American Exceptionalism In The Scarlet Letter
The 19th century was a significant period for American literature. It was then that the Dark Romanticists started to produce their works. It was then when American writers finally decided to face the truth and uncover ambiguous past of their land. Was it really characterized by the lack of long and stormy past? Or perhaps it only seems like that on the surface, but having gone deeper and deeper it turned out America had more complex issues at that time? Two of the three Dark Romanticists – Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville - did not agree that America lacked long and stormy past. In their texts, both authors show that American society had to struggle with their own problems that many did not even realize their presence. In this paper, …show more content…
In “The Scarlet Letter” he depicts it as an oppressive 17th – century Puritan society. “The style of Puritanism that Hawthorne presents is drab and gloomy, preoccupied with judgment and punishment, unrelenting and dogmatic,”1 writes Deborah L. Madsen in her book, “American Exceptionalism.” Hester Prynne, the main character accused of adultery, is persecuted by Boston community. Not only adults despise her, but also children who, blinded by the decayed values and norms, humiliate her and her child, Pearl. The character of Hester symbolizes the fight against Puritan enslavement, the need to modernize the prevailing norms that cause nothing but harm to American society. Opposing the society, and not obeying the Puritan religious standards, Hester unconsciously gives the Bostonian community an impulse to contradict deformed norms. With time, Hester 's and Pearl 's isolation and acceptance of fate causes the society to forget and adapt to their sin, and therefore makes it more liberal. The Puritan society is no longer so prejudiced and is even thankful for Hester 's charitable deeds. It can be argued that Hester is the embodiment of the new democratic world which endorses individualism and independence, and supersedence of outdated Puritan
Nathaniel Hawthorne's Diction In Scarlet Letter
857 Words | 4 PagesSociety has had a long history of belittling both people and their individuality, and also not allowing people to reach their full potential. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne is constantly talking about society in a negative way. Hawthorne himself is a transcendentalist who views society as a terrible institution and a way to stop people from reaching their true potential. Hawthorne's view of both puritan society and society during his time plays into his view and characterization of Hester Prynne. Hester Prynne is a fictional character who committed a sin and was publicly shamed and shunned from society because of it.
Being An American In The Scarlet Letter
1708 Words | 7 PagesWhat makes a person an American? Many ask this important question. Besides the fact that he or she took the citizenship test or he or she was born here. We are all working together to make this nation the best it can be. We can understand what an American is by thinking of what makes this country great.
Scarlet Letter Rhetorical Analysis Essay
838 Words | 4 PagesPuritan’s harsh beliefs represented the beginning of the Nineteenth Century in the newly colonized America. Their community ruled with an iron fist: unforgiving, pitiless, stern. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses his disagreement with puritan priorities by revealing the hypocrisy widely practiced throughout their community. Hawthorne’s utilization of dim diction aids in the establishment of his scornful tone, while inclusion of symbols and intricate juxtaposition all serve to accentuate the Puritan’s duplicity. All these factors combine to develop a critical tone which rebukes puritan society.
Similarities Between Lewis And Clark
733 Words | 3 Pages“Romanticism is seen as a response to the Enlightenment.” (4) It makes sense that the literature was the way that it was during this time period. Americans were essentially looking for someone to liberate them from British rule so they could finally experience freedom. It was all about the “heroism” and superiority of the American man. Lewis and
How Hester Prynne Changes In Scarlet Letter
941 Words | 4 PagesWe are all sinners, no matter how hard we try to hide our faults, they always seem to come back, one way or another. Written in the 19th century, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows us Hester Prynne and how one sin can change her life completely. Hester Prynne changes a great deal throughout The Scarlet Letter. Through the view of the Puritans, Hester is an intense sinner; she has gone against the Puritan way of life committing the highest act of sin, adultery. For committing such a sinful act, Hester must wear the scarlet letter while also having to bear stares from those that gossip about her.
Hester Prynne Punishment In Scarlet Letter
791 Words | 4 PagesPunishment of Puritans for their sins occurred harshly and frequently, and these punishments ranged from fines, branding, and severe whippings to hanging and death. Many of these penalties involved public humiliation of some kind, which made it extremely difficult for townspeople to accept by their peers after they had sinned. Because the Puritans believed religion was immensely important, the community was often reluctant to allow citizens that exhibited sinful behavior to achieve redemption (Cox). However, in the case of Hester Prynne, an adulterer in Nathaniel Hawthorne 's The Scarlet Letter, the townspeople eagerly made amends with her. This novel narrates the life of Hester Prynne, who committed adultery and courageously accepted the repercussions
Essay On Evil In The Scarlet Letter
719 Words | 3 PagesThe townspeople “[began] to look upon the scarlet letter as a token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since.” This quote exemplifies how sin is not a death sentence for Hester. Through hard work and charity it allowed the rigid Puritan society to see her as something different, and as someone who would not let society define who she was. Hester, thus, was not only able to change herself, but also the image in which society viewed her by working hard to benefit the public. Likewise, the scarlet letter which was supposed to represent sin was instead “fantastically embroidered with gold thread, upon her bosom.”
Hypocrisy Of The Puritan Society In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne
936 Words | 4 PagesIn the “Scarlet Letter,” Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays hypocrisy of the Puritan society, where the protagonist Hester Prynne face many consequences of her actions and the how she tries to redeem herself to the society. During the seventeenth puritans believe that it is their mission to punish the ones who do not follow God’s word and it is their job to stop those from sinning. Therefore, the hypercritical puritan society punishes Hester harshly for committing adultery, but in Hester’s mind, she believes that what she did was not a sin but acts of love for her man. Eventually, she redeems herself by turning her crime into an advantage to help those in need, yet the Puritan society still view her as a “naughty bagger.” (Hawthorne 78)
The Role Of Hester Prynne In The Scarlet Letter
466 Words | 2 PagesFeminism is the philosophy advocating equal political, economic, and social rights for women. The idea of feminism was not at all prevalent during the 1850s when Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter was published. In spite of this, Hawthorne wrote one of the most influential feminist novels of his time: The Scarlet Letter. This novel was hailed as an important feminist novel because of the main character: Hester Prynne.
Hester Prynne: A Romantic Hero
796 Words | 4 PagesIn Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, the protagonist, Hester Prynne is a Romantic Hero. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, we see Hester Prynne’s struggle in Colonial America after she is condemned by the Puritan society. She is sent to America by her husband, but he never returns, and Hester later conceives a child with the local minister. She is convicted with the crime of adultery, but refuses to identify the father, she is then forced to wear the Scarlet Letter. The novel captures her experience as she struggles to survive the guilt, sin, and revenge.
Change In American Literature
970 Words | 4 PagesThere were several different theme changes in literature during the late 1800’s and has continued through current day. The different themes used to describe the type of literature such as: Romanticism, Imagism, Modernism and Confessional poetry. There were many different styles of writing introduced during the time frame of when World War I began in 1865 and to the end of World War II. Romanticism and Naturalism were of the few first forms of American literature that emphasized originality and freedom of self-expression that began in the ending of the eighteenth century. America experienced some drastic changes in geographic areas, industrially and socially which was expressed thoroughly in literature.
American Literature: Literature Changed Over Time
1749 Words | 7 PagesThroughout this time period American literature shifts from American foundation into American development. Following the Revolutionary War, America saw a huge population increase; migration westward; and many technological advances. These events thus initiate the Romantic Era. Within this era society held the values of individual importance; close association with nature; and humanism. In the romanticism poem The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls the reader can obtain a glimpse of these nature focused beliefs.
Essay On The Treatment Of Men And Women In The Scarlet Letter
999 Words | 4 PagesThe Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850, functions as an evaluation of Puritan ideas, customs, and culture during the 17th century. Through this evaluation, we can get a good idea of what core values and beliefs the Puritans possessed, as well as the actions they take in cases of adversity brought about by “sinners”. Some Puritan virtues created stark divisions between groups of people, some of which led to discrimination under certain circumstances. One of the most prominent of these is the treatment and standards of men and women, a concept that surfaced during some of the major points in The Scarlet Letter. The divisions that were created by Puritan standards of men and women played a great role in shaping the plot of The Scarlet Letter, determining the fate of many of the characters.
Puritan Culture In The Scarlet Letter
920 Words | 4 PagesIn the novel, Hester, a young woman involved in adultery after leaving her husband in Europe, is at the center of ridicule and exclusion from the rest of the Puritan community due to her actions. This ideology of community over the individual is prevalent throughout the book, and it has far-reaching effects on not only Hester but her daughter Pearl as well. One of the key forces behind the societal exclusion in The Scarlet Letter is the Puritan ministry. As one of the most powerful groups in New England in the 17th century, they exerted a large presence in local governments. According to Hall’s A Reforming People, Puritan presence in the government came suddenly along with the influx of colonists to New England: “Bringing with them a deep fear of arbitrary, unlimited authority, these settlers based their churches on the participation of laypeople and insisted on "consent" as a premise of all civil governance.
Characteristics Of Romanticism In Rip Van Winkle
1328 Words | 6 PagesSetting out to reclaim his Americanness, Irving proclaimed his love for his country […]. “ (Norton Anthology 468) 3. Characteristics of Romantic Literature Romanticism in America can be determined by the time after the War of 1802 (1802-1805) and through the Civil War (1861-1865). By defeating Britain, a vast feeling of nationalism was formed throughout the population of America and thus motivated many writers to express their emotions of American nationalism, creating literature that tried to distinct itself from European traditions, instead shaped by “[…] radical individualism and a total commitment to social reform, religious freethinking and the most conventional pieties, artistic experiment and self-conscious imitation. “ (Habich 3)
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