and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Each of these books contains similar and distinct, relationship development, main characters, characterization of classes, environment depiction, and resolutions. Fortunata and Jacinta was written by Benito Galdós in 1887. Galdós, born on the Canary Islands and living in Madrid during the time he wrote this book, was a member of the middle class. The book was criticized by political and religious leaders for its critique of the middle class and revealing sexuality. It was, however, venerated by his peers for its realistic depiction of life among all classes during the time period. This story,...
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...In both the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and the Ted Talk by Monica Lewinsky, both authors highlight how the effects of humiliation by society towards an individual only have the desired negative impact for a short time. Even though the sin becomes part of the individual’s identity, the negative impacts of trying to reform the guilty wears off, and the character of the person is strengthened. However, the culture created by the genesis of humiliation is everlasting, and it creates a harmful society that condones humiliation and shaming, while lacking compassion. Humiliation and shaming does more harm to the society than to the individual. In the Scarlet Letter, the main character Hester Prynne, is subjected to public humiliation by having to wear a scarlet “A” to show she has committed...
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...more than two weekly entries, your entire work fails) • Essay of 2 500 words due May 9, and its oral presentation. Calendar of meetings and assignments | |Themes, authors, primary texts |Critical reading | |Feb 8 |Introductions | | |Feb 15 |The Puritan Imagination I |IAS: “New Founde Land” | | |From: Mary Rowlandson: The Sovereignty and Goodness of God. |CHLUS: “Jonathan Edwards […] and the Great Awakening | | |From: John Winthrop: A Model of Christian Charity. | | | |From: Jonathan Edwards: Personal Narrative. | | |Feb 22 |The Puritan Imagination II. |IAS: “New Founde Land” | | |Anne Bradstreet: “The Author to Her Book,” “The Prologue,” “Upon the |CHAP: “Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor” | | |Burning…,” “To My Dear…” | | | |Edward Taylor: “Huswifery,” “Upon a Wasp Chilled...
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...On Wednesday, October 21st, I went to go see The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, at Stillwell Theater. I am going to write how The Scarlet Letter and Ruined compare to the quote, “Traveling to some one’s world is a way of identifying with them…because by traveling to their “world” we can understand what it is to them and what it is to be ourselves in their eyes”, by Maria Lugones. These two works have many characteristics that are similar to one another; however, the two stories also have many different characteristics as well. The Scarlet Letter had many powerful moments that made me think about the characters’ world. One moment that particularly stood out was when Reverend Dimmesdale was reflecting on the fact that he lied to all of the people in the village. He was the one who committed adultery with Hester Prynne. Dimmesdale was very torn over the fact that he had been corrupted. From this guilt he whipped himself profusely, this moment was extremely powerful. It gave me a great insight on really how bad he felt for hiding his secret. Ruined, written by Lynn Nottage, was a story also filled with many memorable moments that construed an unforgettable “world”....
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...PREFACE This major project examines the indispensable desiderata of Transcendentalism in comparison to the Dark Romantics background and how these technicalities prepare this work of art as an influential synthesis of human imagination incorporated with mystic facts. Transcendentalism and Dark Romanticism were two literary movements that occurred in America during roughly the same time period (1840—1860). Although the two had surface similarities, such as their reverence for Nature, their founding beliefs were quite different, enough to make one seem almost the antithesis of each other. Moreover one’s genesis is ventured out from other; i.e. Dark Romanticism from the roots of Transcendentalism or precisely the lacunae are best determined for raising up the term called Dark Romanticism. Contents S. No. Page no. Chapter 1.........................................................................................................4-14 Chapter 2.........................................................................................................15-23. Chapter 3..........................................................................................................24-27 Resolution.........................................................................................................28-29 Work Cited................................................................
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...we can include within this label. It is believed that when a piece is written in North America, more precisely in the USA, it would automatically be given this epithet. But it should be taken into account that this idea is quite broad and doesn’t reflect the real essence of the term. However, there is also another definition that gathers this essence: American Literature is the one that represents the Americanism, the singularity of the USA philosophy and culture. This way, instead of focusing on who the author is, it is focused on the content of the writing. In that which concerns Fiction, the following documents are the ones considered as narrative: Speeches Letters Short Stories Essays Political Documents Sermons Novels Diaries 1 FIRST LITERARY EXPRESSIONS The first documents in which the idea of Americanism is very present are the Sermons. They respond to the strict Protestantism settled in the New Continent after the arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers and Puritans in the Mayflower (1620) and the Arabella (1630). They established a theocratic community whose main and only point of reference was the Bible. That is why the idea of the ‘city upon a hill’ is still very present in American mentality. As we all know, their community was also governed by the concept of Predestination. This belief was based in the idea that we are saved or condemned since the very moment we are born or even, since...
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