Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Scarlet Letter

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Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Scarlet Letter

• Kristin Farr
• 11th Grade English
• SOL 11.3 Students will read and analyze
  relationships among American literature, history,
  and culture
• a) Describe contributions of
  different cultures to the development of American
  literature
• c) Discuss American literature as it
  reflects traditional and contemporary themes,
  motifs,
• universal characters, and
  genres
• 11.4 e) Analyze information from a text
  to draw conclusions
• This Powerpoint would primarily be used by the
  teacher as an in-class teaching tool, as a
  presentation to the whole class, with time being
  taken for students to discuss the questions posed
  on many of the slides. However, there are also
  numerous links that interested students would be
  able to explore on their own after the class
  presentation, such as the timelines and the extra
  biographical information on Hawthorne. Most of
  these links which are scattered through the
  slides would not be explored in class. Also, I
  think that closely reading excerpts is very
  important, and that is why many of the slides
  seem to have a lot of text on them, simply to
  allow to students to be able to quickly look at
  the same brief passages.

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Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Scarlet Letter

• March 28, 2006

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OBJECTIVES

• To obtain knowledge of Nathaniel Hawthornes life
  and background and how it affected his writing
• To understand the historical and social context
  in which The Scarlet Letter was written
• To identify key literary elements in the novel
  (setting, characters, mood, climax, symbols,
  themes)
• To analyze and discuss events throughout The
  Scarlet Letter and their implications and
  meanings

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OUTLINE

• Nathaniel Hawthorne (biographical information)
• Historical Context
• A. What was going on in America in 1850?
• B. Literary history
• 1. Brief look at the proceeding literary
  periods
• a. Puritan writings
• b. Enlightenment
• c. Romanticism/Transcendentalism
• d. Subdivision of Romanticism Gothic lit.
• 2. Influence of Trans/anti-Trans
• Literary Elements
• A. Characters
• B. Mood
• C. Climax
• D. Setting
• 1. Life in the mid 17th century
• 2. Effect of his past on the novel (time
  and place)
• a. Puritan heritage
• b. Work at the Custom House

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NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

• Hawthorne's Life

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NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

• Born July 4, 1804 in Salem, MA
• Education- Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine
  (38 freshmen, 5 faculty members)
• Married Sophia Peabody in 1842
• Job at Custom House 1839-40, 46-49
• 3 Children
• Moved to England, France, and Rome after Salem
• Died in 1864
• Do you want to learn more?

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NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

• The Scarlet Letter is powerfully written but my
  writings do not, nor ever will, appeal to the
  broadest class of sympathies, and therefore will
  not obtain a very wide popularity.
• -Hawthorne, after
  finishing the novel

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NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

• As a literary artist
• First American pro writer college educated,
  familiar with the great European writers
• 4,000 copies of The Scarlet Letter sold in the
  first 10 days

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OVERVIEW

• The Scarlet Letter tells the story of Hester
  Prynne who has committed adultery and must wear a
  scarlet "A" publicly as punishment. When her
  husband, whom she believed to be dead, suddenly
  reappears, he determines to discover the identity
  of the father of Hester's child, although Hester
  steadfastly refuses to reveal his identity.
  Through the use of rich symbolism and
  supernatural events, Hawthorne shows the
  destructive effects of guilt and revenge.

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HISTORICAL CONTEXT

• The Scarlet Letter was finished in 1850..

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What was going on in America in
1850?HISTORICAL, SOCIAL, AND LITERARY EVENTS
TIMELINE
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HISTORICAL CONTEXT

• To what period of American
• Literature does Hawthorne belong??
• Lets take a look at the history of American
  Literature..

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HISTORICAL CONTEXT

• English Heritage (Elizabethan Age)
• 1650-1570 Early Colonial period- Puritan
  writings, no distinctive American literature
• 1750-1800 Later Colonial period- Age of
  Reason/Enlightenment (Neoclassicism, Rationalism)

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HISTORICAL CONTEXT

• 1800-1850 American Renaissance/ Romanticism-
  slave narratives, inner feelings, the burden of a
  Puritan past, the rejection of Neoclassicism
• Transcendentalism was a part of this

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HISTORICAL CONTEXT

• TRANSCENDENTALISM
• Boston-centered movement, led by Emerson, was an
  important force in New England circles
• Human existence transcends the sensory realm
• Formalism in favor of individual responsibility
• Belief in individual choice and consequence
• Focus on the positive

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HISTORICAL CONTEXT

• SUBDIVISION OF ROMANTICISM GOTHIC LITERATURE,
  the dark romantics(1800-1850)
• -use of supernatural
• -motif of double (both good and evil in
• characters sin and evil does exist)
• -depression, dark forests
• -Poe, Hawthorne, Melville
• -emphasis on symbolism (which we will
  discuss later)

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HISTORICAL CONTEXT

• In what ways can you see the Transcendentalist
  influence on Hawthorne?
• (His wife was a Transcendentalist and had some
  effect on his literature, and he also became
  friends with Transcendentalists in Concord,
  Emerson and Thoreau)
• How is he also ANTI-TRANSCENDENTALIST/ GOTHIC, as
  exhibited in the novel?

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LITERARY ELEMENTS

• Characters
• Mood
• Setting
• Plot
• Symbolism
• Themes

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LITERARY ELEMENTSCHARACTERS

• Hester Prynne- protagonist, married to
  Chillingworth, adultery with Dimmesdale

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LITERARY ELEMENTSCHARACTERS

• Arthur Dimmesdale- pastor, intense suffering,
  tragic figure
• Roger Chillingworth- physician, old, evil,
  deformed, diabolical vengeance on Dimmesdale
• Pearl- beautiful daughter, sometimes imp-like,
  rebellious, inquisitive

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LITERARY ELEMENTSCHARACTERS

• Gov. Bellingham- based on actual governor of
  Boston
• John Wilson- eldest clergyman, based on actual
  English minister
• Mistress Hibbins- based on figure executed for
  witchcraft, appears to know a great deal about
  the adultery

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LITERARY ELEMENTS MOOD

• The SOMBER, DARK mood is well-defined from the
  beginning
• sad-colored garments of spectators, the prison
  door which is heavily timbered and studded with
  iron spikes

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LITERARY ELEMENTS SETTING

• 17th century Puritanical New England (Mass.)
• What was America like then?

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LITERARY ELEMENTS SETTING

• Life in the Mid 1600s
• Boston was founded just 2 decades earlier
• 1st governor was John Winthrop, who governed
  based on religious and civic ideals
• People were hardworking and devoted
• 1630s- Puritans established a number of
  settlements in Massachusetts
• PURITANISM involved belief that the church of
  England was too much influenced by the Catholic
  church
• Strict code, on which people were expected to act
  and judged upon
• Rejected belief that divine authority is
  channeled through any one single person (i.e. the
  pope)
• THEOCRACY- state governed by the church

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LITERARY ELEMENTS SETTING

• What aspects of this type of religious society
  can be seen in The Scarlet Letter?
• How do you think Hawthorne views this type of
  society?

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• How do you think his own past might have affected
  his writing?
• (Hawthorne was intrigued and even haunted by his
  past ancestors, and they appeared quite often in
  his fiction. Hawthornes past greatly influenced
  his writing of The Scarlet Letter.)

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How did his life affect the writing of the novel?

• John Hathorne presided over
• the Salem Witch Trials of 1692
• Major William Hathorne (1608-1681) persecuted
  quakers

1. Influences on Hawthorne Puritan background
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How did his life affect the writing of the novel?

• 2) Salem- childhood, later work at the Custom
  House, as Surveyor of the Port
• The Custom House introduction creates a FRAME
  STORY
• This introduction gives an account of his
  experience as surveyor he attacks the officials
  who connived in his dismissal Like his heroine
  Hester, Hawthorne emerges from confrontation with
  a self-righteous society as an individual of
  integrity,passion, and moral superiority.

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The Custom House
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THINKING ABOUT WHAT YOUVE READ..

• Literary Element Plot

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Chapters 1-8
Hester on the Scaffold

• By Mary Hallock Foote

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Chapters 1-8

• How do you feel about what happens to Hester
  Prynne in the beginning?
• What is her punishment? What do you think the
  magistrates are hoping to accomplish with this
  punishment?

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One the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth,
surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and
fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the
letter A.

• THE PUNISHMENT

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Chapters 1-8

• He was small in stature, with a furrowed visage
  which, as yet, could hardly be termed aged. There
  was a remarkable intelligence in his features, as
  of a person who had so cultivated his mental part
  that it could not fail to mould the physical to
  itselfone of this mans shoulders rose higher
  than the other.
• Who does she recognize in the crowd and how does
  she feel about it?

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Chapters 9-15

• How does Dimmesdale really feel about his role in
  the community?
• What are the differences between Hester and
  Dimmesdale at the end, with her outward
  punishment and his inward punishment?

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Chapters 9-15
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Chapters 9-15

• Wood engraving by Barry Moser for the
  Pennyroyal Press from the January 1991 edition of
  the Essex Institute Historical Collection.
• Moser's image shows Arthur Dimmesdale with his
  eyes downcast and the scar of an "A" clearly
  visible on his chest.

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• ..Though he were to step down from a high
  place, and stand beside thee on thy pedestal of
  shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a
  guilty heart through life.

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Chapters 9-15

• How does
• Chillingworths
• appearance change
• over the course of time?

The Eyes of the Wrinkled Scholar Glowed from
1878 edition of the novel (Chillingworth called
to prison cell as a healer and aid to Hester and
Pearl)
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Chapters 16-24

• What do you think is the climax of the plot of
  the novel?
• Possibly the second scaffold scene, where
  Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl are all on the
  scaffold, divulging their secret in darkness.

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What is the falling action after this?.....
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Chapters 16-24

• The meaning of the letter was intended to
  isolate Hester from society. Given the way in
  which her life ends, did it accomplish what the
  magistrates intended?

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In the end, what character did you sympathize
with the most and why?
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LITERARY ELEMENT SYMBOLISM IN THE NOVEL
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SYMBOLISM

• Discuss the symbolism in the following objects in
  The Scarlet Letter.
• What implications are made through the use of
  these symbols?

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SYMBOLISM

• Hesters and Pearls Clothing
• Her own dress was of the coarsest materials and
  the most sombre hue with only that one
  ornamentthe scarlet letterwhich it was her doom
  to wear.
• The childs attire, on the other hand, was
  distinguished by a fanciful, or, we might rather
  say, a fantastic ingenuity, which served, indeed,
  to heighten the airy charm that early began to
  develop itself in the little girl

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SYMBOLISM

• PEARL (the name)
• Her Pearl!For so had Hester called her not as
  a name expressive of her aspect, which had
  nothing of the calm, white, unimpassioned lustre
  that would be indicated by the comparison. But
  she named the infant Pearl, as being of great
  pricepurchased with all she hadher mothers
  only treasure!

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SYMBOLISM

• The A!
• It was so artistically done, and with so much
  fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that
  it had all the effect of a last and fitting
  decoration to the apparel which she wore and
  which was of a splendor in accordance with the
  taste of the age, but greatly beyond what was
  allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the
  colony.
• Not a stitch in that embroidered letter, but
  she has felt it in her heart.

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SYMBOLISM

• The Prison Gate and the Rose
• But on one side of the portal, and rooted
  almost at the threshold, was a wild rosebush,
  covered, in this month of June, with its delicate
  gemsThis rosebushhas been kept alive in
  history but whether it had merely survived out
  of the stern old wildernessIt may serve, let us
  hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom that
  may be found along the track, or relieve the
  darkening close of a tale of human frailty and
  sorrow.

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SYMBOLISM

• The Leech

He gathered herbs here and there
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SYMBOLISM

• Can you think of any more?

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MAJOR THEMES

• PURITAN MORALITY v. PASSION AND INDIVIDUALISM
• Self-trust v. accomodation to authority
• Conventional v. unconventional gender roles
• Guilt sense of guilt forced by puritanical
  heritage/society
• The penalties of isolation/ isolation because of
  self-cause and societal cause
• Patriarchal power
• Belief in fate/free will
• Impossibility of earthly perfection

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MAJOR THEMESPerhaps his greatest interest was
the human capacity on how sin operates on the
inner workings of minds

• With the superstition common to his
  brotherhood, he fancied himself given over to a
  fiend, to be tortured with frightful dreams, and
  desperate thoughts, the sting of remorse, and
  despair of pardon as a foretaste of what awaits
  him beyond the grave. But it was the constant
  shadow of my presence!--the closest propinquity
  of the man whom he had most vilely wronged!--and
  who had grown to exist only by this perpetual
  poison of the direst revenge! Yea, indeed!--he
  did not err!--there was a fiend at his elbow! A
  mortal man, with once a human heart, has become a
  fiend for his especial torment!" The unfortunate
  physician, while uttering these words, lifted his
  hands with a look of horror, as if he had beheld
  some frightful shape, which he could not
  recognize, usurping the place of his own image in
  a glass.

smile with a sinister meaning
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THE END
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Sources

• http//www.kirjasto.sci.fi/hawthorn.htm
• http//www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap3/ha
  wthorne.html
• http//college.hmco.com/english/lauter/heath/4e/st
  udents/author_pages/early_nineteenth/hawthorne_na.
  html
• http//www.bartleby.com/187/6.html
• http//www.bartleby.com/226/index.html2
• http//www.hawthorneinsalem.org
• http//www.wsu.edu/campbelld/amlit/timefram.html
• http//www.heidelberg.edu/dkimmel/american/timeli
  ne.html
• I used many more sources than this in my
  presentation, but I could not quickly find the
  links. Im not sure how necessary having all the
  sources listed is, but I can get them to you if
  needed. Sorry?