Transcript Scarlet Letter Power Point

Scarlet
Letter
By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel
Hawthorne
• American novelist and short story writer, most famous for his novel The Scarlet Letter
• Wrote during the Romantic period of literary history (1830-1865) along with Ralph Waldo
Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Edgar Allen Poe
• Born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke
Manning
• His ancestors include John Hathorne, the only judge involved in the Salem witch trials who
never repented of his actions
• Nathaniel later added a "w" to make his name "Hawthorne" in order to hide this relation
Hawthorne . . .
• 1821-1825 Bowdoin College
• 1828 began publishing novels and short stories
• 1838 became engaged to Sophia Peabody
• 1839 hired at the Boston Custom House to weigh and measure goods
• 1841 quit the Custom House for a more interesting experiment:
Hawthorne agreed to purchase a $500 share in a new utopian community
in West Roxbury, Massachusetts named Brook Farm, a
transcendentalist community
• Married Peabody in 1842.
• 1850 The Scarlet Letter was published
• Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864
• Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works
featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration.
• His fiction works are considered Dark Romanticism.
• His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and
his works often have moral messages and include a deep psychological
complexity
The Custom-House . . .
The Custom House is largely an autobiographical
sketch describing Hawthorne's life as an
administrator of the Salem Custom House. It was
written to enlarge the tale of The Scarlet Letter, since
Hawthorne deemed the story too short to print by
itself. It also serves as an excellent essay on society
during Hawthorne's times, and it allows Hawthorne
to add an imaginative literary device, the romantic
pretense of having discovered the manuscript of The
Scarlet Letter in the Custom House.
Puritanism . . .
• Puritan is derived from pure/purity
• A person with censorious moral beliefs, especially about pleasure and
sex.
• Puritan culture emphasized self-reliance, independence, individual
achievement, individual responsibility, personal accountability, power
through ability (education)
• In 1620, the Puritans left Holland for the New World and establish
Plymouth Plantation in the “savage wilderness” of New England.
• Because scripture was central to religion and government, scholarship
was a highly valued right (reserved, of course, to men only)
• The role of religious leaders was to present Scripture and guide other
church members in its understand and application
• Because Puritan Boston was still a theocratic society, crime against
church (or God) was the equivalent of a crime against another person or
against “the State.”
The following were “against God”
and therefore illegal:
Idleness
Long Hair
Duck Hunting
Swearing
Sleeping during
sermons
Skipping church
Gossip
Stocks and Pillory
• The most common
New England colonial
punishment was use of
the stocks and pillory.
• Stocks were heavy
wooden frames with
holes for ankles and/or
wrists
• The pillory was
similar, but allowed the
accused to stand while
his or hands were
bound.
The Ducking Stool
• Usually used to
punish women
who gossiped or
scolded their
husbands
• The number of
times a woman
was to be dunked
into a lake or
river was
determined by
the judges.
Whipping
Most whipping sentences
called for 20-40 lashes
One case on record
recalls a man being
whipped 117 times
Execution
The threat of
execution was
omnipresent in the
colonies. Hanging was
the most common
method of execution,
although burning at
the stake was also
used.
Public Humiliation
• Criminals were
sometimes forced to
wear a letter
symbolizing the crime
committed.
•“T” stood for thief
•“D” was worn by
those accused of public
drunkenness
FYI . . .
• The Scarlet Letter is an American classic, full of themes,
characters, and ideas that are universal and timeless. However, it
is vital that we connect the novel with contemporary, relevant
issues and make personal and global connections.
•“Sin” has multiple meanings and treatments in different
societies and different time periods.
• Although Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter was
written more than 150 years ago, it contains concepts and insights
relevant to current societal and governmental norms.
• Religion, social morals and codes of ethics play important
roles in countries’ laws and treatment of individuals in those
countries.
Essential Questions . . .
• How do varying levels of religious
influence on governments dictate moral
and ethical law?
• How does a society’s definition of “sin”
influence/affect the individual?
• How do hypocrisy, conformity, and
vengeance affect the characters of The
Scarlet Letter?
• How do these same forces affect others?
You will be able to…
• Interpret themes, taking into account the historical
setting
• Analyze, make connections to, and draw conclusions
about major characters in The Scarlet Letter
• Make connections between the Puritan “taboos” and
current cultural taboos
Culminating Assessments . . .
• Quizzes
• Final Test
• Research-supported literary analysis