In 1626, the Puritans received a charter for the Massachusetts Bay Company, which later became known as the Massachusetts colony. The Puritan people sought freedom from religious persecution in England. They desired to reform the Church of England because they believed it had been corrupted by Catholic ideals. Puritan ideology in the reformation of the Church of England was criticised by many, including author Nathaniel Hawthorne. In Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the Puritans are portrayed as a theocratic people filled with fear and misconduct, hypocritical of their own beliefs and practices.
In the Puritan theocracy, the laws of God were of the same importance as secular laws; Hawthorne expresses that Puritans publicly denounced
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The most prominent example Hawthorne gives of this in The Scarlet Letter is the role Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale plays in the novel. When the reader is first introduced to Dimmesdale, he is described as venerable and holy by the Puritans: “ ‘People say,’ said another, ‘that the Reverend Master Dimmesdale, [Hester’s] … godly pastor, takes it very grievously to heart that such a scandal should have come upon his congregation,’ “ (47). He is publicly appalled by the adultery committed by the people of the town, and tells the congregation that he is filled with sorrow and grief. Little does the congregation know that Dimmesdale in reality feels guilt for the adultery because he has committed it and keeps secret from the community. He supports Hester’s silence on the scaffold in order for his sin to remain unexposed. As time progresses throughout the novel, the Reverend continues to preach against sin and its consequences without owning up to the greatest sin he has committed with Hester. Dimmesdale knows that he should have been punished in the same way Hester had been, and endures guilt. Consequently, his guilt drives him to beat himself and subject himself to torture in private. Dimmesdale is always clutching his chest and holding his hands over his heart as a result of his wounds to constantly remind him of his sin. The minister Dimmesdale is the most hypocritical figure in The Scarlet …show more content…
As punishment for her adultery, she wears the scarlet “A” on her clothes in addition to standing on the scaffold. Her penalty was almost nothing compared to the death penalty she would received had Reverend Dimmesdale not been one of the leaders of the town. Hester chooses to stay in the town to raise her daughter Pearl and to do charity work so that she can suffer for the sake of her soul. She is reprimanded by other Puritans for not disciplining Pearl, and threats are made to take her daughter away from her. Hester says that she will raise Pearl well: “This badge hath taught me—it daily teaches me—lessons whereof my child may be the wiser and better, albeit they can profit nothing to myself,” (102-103). She is convinced that she is completely repentant for her sin and will make sure that Pearl also will not sin consequently enduring the same consequences as she did. Later in the novel, “At times, a fearful doubt strove to possess her soul, whether it were not better to send Pearl at once to heaven, and go herself to such futurity as Eternal Justice should provide. The scarlet letter had not done its office,” (154). Hester considers murdering Pearl, subsequently committing suicide. Hawthorne shows that Hester has not learned from her sin and does not regret it. As a result, she cannot direct Pearl away from sin
From the very beginning of The Scarlet Letter, while Hester is shamed by having a baby as tangible evidence of her sin and shame, the responsibility of caring for Pearl and raising her with love and wisdom serves to calm the defiant, destructive passion of Hester's nature and to save her from its wild, desperate promptings. This sentiment is poignantly portrayed in Hester's visit to the Governor's mansion. While there, she pleads with the Governor, magistrates, and ministers that she be allowed to keep Pearl, exclaiming, 'She is my happiness!--She is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too! See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only...
Puritanism spawned from a reform group of the Church of England in the mid-sixteenth century. Puritans felt the need to make the Church of England pure from the corrupt influences of the Roman Empire.1 In their New England colony, including Salem, they held the Bible to be the foundation of their legal system, while also including some of the common laws of England. The Bible was the basis of the legal system because God, in Scripture, told people how to live. Since man was born with original sin and could, therefore, inadvertently make laws that went against Scripture, the Puritans looked to God, through his words, to decide the righteous course of action.2 They followed this not only in their legal system, but also in their everyday lives. Everyone in the community of Salem attended church, and the church was the pillar of the community in every aspect of life.
To her parents¡ªHester and Dimmesdale, Pearl plays a role of living scarlet letter compelling them to face the reality and confess their sins to the whole world. As the product of their passion, Pearl is a constant mental and physical reminder to her parents of what they had done wrong. It seems that her mission is to force her parents to suffer a lot from the punishment while she was brought up happily and innocently. Pearl successfully achieved this by firming the letter the center of Hester`s life. More than one time, Pearl asked Hester about the letter, which caused Hester`s intense agony of a shame generated in her. With Pearl being around her, Hester will never escape the punishment of her wrong deed.
The Puritans influenced social development. The puritan society was centered around God. Document C says ‘In public or private, we will willingly do nothing to the offence of the church…” They also were not tolerant of other religions. Document G says, “He that
...y natural law, and condones man- -made, Puritan Law, and it becomes very clear that Hawthorne was very direct in this approach to bash Puritanism.
In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Company set sail to the New World in hope of reforming the Church of England. While crossing the Atlantic, John Winthrop, the puritan leader of the great migration, delivered perhaps the most famous sermon aboard the Arbella, entitled “A Model of Christian Charity.” Winthrop’s sermon gave hope to puritan immigrants to reform the Church of England and set an example for future immigrants. The Puritan’s was a goal to get rid of the offensive features that Catholicism left behind when the Protestant Reformation took place. Under Puritanism, there was a constant strain to devote your life to God and your neighbors. Unlike the old England, they wanted to prove that New England was a community of love and individual worship to God. Therefore, they created a covenant with God and would live their lives according to the covenant. Because of the covenant, Puritans tried to abide by God’s law and got rid of anything that opposed their way of life. Between 1630 and the 18th century, the Puritans tried to create a new society in New England by creating a covenant with God and living your life according to God’s rule, but in the end failed to reform the Church of England. By the mid 1630’s, threats to the Puritans such as Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, and Thomas Hooker were being banned from the Puritan community for their divergent beliefs. 20 years later, another problem arose with the children of church members and if they were to be granted full membership to the church. Because of these children, a Halfway Covenant was developed to make them “halfway” church members. And even more of a threat to the Puritan society was their notion that they were failing God, because of the belief that witches existed in 1692.
Guilt, shame, and penitence are just a few of the emotions that are often associated with a great act of sin. Mr. Arthur Dimmesdale, a highly respected minister of a 17th century Puritan community, is true example of this as he was somehow affected by all of these emotions after committing adultery. Due to the seven years of torturous internal struggle that finally resulted in his untimely death, Mr. Dimmesdale is the character who suffered the most throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Mr. Dimmesdale’s ever present guilt and boundless penance cause him an ongoing mental struggle of remorse and his conscience as well as deep physical pain from deprivation and self inflicted wounds. The external influence of the members of his society
In The Scarlet Letter, life is centered around a rigid Puritan society, where one is unable to express his or her innermost thoughts and feelings. Everyone needs the opportunity to express how they truly feel; otherwise the emotions stay bottled up until they become explosive. Puritan society however did not permit this kind of expression. People had to seek alternative means of relieving their personal anguish and distress. In the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne provides a refuge, in the form of a forest. The forest provides a shelter for the characters, especially Hester and Dimmesdale from the restrictions of daily Puritan life.
Scharnhorst, Gary. The Critical Response to Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Westport: Greenwood P, 1992
Upon Hester return home Mistress Hibbins startled Hester, and in response flashed her teeth, reminding herself that “[she] must tarry home, and keep watch over [her] little Pearl. Had they taken Pearl from [her], [she] would willingly have gone with [her] into the forest, and signed [her] name in the Black Man`s book too, and that with [her] own blood” giving up in the favorable side of her and conforming to the darker side (Hawthorne 110). Although Hester had no way to avoid Mistress Hibbins (associated with the devil), she might have seen this forthcoming. As if Hester knew that the scarlet letter brought evil figures into her life because of the sin she sought to bring herself, then the good inside of her might understand that she can`t run away from her past. Indeed, the past doesn 't run away, but with the scarlet letter always on Hester, no matter how many good deeds she does for the community the evil inside will always be seen. Furthermore, in the article “The Meaning of the scarlet A” by Claudia Durst Johnson, she writes about numerous different perspectives of the Scarlet A in general, and what the A means to each main character. Throughout the novel the community sees “Hester pregnancy and that she gives birth to a child who then lives by her side, another reminder besides the A of what she has done, always in full
The Puritans of the old world envisioned a virtuous society when they landed at Plymouth but the reality of human nature would prohibit them from doing so. Puritans believed they had to be as pure and humble to god as one human being could. However, the world is not perfect, it is a part of our human nature to make mistakes and one individual, Hester Prynne made mistakes in The Scarlet Letter and her Puritan society shunned her for them, even while they know that even the most uptight Puritan is capable of committing sin. This out-casting of sinful individuals has created spheres within the text separating characters into their own spheres for better or for worse. Some learn to grow from the spheres while others are left to perish by them such as the reverend Dimmesdale.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Mr. Dimmesdale’s greatest fear is that the townspeople will find out about his sin of adultery with Hester Prynne. Mr. Dimmesdale fears that his soul could not take the shame of such a disclosure, as he is an important moral figure in society. However, in not confessing his sin to the public, he suffers through the guilt of his sin, a pain which is exacerbated by the tortures of Roger Chillingworth. Though he consistently chooses guilt over shame, Mr. Dimmesdale goes through a much more painful experience than Hester, who endured the public shame of the scarlet letter. Mr. Dimmesdale’s guilt is much more damaging to his soul than any shame that he might have endured.
Guilt occurs when individuals feel ashamed, unworthy, or embarrassed due to an action for which they are responsible. This guilt can be described as an affliction, or inheritance that is woven into the soul like a rapacious disease and characterized by a state of ignominy. Throughout The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is perceived as a man of religious fervor, virtue, and solicitude. Furthermore, the Puritan congregation regards him with admiration, honor, and high esteem. However, he is plagued by guilt which tortures his character and darkly stains his soul. Dimmesdale’s sin of adultery ravages his spirit as the overwhelming essence of secret guilt latches onto his conscience, ultimately killing him.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, there are many moral and social themes develped throughout the novel. Each theme is very important to the overall effect of the novel. In essence, The Scarlet Letter is a story of sin, punishment and the importance of truth. One theme which plays a big role in The Scarlet Letter is that of sin and its effects. Throughout the novel there were many sins committed by various characters. The effects of these sins are different in each character and every character was punished in a unique way. Two characters were perfect examples of this theme in the novel. Hester Prynne and The Reverend Dimmesdale best demonstrated the theme of the effects of sin.
Characters in compelling pieces of literature normally represent an abstract idea. These ideas can represent a message that the author wants to communicate to us, and they can even represent concepts that allude to disputes in society. In this case, Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter, creates a novel where his characters are significant in a manner that depicts life in a Puritan society. Hawthorne delicately establishes characters with an influential role in society with extravagant meaning. Each main character is seen as thinly disguised personifications of hypothetical notions that Hawthorne wants to enlighten us about. Hester Prynne, Pearl, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth all portray abstract ideas that reflect the norms of a Puritan society.