Puritan Society In The Scarlet Letter

1418 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The Puritan Family essay

Education, frugality, family, and hard work were main ideas that shaped the Puritan society in the 17th century. The Puritans were a strict, religious group of people that settled in Boston and created the Plymouth Bay Colony. According to Edward Taylor, “Make me, O Lord, thy Spining Wheele complete./Thy Holy Worde my Distaff make for mee./Make mine Affections thy Swift Flyers neate/ and make my Soule thy holy Spoole to bee”(230). This conveys that the Puritans believe in God and that he can make them into something holy. John Winthrop is writing as a Puritan and he says, “Therefore let us choose life,/ that we and our seed,/ may live by obeying his/voice and cleaving to him,/for he is our life and/our prosperity”(257). Winthrop is stating …show more content…

He knows that he needs to be punished he just does not want it to be public. He wants to do it himself. This proves that Hawthorne critiques Dimmesdale in a different way. He makes Dimmesdale punish himself but he does not publicly do it because he wants the readers to see Dimmesdale as a weak man on the inside. Later Hawthorne says, “his spirit lacked strength that could have borne up, as thine has been, beneath a burden like thy scarlet letter”(117). Dimmesdale can put on a good face and preach a sermon, but he can’t follow his own teachings. This is another way the Hawthorne critiques Dimmesdale. He can’t follow the word of God but he acts like he can, which is a sin itself. Then Hawthorne says, “Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret! Thou little knowest what a relief it is, after the torment of a seven years’ cheat to look into an eye that recognizes me for what I am!” (131). Here, Dimmesdale tells Hester that he is jealous of her, which makes no sense because she has dealt with more pain then him. He is a weak man who Hawthorne sees as incapable of being a Puritan authority in the

Show More
Related

  • Settling of America (1620's -1670's)

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    A Puritan lawyer, John Winthrop, immigrated to New England because his views on religion were different from those in England. Even though Puritans are Protestants, Puritans tried to purify the English Church. In 1630 on board of the Arabella on the Atlantic Ocean on way to Massachusetts, he wrote “A Model of Christian Charity” which gave his views on what a society should be. ‘…the condition of mankind, [that] in all times some must be rich, some poor, some high and eminent in power and dignity, other mean and in subjection….[Yet] we must knit together in this work as one man.’ (Doc. A). In this he is saying that men may be different but to make a new world work, they must work together. All through his speech he mentions God. For example, he opens his sermon with ‘God Almighty in his most holy and wise providence…’. This shows that in New England, the people were very religious.

    Read More

  • Scarlet Letter Hypocrisy Quotes

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dimmesdale considers the timing fortunate as it aligns with his Election Day sermon and feels that there could not be a more suitable way to end his career as a minister. He thinks to himself, “At least, they shall say of me, that I leave no public duty unperformed, nor ill performed!’” (Hawthorne 146). Up until the moment of his histrionic confession on the scaffold, Dimmesdale acts to maintain his respected reputation in the Puritan society. Even his final confession is a performance before the town. As analyzed by literary critic Terrence Martin, “...in keeping with the brilliant economy of The Scarlet Letter, the moment at which Dimmesdale commits himself consciously to deadly liberating sin becomes the moment at which he secretly wishes to cap his public life with a final burst of eloquence on the most important occasion the Puritan community can offer.” His death is his final act of hypocrisy, as he declares that he stands with them but leaves Hester and Pearl alone again to face society. His confession, like his silence, was a grandiose facade for an act of

    Read More

  • Transformation of Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    In further developing Dimmesdale's character, Hawthorne portrays him as a hypocrite.  His outward demeanor deceives the villagers, appearing as a completely holy man.  However, before the action of the novel begins, he stumbles into sin, by committing adultery with Hester Pryn...

    Read More

  • The Feminist Scarlet Letter

    1795 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... him feeble. In the end, he frees himself from his guilt by admitting to everyone his sin. He crumbles under the anxiety of holding his secret inwards revealing Dimmesdale to be a rather weak male protagonist. He also is not strong enough support Hester, to show love towards Hester, or to take his own burden of sin on himself, although he does realize how wrong he is. His inability to outwardly show his sin like Hester proves Hester to be the stronger one which supports the idea that Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a feminist composition.

    Read More

  • New England and Chesapeake Bay Colonies

    670 Words  | 2 Pages

    Unlike the Chesapeake Bay colony, the New England colonies were founded because of a desire for religious freedom. The Puritans wanted to 'purify' and fix the morally corrupt parts of the Church of England that were created by King Henry VIII; however, they faced discrimination and were subject to violence. The reformers fled England, working together to create a model of the perfect society, with strong family values. The Puritans generally were not wealthy, with many leading simple lives and using their time to help others in their community. John Winthrop, the first governor of the New England colony, constructed the society around family and religion. Puritans established many churches in the hopes that England would copy their model. The religious influences in the society were clear in the New England Primer, a textbook for Puritan children, in which they described the persecution of their people. The discrimination against the Puritans created a s...

    Read More

  • The Puritan Society In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    1476 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Puritan society was extremely restricting. They had strict laws and rules, and harsh punishments for even the smallest of misdemeanors. They lived with only the bare necessities and discouraged uniqueness or boldness. As a Romantic writer, with beliefs the complete opposite of the Puritans, Nathaniel Hawthorne was very critical of the Puritan’s strict society. In the allegorical novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the characters of Hester Prynne, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth order to convey the central moral of rejecting societal ideals and acting upon one 's own desires and emotions.

    Read More

  • Hester Prynne Character Analysis

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    He fell in love with Hester because of her striking beauty and, he too, wants to keep his identity a secret to his peers. He feels guilty while he sees Hester standing on the scaffold, but he doesn’t stand up there with her. He should have been a man and admitted to the crime like Hester did. After a while, Dimmesdale’s guilt eats away at his health. Dimmesdale becomes ill due to the medical services given by Chillingworth. Chillingworth knows Dimmesdale is Hester’s lover and he will get the revenge he wants. Dimmesdale is oblivious to Chillingworth’s “kindness” and his health declines quickly. One night, Dimmesdale finds himself standing on the scaffold like he was going to shout to the world that he was Hester’s partner. (quote on when he was on the scaffold). This was the time to admit his sin so the guilt would lessen. Hawthorne is showing how weak Dimmesdale is as a person and that Hester doesn’t deserve someone as weak as

    Read More

  • The Foolish Puritans of The Scarlet Letter

    1782 Words  | 4 Pages

    by the Puritans result in a fit of outrage by Pearl. One reason that the

    Read More

  • Portrayal of Puritan Society in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    1635 Words  | 4 Pages

    Portrayal of Puritan Society in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter In the introductory sketch to Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel the "The Scarlet Letter", the reader is informed that one of the author's ancestors persecuted the Quakers harshly. The latter's son was a high judge in the Salem witch trials, put into literary form in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" (Judge Hathorne appears there). We learn that Hawthorne feels ashamed for their deeds, and that he sees his ancestors and the Puritan society as a whole with critical eyes. Consequently, both open and subtle criticism of the Puritans' practices is applied throughout the novel.

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    “A bloody scourge…rigorously, and until his knees trembled beneath him, as an act of penance.” (Hawthorne, 141) In the Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Minister Dimmesdale starved himself, whipped himself, and tortured himself to get rid of the guilt caused by his sin with Hester Prynne. Hawthorne describes the minister’s guilt as the evil that anchored him down and shows how Dimmesdale tortures himself but can never get rid of it. His guilt came from many things. First was his guilt for committing the crime with Hester Prynne. Second is his guilt for not being with her at the time that she was put upon the scaffold. Last was his guilt from not revealing himself to his own daughter and from having to stay out of her life due to fear of being shamed by the community. Hawthorne’s views on guilt and Dimmesdale are mostly that his guilt controlled his life completely until the very end when the power of the sin and guilt took over to the point where he couldn’t control himself.

    Read More

  • Dimmesdale's Guilt and Internal Struggle in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    1043 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Arthur Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter

    1574 Words  | 4 Pages

    Dimmesdale is not ignorant, he is very well educated. As Hawthorne states, “…Rev. Mr. Dimmesdale; a young clergyman who had come from one of the great English universities, bringing all the learning of the age into our wild forestland. His eloquence and religious fervor had already given the earnest of high eminence in his profession.” (Hawthorne 72) This man’s morals had, until the adultery, been high. He is very spiritual because on top of being of the Puritan faith, he is a minister of the word of God. Throughout most of the novel, Rev. Dimmesdale is forced to hide his guilt of being Hester’s partner in sin. When in reality, he is not being forced by anyone, but himself, for he is the one who chooses not to reveal his secret to the town. Dimmesdalehas a concealed sin that is, eating at him. He just doesn’t have the courage to admit his wrongs. He seems to be a coward during these seven years of living with guilt. There is a scene in chapter 3 where Rev. Dimmesdale states, “Hester Prynne…If thou feelest it to be for thy soul’s peace, and that thy earthly punishment will thereby be made more effectual to salvation, I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow –sinner and fellow-sufferer! Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for,

    Read More

  • The Distinguishing between Hester and Dimmesdale in Nathaniel

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hester and Dimmesdale both bear a scarlet letter but the way they handle it is different. Hester’s scarlet letter is a piece of clothing, the “SCARLET LETTER, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom” (Hawthorn 51). Dimmesdale on the other hand, has a scarlet letter carved in his chest. This is revealed when Dimmesdale was giving his revelation, in which “he tore away the ministerial band from before his breast. It was revealed!” (Hawthorn 232). Since the Scarlet Letter on Hester is visible to the public, she was criticized and looked down on. “This women has brought same upon us all, and ought to die” (Hawthorn 49) is said by a female in the market place talking about Hester. She becomes a stronger person through living this hard life. Dimmesdale instead has to live “a life of cowardly and selfish meanness, that added tenfold disgrace and ignominy to his original crime” (Loring 185). He becomes weaker and weaker by time, “neither growing wiser nor stronger, but, day after day, paler and paler, more and more abject” (Loring 186). Their courage is also weak.

    Read More

  • The Individual Vs. Society In The Scarlet Letter

    213 Words  | 1 Pages

    In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the theme of the individual versus society is prevalent. One of the most intriguing characters in the novel is Hester Prynne, who is ostracized by the society around her. Hawthorne uses symbols to accentuate how Hester chooses to accept her branded punishment as a moral obligation rather than a mark of shame. Her individualism is achieved through a clear conscience and accepting the fact that she is unique, distanced from the Puritans surrounding her. This is essential because it shows how she develop from the beginning of the story until now. "tall, with a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale. She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a face

    Read More

  • Scarlet Letter Reflection

    1238 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hester chooses the optimistic path by leaning towards assisting others. On the other hand, Dimmesdale resolves to self-afflict for redemption. It’s clear that Hawthorne prefers Hester’s idea of repentance because he describes her as a “Sister of Mercy” (152). Meanwhile, Dimmesdale is put through grief. If Hawthorne desires Dimmesdale’s method, then there would be no sorrow and pity in his tone. Hawthorne depicts Dimmesdale’s many failed attempts at confessing in a tone filled with disappointment, “He had striven to put a cheat upon himself by making the avowal of a guilty conscience, but had gained only one other sin, and a self-acknowledged shame, without the momentary relief of being self-deceived. He had spoken the very truth, and transformed it into the veriest falsehood” (136). Hawthorne portrays Dimmesdale as a pitiful man, who only wishes for release from the darkness inside him. However, this wouldn’t have happened if he admitted to his sins the moment Hester endured public ignominy. In these situations, masking the sin only causes a worse conflict that could have been prevented from happening. Hawthorne designates Dimmesdale as the one who elects the bleak path to demonstrate the future of those who walks down the same road. He wants the audience to remember that repentance can be obtained without having to be

    Read More

More about Puritan Society In The Scarlet Letter

Open Document