Sin In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter Essay Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter, wrote the book in the 1800s while the events in the book take place in the late 1600s Puritan society. The Puritan society in the 1600s functioned like a theocracy where God is recognized as the ruler. Also, the Puritan society functioned like a hypocrisy, where the rich kicked down the poor. Overall, the Puritan society was strict and judgmental. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolism of the scarlet letter, the burrs and Dimmesdale to contribute to the overall theme of guilt.

The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne is set in Boston during the 1640s where the main religion was Puritanism. Hawthorne published his book during the Romantic period emphasizing individualism and a person’s relationship with God. This book also contains Gothic elements because it shows the psychological effects of being alienated from society and the darker sides of humanity. Throughout the book there are characters that demonstrate hubris. The character that most prominently shows excessive pride is Arthur Dimmesdale.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist who wrote many novels and short stories who was born on July 4th, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. He originally had his last name as Hathorne - without the ‘w’ – but changed it due to not wanting to draw attention from his ancestor John Hathorne who was the only judge involved in the Salem witch trials. Nathaniel Hawthorne married Sophia Peabody in 1842 and had three kids. They ended up moving all around Massachusetts but then they finally decided that they’d settle in Concord, Massachusetts. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s first novel written is called Fanshawe in 1837. Hawthorne wasn’t sure how he felt about it, so he published it anonymously. Unfortunately, as it turned out, the novel was criticized heavily

Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter in an era commonly referred to as “The Transcendentalist Movement” (“The Scarlet Letter”). “Transcendentalism a reaction against the rationalism of the previous century and the religious orthodoxy of Calvinist New England, it stressed the romantic tenets of mysticism, idealism, and individualism” (“The Scarlet Letter”). It sees God as an important part of a person and the world, God was not a “harsh distant figure” (“The Scarlet Letter”). Simultaneously, Puritan values and ideas also played a major role in shaping The Scarlet Letter. “The Puritans are all alike and, taking themselves for the standard, see all difference and variety as unnatural, bad” (Baym 53). That is, anything out of the norm, Puritans will instantaneously oppose it and disassociate themselves from it. “Because they are dedicated to forms, rules, laws, [and] structures, the Puritans have no tolerance for secrets: they take people as purely public beings, and they hate and fear anything

Why is sin important? It is believed that sin is important to people because their deity places guilt on their wrongdoings to show that those actions are not to be repeated. In contrary to this belief, there are people with religious views that hold no importance with sin. Depending on the individual’s religious views, sin can be a conflict between oneself and a “higher” being or it can not affect the individual at all. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Arthur Dimmesdale is an ordained Puritan priest that had committed a grave sin in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He had committed adultery with a married woman, Hester, the woman that is married to Roger Chillingworth. After Chillingworth has heard about this news, he seeks

“… Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” This verse is found in John 8:7; in this, Jesus is basically saying how no one can judge anyone because no one is perfect. No one can say anything about anybody’s sin because all sin is equal and everybody sins. In the Scarlet Letter, the Puritans did not think all sin was identical; they saw some sin as worse than others. The Puritans did not follow Jesus’ advice with Hester; today, we still don’t follow it any better.

In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author is trying to convey to the reader his definition of sin through the many symbols in the novel. Three of the symbols that Hawthorne used would be Pearl, black weeds, and Chillingworth. Hawthorne's definition of sin is what seems wrong is wrong, this is proved through Pearl, the black weeds, and Chillingworth which are some of many symbols of Hawthorne's throughout The Scarlet Letter. “How strange, indeed! Man had marked this woman’s sin by a scarlet letter, which had such potent and disastrous efficacy that no human sympathy could reach her, save it were sinful like herself.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written amidst the 1800’s. Hawthorne was a famous American author during that time frame. He is a relative to a judge from the Salem Witch Trials, which was his Great-Great Grandfather John Hathorne. Hathorne was the only judge who did not express atonement for his crimes, which led people to dislike all the Hathorne’s. This sparked Nathaniel Hawthorne's interest in the Puritan times, which resulted in the Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne delineates Puritan standards religiously and culturally in an outstanding way. He was also an Anti-Transcendentalist which means that he believed that all humans were evil. In his novel, the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbols of the scarlet letter, Reverend Dimmesdale, and burrs to add onto the overall theme of guilt.

In The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is more than a literary figure in a classic novel, she is known by some people to be one of the earliest American Hero’s. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Hester commits adultery and has a child that she must care for all alone. She is forced to wear a powerful, attention grabbing “Scarlet A” on her chest while she must try to make a living to support her and her child, Pearl. Even though she must face all the harsh judgment and stares she does not allow her sin to stop her from living a successful life. She looks past the Letter as a symbol of sin and turns it into a sign of approval. Hester

In his novel, The Scarlet Letter takes place in a Puritan town. In the 1600’s, by Hawthorne Nathaniel and he talks about the Puritan people. The laws of the town and the belief’s of the people. Hawthorne uses Pearl, Dimmesdale and Burrs to contribute to the overall theme of guilt.

Nathaniel Hawthorne,  a anti-transcendentalists, born during the early 1800’s, born in Salem, made a book called The Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter was a book about Puritans in New England, during the 1600’s in a small Puritan town. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism of The Scarlet Letter, Pearl and Burrs to contribute to the overall theme of sin.

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, displays many symbols. The story takes place in 17th century Salem, Massachusetts. The people in this story are Puritans and they live in a very strict community. The main character is Hester Prynne, who committed adultery and became pregnant. Her punishment was to wear a scarlet letter on her dress at all times. Hawthorne uses many symbols to tell the story, including the scarlet letter Hester has to wear, a meteor displayed in the sky, and Pearl.

Scarlet, what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you read this word, passion, fire, anger? The color scarlet is a symbol with numerous distinctive meanings and interpretations such as sin or guilt. The master of symbolism, Nathaniel Hawthorne himself, uses sin as a recurring theme in his novel The Scarlet Letter which took place back in the 1600’s. The Scarlet Letter A, Pearl, and the meteor contribute as symbols to the overall theme of sin. To begin with, Hawthorne uses the scarlet letter A as a badge of sin throughout the entirety of the book.

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the 1800s, takes place in a New England Puritan society in the 1600s. Hawthorne was an anti transcendentalist, the great nephew of John Hathorne, who believed that all humans have an innate darkness within them. Hathorne was the only judge who did not apologize for the Salem Witch Trials. The basis of anti transcendentalism also included that the forest/nature is evil because that is where the devil lives, and that society was good because it kept humans from giving in to their evil natures. Hawthorne uses symbolism, a literary device that uses objects and people to stand for something outside themselves, throughout the book to depict and explain many events.

The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the 1800s, but the book is placed in the Puritan times of the 1600s. Hawthorne is an anti-transcendentalist, which means he thinks society is pure, nature is evil and humans are naturally evil. Puritanism is a very strict religion in the 1600s, if you are a Puritan you are against all earthly pleasure and your life is hell on Earth. Symbolism is a literary device that uses symbols to represent ideas. In this novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolic significance of the Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth to contribute to the theme of guilt.