Nathaniel Hawthorne's Puritanism and its Representation in "The Scarlet Letter" (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,7, University of Potsdam, language: English, abstract: Nathaniel Hawthorne is considered as one of the most significant American novelist of romantisism of the early 19th century. The interplay between contrasting and ambigious literary motifs can be taken as typical for the era of romantisism as well as for Hawthorne's personal style of writing. In his novels he devoted himself in exploring moral and the social issues of the American society and its roots in the Puritan heritage. Thereby, he often thematised his own deep bonds with his Puritan ancestors and created story plots that both highlighted their weaknesses and their strengths. Whereas Hawthorne himself openly showed admiration for the strengths and determination of his Puritan ancestors, he also adresses his own negative concerns for their rigid and oppressive rules of living.

"The Scarlet Letter" from 1850, as a text book expample of his great literary works, shows Hawthorne's attitude towards Puritans from the Massachusetts Bay Colonies in his portrayal of characters, his plot, and the themes of his story. This ten-page thesis paper attempts to probe into Hawthorne's contradictory religious thoughts reflected in "The Scarlet Letter". In course of this, I vindicate the point of view that Hawthorne illustrates Puritanism as contradictory. Furthermore I claim that his critique on Puritanism is partly contradictory as well. This contradictoriness of his critique is also often accompanied by an ambiguity of his literary illustrations.

The 2nd and 3rd chapter of this paper will shortly expose the major characteristics of Puritanism and Hawthorne's personal relation to it. The major focus is put on elaborating the contradictions of the depicted Puritanism and Hawthorne's attitude to it in the 4th chapter.