The Scarlet Letter
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Transcript of The Scarlet Letter
![Page 1: The Scarlet Letter](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022072013/56812a46550346895d8d836a/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
The Scarlet Letter
By Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Hawthorne once said: “I do not want to be a doctor and live by man’s diseases, nor a minister to live by their sins, nor a lawyer and live by their quarrels. So, I don’t see that there is anything left for me but to be an author.”
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About the Author• Born July 4, 1804 in
Salem, Mass.• Reclusive at times• Served as a
magazine editor• Worked in the Salem
Custom House• Lived at Brook Farm• Wrote Twice-Told
Tales, The House of Seven Gables, The Scarlet Letter, etc.
• Married Sophia Peabody and fathered Una (who became the model for Pearl)
• Served as the United States Consul to Liverpool
• Died in 1864 • Buried in Concord,
Massachusetts• Great-great-great-great
grandfather, John Hathorne, was judge at Salem witch trials
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The Custom House• Hawthorne claims
to have gotten the idea for this novel from the papers of Jonathan Pue. Among the papers, Hawthorne allegedly found an embroidered scarlet A and information on Hester Prynne.
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Historical Context• Boston Colony founded in 1630• John Winthrop (leader)• Puritans wanted to “purify” the
Church of England of all traces of Catholicism in liturgy, theology, and church organization
• Recognized the Bible as the sole source of religious authority
• Maintained a theocracy• Believed in predestination or
Doctrine of the Elect • Inflicted public punishments to
deter others from straying from righteousness (hanging, whipping, humiliation, etc,)
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Plot/Setting
• The novel is set in the mid 1600s in Boston, Massachusetts.
• The plot encompasses a seven year period.
• The plot involves the love triangle of wife-lover-husband.
• The major theme of the novel is developed in the context of good vs. evil.
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Point of View
•Third-Person Omniscient…Hawthorne reveals the inner and outer workings of the characters and provides social criticism, history, and psychology.
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Characters
• Hester Prynne- wearer of the scarlet letter• Pearl- child of Hester; living symbol of
Hester’s sin• Roger Chillingworth- learned scholar; doctor• Arthur Dimmesdale- admired young minister• Governor Bellingham- governor and
magistrate of Massachusetts Bay Colony• Rev. John Wilson- senior minister of colony• Mistress Hibbins- Gov. Bellingham’s sister
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Major Symbol
• The scarlet letter itself is the central symbol. It changes meaning for the characters in the novel as Hester’s character changes. The A becomes a pathway to redemption for some characters as well. Watch the many ways Hawthorne uses the scarlet A as a symbol…