What influences an author to write a novel? Many authors use their personal experiences to influence plots and events in their novel. They sometimes also use their ancestry background through themes or relationships in their different works. The events in an author’s life affect the style and content of their literary works which is exemplified by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.
One of the most influential parts of history that helped Hawthorne write is The Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials started in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. During this time many women and men were accused of being witches by signing their life off to the devil. Most if not all of the accusers and accused during the Salem Witch Trials were from the northern frontier. This was the location of fighting “in both King Philip’s War 1675-1678 (called the First Indian War) and King William’s War of 1689-1699 (called the Second Indian War”. Within five months 144 people were persecuted as witches. “Violent fighting on the Maine frontier was a major causative factor in producing the witchcraft crisis” (Lewis). During The Salem Witch Trials an accused witch would be humiliated by either making the accused witch confess of being a witch or they would be publicly hung. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter Hester is publicly humiliated for committing adultery. Even though Nathaniel Hawthorne did not grow up when the Salem Witch Trials happened he was influenced by it because he grew up in Salem, Massachusetts.
There is big debate whether Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ancestors played a role in his novel, The Scarlet Letter. “Nathaniel Hawthorne was descended from the Hathornes and the Mannings.” (“The Family of Nathaniel Hawthorne: Introduction”) O...
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Works Cited
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Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Batman Books, 1989. Print.
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Lewis, Thomas Tandy. “In the Devil’s Snare.” Salem Press June. 2003: 1-3. EBSCOhost. Web.
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Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Enriched Classic ed. New York City: Simon & Schuster, 2004. Print.
Rosenthal. Bernard. Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692. Cambridge Mass: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 4, 1804 (Magill 1; Campbell 1; “Nathaniel Hawthorne”; Eldred 1). He was born into the sixth generation of his Salem family, and was a descendant of a long line of New England Puritans, which contributed in his interest in the Puritan way of life. The family was originally known as the “Hathornes”, but Nathaniel added the “w” to his name so it would become “Hawthorne”. The Hawthornes had been involved in religious persecution with their first American ancestor, William. Another ancestor, John Hathorne, was one of the three judges at the seventeenth-century Salem witchcraft trials. Hawthorne’s father was a sea captain, and when he was four years old (1808), his father died on a voyage in Surinam, Dutch Guinea (Campbell 1). Hawthorne was left alone with his mother and two sisters. He spent his early years in Salem and in Maine, during which he showed an interest in his father’s nautical adventures and read his logbooks often, even after his death (Magill 1). His maternal relatives recognized his literary talent at such a you...
Everyone has experiences that change their lives and influence all that they do. Everyone has that special someone, or something, that impacts their choices and work. Nathaniel Hawthorne definitely had these types of experiences throughout his lifetime. Authors in particular have certain people they look up to when it comes to their writing, and Hawthorne had many different people like this as he was writing all of his novels, including The Scarlet Letter. He also was inspired and influenced like different events he experienced in his years, in good ways and bad.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in the year 1804 in the heart of Salem, Massachusetts, where to Salem witch trials were conducted. Hawthorne was born in an unforgiving time period, where life revolved around religion and family. Hawthorne’s father died of Yellow Fever in the year 1808. Nathaniel grew up fatherless, which had a lasting effect on who he later became to be. Education at the time was centered on reading and writing, with a heavy religious influence. “The education of the next generation was important to further "purify" the church and perfect social living” (Kizer). However, since his father passed away, there was no other man to instill the Puritan beliefs into young Nathaniel. Hawthorne later on was able to see the culture through a different lens than the people surrounding him, which made him slightly opposed to the Puritan way of life. He became intellectually rebellious; not thinking in the same way that his peers or family was.
The story is set in seventeenth-century Salem, a time and place where sin and evil were greatly analyzed and feared. The townspeople, in their Puritan beliefs, were obsessed with the nature of sin and with finding ways to be rid of it altogether through purification of the soul. At times, people were thought to be possessed by the devil and to practice witchcraft. As punishment for these crimes, some were subjected to torturous acts or even horrible deaths. Thus, Hawthorne’s choice of setting is instrumental in the development of theme.
III. Comparable aspects of Hawthorne's characterization in The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables
The Scarlet Letter is a romance written by Nathaniel Hawthorne that takes place in the Puritan Community in Boston, Massachusetts during the 17th century. It tells the story of Hester Prynne, who commits the sin of adultery with the minister of the church, Reverend Dimmesdale, and conceives a baby girl, Pearl. Hester's husband, Roger Chillingworth, returns and seeks revenge. As Pearl grows up, her mother learns how to deal with the scarlet letter of shame and Dimmesdale feels guilt. When they decide to run away, Dimmesdale confesses his sin in public and he dies. The story end with the death of Chillingworth and all his belongings and property go to little Pearl. Pearl grows up and probably gets married and Hester becomes a mother for all women in need.
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.
6 vols. of a book. Salem Press, 2008. Salem History Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
The Scarlet Letter is a well-known novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this novel Hawthorne wrote in depth about the Puritans’ reception to sin, in particular, adultery. He also includes brilliant visuals of the repercussions that occur when the town of Salem hears of Hester’s adultery. There are many relationships within the book, from a lover to a beautiful yet illegitimate daughter. Symbolism runs throughout, even a simple rose bush outside of a jail holds so much meaning. Hawthorne reveals themes all through the novel one in particular, was sin. Although sin does not occur often in the Puritan lifestyle Hawthorne shows the importance and change this one deceit makes for the town of Salem.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's works are notable for their treatment of guilt and the complexities of moral choices. "Moral and religious concerns, in short, are almost always present in Hawthorne's work"(Foster, 56). Given Hawthorne's background, it is not a stretch of the imagination to say that his novels are critiques of Puritanism. Hawthorne lived in the deeply scarred New England area, separated from Puritanism by only one generation. His grandfather had been one of the judges in the Salem Witch Trials. Personal issues include the various ways Hawthorne's family and specific events in his life influenced his writing. Readers can easily recognize how "Young Goodman Brown" incorporates facts about his Puritan ancestors. Father Hooper in "The Minister's Black Veil" may be symbolically paralleled to Hawthorne's ancestors, trying to hide a sin they have committed. His descendants' remarks on him in The Custom House introduction to The Scarlet Letter mix pride in Hawthorne's prominence and a sense of inherited guilt for his deeds as judge. Hawthorne's guilt of wrongs committed by his ancestors was paramount in the development of his literary career. He investigates human weaknesses through the time period of his ancestors. Generally Hawthorne's writings contained powerful symbolic and psychological effects of pride, guilt, sin and punishment.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Scarlet Letter”. American Literature: Volume One. Ed. William E. Cain. New York: Pearson, 2004. 809-813. Print
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 4, 1804 to Nathaniel Hathorne and Elizabeth Clarke Manning. Hawthorne’s father was a sea captain and died of yellow fever in 1808 when Nathaniel was only four years old. After the death of his father, his mother, two sisters, and he moved in with his mother’s relatives, the Manning’s, and lived there for ten years. Hawthorne discovered journals that his father had written as a sailor over the years, showing an immediate interest which inspired him to become a writer. In 1821, Hawthorne started college at Bowdoin College with the financial support of his uncle, Robert Manning. He was elected Phi Beta Kappa in 1824, graduated in 1825, and published his first work, a novel called “Fanshawe” in 1828. Shortly after graduating, Hawthorne added the “w” to his last name in order to hide his relation to one of his ancestors, John Hathorne, one of the only judges involved in the Salem witch trials and never repented of his actions.
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.