- 1850 American Renaissance Romance
- Set in the 17th C. Puritan Boston, MA, during years 1642-1649
Plot
- In June 1642 in Puritan Boston, a crowd gathers to witness the punishment of Hester Pryne
- A young woman found guilty of adultery
- Required to wear a scarlet "A" ("A" standing for adulterer) on her dress to shame her
- Hester must stand on the scaffolding for 3 hours, to be exposed to public humiliation
- As Hester approaches the scaffold, many of the women in the crowd are angered by her beauty and quiet dignity
- When demanded and cajoled to name the father of her child, Hester refuses.
- As Hester looks out over the crowd, she notices a small, misshapen man and recognizes him as her long-lost husband - new name Roger Chillingsworth - who has been presumed lost at sea.
- When Roger (the husband) sees Hester's shame, he asks a man in the crowd about her and is told the story of his wife's adultery.
- He (Roger) angrily exclaims that the child's father, the partner in the adulterous act, should also be punished and vows to find the man.
- He chooses a new name - Roger Chillingsworth - to aid him in his plan
- Reverend John Wilson and the minister of Hester's church, Arthur Dimmesdale, question the woman, but she refuses to name her lover
- After she returns to her prison cell, the jailer brings in Roger Chillingsworth, a physician, to calm Hester and her child with his roots and herbals.
- He and Hester have an open conversation regarding their marriage and the fact that they were both in the wrong. Her lover, however, is another matter and he demands to know who it is; Hester refuses to divulge such information.
- He accepts this, stating that he will find out anyway and forces her to hide that he is her husband. If she ever reveals him, he warns her, he will destroy the child's father.
- Hester agrees to Chillingsworth's terms although she suspects she will regret it.
- Following her release from prison, Hester settles in a cottage at the edge of town and earns a meager living with her needlework
- She lives a quiet, somber life with her daughter, Pearl.
- She is troubled by her daughter's unusual fascination with Hester's scarlet "A"
- As she grows older, Pear becomes capricious and unruly. Her conduct starts rumors, and not surprisingly, the church members suggest Pearl be taken away from Hester.
- Hester, hearing rumors that she may lose Pearl, goes to speak to Governor Billingham. With him are reverends Wilson and Dimmesdale
- Hester appeals to Reverend Dimmesdale in desperation and the minister persuades the governor to let Pearl remain in Hester's care.
- Because Dimmesdale's health has begun to fail, the towns people are happy to have Chillingsworth, a newly arrived physician, take up lodging with their beloved minister
- Being in such close contact with Dimmesdale, Chillingsworth begins to suspect that Ministers illness is the result of some unconfessed guilt.
- He applies psychological pressure to the minister because he suspects Dimmesdale to be Pearl's father.
- One evening pulling the sleeping Dimmesdale's vestment aside, Chillingsworth sees a symbol that represents his shame on the ministers pale chest.
- Tormented by his guilty conscious, Dimmesdale goes to the square where Hester was punished years earlier. Climbing the scaffolding, he admits his guilt to them but cannot find the courage to do so publicly
- Hester, shocked by Dimmesdale's determination decides to obtain a release from her vow of silence to her husband.
- Several days later, Hester meets Dimmesdale in the forest and tells him of her husband and his desires for revenge. She convinces Dimmesdale to leave Boston in secret on a ship to Europe where they can start life anew.
- Renewed by this plan, the minister seems to gain new energy
- On Election Day, Dimmesdale gives what is declared to be one of his most inspired sermons. But as the procession leaves the church, Dimmesdale climbs upon the scaffold and confesses his sin, dying in Hester's arms
- Later, most witnesses swear that they saw a stigma in the form of a scarlet "A" upon his chest, although some deny this statement
- Chillingsworth, losing his will for revenge dies shortly thereafter and leaves Pearl a substantial inheritance.
- After several years, Hester returns to her cottage resumes wearing the scarlet "A"
- When she dies, she is buried near the grave of Dimmesdale, and they share a simple slate tombstone engraved with an escutcheon described as "On a field, sable. The letter A, gubs."
What characteristics make Hawthorn a romantic writer:
- Use of supernatural
- Big themes across multiple works of same author
- What themes do they focus on?
- Hawthorne - History, supernatural, violation of human heart (Scarlet Letter & "The Birthmark")
- Hawthorne, Thoreau, Whitman - stray from enlightenment
- Thoreau might belive in perfection but only through reflection; not science
- Hawthorne says Romance in actual & imaginary meet (custom houses)
- see this in mirrors & other things
- Walden: Read economy closely, "Suck the marrow" section, skim chapters after.
- "Resistance" section in jail
- taken by Ghandi & MLK
- (Realist) Frederick Douglass
- 1st Chapter - know first scene with whipping
- Mr. Coly section
- Twain does racism, Douglass does slavery
- Slave narrative
- Hawthorn criticizes the intolerance of Puritanism & suggests that an ideal Christian community should emphasize charity rather than judgment
- The Scarlet Letter juxtaposes legality and ethics; Hester may have violated her mariatal vows, but we know that her marriage was loveless and her husband driven by evil
- The fact that Hester & Dimmesdale are sympathetic figures in spite of their sins emphasizes forgiveness rather than condemnation and judgement
- Hester & Dimmesdale's struggle to final acceptance and forgiveness from their community illustrates the theme of the individual versus society
- Hawthorne explores the theme of identity by contrasting the identities imposed on characters by others (such as Dimmesdale's false image of a pious minister) and the identities that they create for themselves (such as Hester's embrace of the letter "A" as a symbol of her transformation)
Characters
- Hester Prynne: has mysterious lover and baby. Won't reveal the father. serves penance for transgression by helping the sick and the poor
- Mysterious lover (Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale): has strange red mark on chest sickly with guilt (making his soul-->body sick). He eventually confesses and dies
- Hester's husband (Roger Chillingsworth)
- Pearl: The child of Hester, mysterious father. Devilish child with a wild soul
Setting
- Massachusetts Bay Colony
- Society governed by Puritans (left Church of England, wanted freedom to practice religion
Analysis
- Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
- Pearl
- The price of sin and possibility of redemption
- Cost a great price, but greatest treasure
- A
- Adultery, sin, hard work, charity, skill, righteousness, sacredness, grace
- Nature/Wilderness
- Kindness, love, danger, the part of human nature that can't be squashed and beaten into submission; depth and emotion in contrast with society
- Romanticism/Gothic/Transcendentalism
- Mystery
- Villain
- Supernatural events (meteors and mysterious body marks)
- How is the middle scaffold scene representative of the work?
- How is the labyrinth of her mind feminist?
- Labyrinth - map of sorts
- Why does Hawthorne think of writing Puritan piece in 1700's?
- Ambiguity of narrator?
- What characteristics make Hawthorne a romantic writer?
- Use of Supernatural
- Big themes across multiple works of same author
- What themes do they focus on?
- Hawthorne - history, supernatural, violation of human heart (Scarlet Letter & "The Birth Mark")
- Hawthorne, Thoreau, Whitman - stray from enlightenment
- Thoreau might believe in perfection, but only through reflection; not science
- Hawthorne says romance in actual & imaginary meet (custom house)
- Sees this in mirrors and other things
- Hester and Dimmsdale expelled from Paradise like Adam and Eve
- Hester is actually given freedom by the Scarlett letter to explore and think about her society
- True evil arises from the close nature between love and hate
- Dark landscapes, inner thoughts
- Doesn't leave the colony because she refuses to admit that the "A" is a badge of shame. She remakes it to mean what she wants it to mean
- Wilderness - village - Hester's cottage
- (Freedom) - (repression) - (neither)
- Night and day
- Inner vs outer appearance
- Symbols such as the meteor mean whatever the watcher wants them to mean
- Themes
- Revenge
- Sin - different types such as sin of passion versus sin of revenge
- Hypocrisy
- Guilt and Blame
- Isolation
- Women must change before they can assume an equal position
- Other women
- Mistress Hibbens
- Wife who felt sorry for Hester
- Total Depravity
- Unconditional election
- Limited atonment
- Irresistable grace
- Perseverance of the Saints
No comments:
Post a Comment