The Scarlet Letter Socratic Seminar Questions

These actions can not be seen by the whole Puritan society as this is hypocritical of their beliefs.

Puritans, although seeking to purify the churches, were hypocrites in the ways of seeking wealth, and a higher status. The laws by which they were to uphold, were only followed through by some. Some puritans, when in a dire situation, sought to bring other individuals down just to keep their own reputation. The existence of hypocrisy throughout not only the church-goers , and the churches but also the laws by which they abide is the base on which The Crucible lies.

Thou shalt not lie, thou shalt not murder, and thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor are three of the ten commandments that God created for his people to follow. The Puritans valued the commandments and devoted their lives to following them. They supposedly believed in going to church every sunday, having their children baptized young, and living day by day in accordance with the scripture. The Puritans were thought to be holy and without fault, but no one is perfect; therefore, the Puritan society was bound to make a mistake. Instead of confessing and publicly stating that they were deviant, they chose to cover it up and hide. They claimed to be the innocent Christians that they were raised to be, but deep down, they were

How is Dimmesdale’s appearance in the procession similar yet significantly different from his appearance coming out of the forest in chapter 20?

   Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne repeatedly portrays the Puritanical views of sin and evil.  The Puritans are constantly displayed as believing that evil comes from an unyielding bond being formed between love and hate.  For such reasons they looked towards Hester's commitment of adultery as an action of pure, condemned evil.  However, through the use of light and dark imagery, Hawthorne displays who truly holds evil in their hearts.  The one who is the embodiment of evil creates hypocrisy of Puritanical views towards sin and evil.  Hawthorne displays that those who expose sin to the public and the daylight are the most pure and those who conceal their sin under a

In the 1600’s, the Puritans lived in current day Massachusetts. They traveled there from Europe in hopes of separating from the controlling powers of the Church of England. When the Puritans arrived in Plymouth, however, they became just as controlling as the Church of England with respect to religious beliefs. Many different novels were written about this time period that focused on religion, hypocrisy, and punishments. Despite being different genres, William Bradford’s “Of Plymouth Plantation”, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter and Jonathan Edward’s “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry G-d” all demonstrate the idea that non-conformists receive cruel punishments during the puritanical era.

The Puritans set out for the New World because they believed the Church of England was corrupt. After they settled in America, Puritan societies upheld rigid rules and had oppressive social norms because of their belief that mankind is inclined to sin. Despite their emphasis on following these rules, however, many committed sins. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale commit the grave taboo of adultery, leading to the unhappiness of multiple people.

Puritan Literature Puritan literature is full of the Puritan values and beliefs. One of those beliefs is that only by following strict religious rules can a person have God’s approval and get to heaven. “Of Plymouth Plantation”, “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God”, and The Crucible show this belief. “Of Plymouth Plantation” talks about a proud and very ungodly young man, one of the seamen, of a lusty, able body, which made him more arrogant. He condemned the poor, sick people aboard the ship and cursing them daily with angry words.

In The Scarlet Letter, the Puritans of Boston are exceedingly hypocritical in the way they treat others. Throughout the novel, the Puritans are notorious for the way they isolate, disrespect, and shun Hester and her child Pearl; all of which are hypocritical actions because Puritans are supposed to be merciful and forgiving of others, just like their lord. Instead of forgiving those who have committed a sin, they demand for unrelenting punishments that permanently sabotage the lives of others. The hypocrisy of Puritans is first witnessed minutes before Hester mounts the scaffold, when the Puritans are still gossiping about Hester and the punishments she should receive. One Puritan states, “The magistrates are God-fearing gentlemen, but merciful overmuch—that is a truth.

Puritans may have tried to give themselves the appearance of a perfect society, but it was really just as corrupt and full of sinners as any society today. In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Crucible by Arthur Miller and “To My Dear and Loving Husband” by Anne Bradstreet, there is evidence for this. In Puritan literature, although they try to hide it, sin is very common, in that Puritans do the opposite of what they preach, but still harshly punish those who sin.

Puritans arose from the Catholic community and were known as ‘precisionists.’ Hence, why they are called Puritans in the late sixteenth century, they were known for destroying anything that was impure in a very “barbari[c] way” (Earth’s Holocaust pg.12). It was revealed that Nathaniel’s grandfather committed sins like “lashed[ing] [at a] Quaker woman” and “set[ting] fire[s]” to many villages. Although, they were “people of prayer”, they made it their duty to repel any sort of “wickedness” in their community; but ended up being the wicked ones themselves (Young Goodman Brown pg.2). He portrayed his puritan Heritage to be “the worst sinners in the world” (Scarlet Letter pg. 31) They were “rough-looking men” who were “wicked” and dressed “remarkable” (Earth’s Holocaust pg.10 & David swan S.31 & Ministers Black Veil S.6). He showed little characterization in each work about how puritans were supposed to be “honorable” people, but became the “reality of sin”; endangering their own family line into a “fierce [] blaze” of fire (Scarlet Letter pg.1 & Earth’s Holocaust pg.9). Their purpose was to cleanse the world from “earthly imperfection[s]”, but instead, continued to spark “the volumes of [their own] smoke” (The Birthmark pg.1 & Earth’s Holocaust pg.10 ). For the “old man’s revenge” was “blacker than [his] own sin”, and Nathaniel Believed that because of their actions, he had become “a fiend [to] his especial torment” of struggles (Scarlet Letter pg.18. & 31). For example, he was ‘forced to live in poor conditions’ and accept to be a surveyor, in Salem Custom House, but it was a ‘one-time position he lost’ (NCLC 2). His mother had then passed away, which “was dearest to his eyes” and filled with “grief and wonder”; he successfully wrote, The Scarlet Letter (Earth’s Holocaust pg.12). It’s almost as

In the book, “The Scarlet Letter” puritan culture is depicted as a very godly driven culture. They live by a set a rules which they have to follow, if they don’t the would have to ask for forgiveness from god. If one sins they would be punished like shown by the character Hester Prynne. She was a figure of disgrace for the sin she had committed, adultery in the book her sin was public so others could learn from her sins. The puritan culture set rules that were aimed to keep balance but instead rose curiosity, it told people what was wrong and right instead of allowing them to learn that themselves.

The puritans arrived in America in the mid-17th century and with them they brought their intense religious views, including their view on sin. Puritans believed that people were born sinners, those who were meant to go to heaven were destined from birth. But although they believed themselves sinners, puritans still sought to be as holy as they could, living their humble, godfearing lives. But the people who sinned, even minor sins, were faced with the justice of the church. In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the book opens on one of these puritan punishments, public shaming of Hester Prynne, known adulterer. Adultery is only one of the sins feature in this novel. While, Hester has a symbol of adultery sewn onto her chest and a symbol

The Puritan society was civilized for their people, however, if it was today then it would be viewed barbaric. There are numerous ways this civilization can be acknowledged as barbaric or uncivilized. One of those ways was public shaming; furthermore, the hypercritical government of this aristocracy is the most barbaric element of this society. Then again the association has remarkable points. However, they are indecent on how they manage other people in this community; though it is most likely that they have yet to comprehend how people operate. Additionally, Hawthorne employs several unsightly words to illustrate some of the characters in this society. Hawthorne described one woman by saying “cried another female, the ugliest as well as the