“Puritans were fundamentalists. They believed that every word in the Christian Bible was the true word of God and was to be followed by letter” (The DBQ Project). The accused were condemned at the end because no one would believe their cries and pleas, and they were unheeded. These trials, really, went on for quite a prodigious
Religion was the main key to their whole way of life. Everyone followed the same rules of God and obeyed the town rules and went to church. Hawthorne understood the complexities of Puritanism. “Despite being a descendent of the Puritans, Hawthorne did not make himself the historian of Puritanism. He delivered it with force and gave the spirit and sentiment of its life, in an intense and powerful story which contains the very soul of its faith” (Kahhoul Imene).
Custom House: The story takes place in Massachusetts during the late seventeenth century. Chapter 1: The setting of the story takes place in a colony of the New World called Boston. It appears that a lot of description is put into the jail as well.
When you think of a Puritan society, what comes to your mind? Perfect, flawless, and a religion based on following God? Well, that is what it says on paper, but is it really that perfect? Throughout the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne jabs at the Puritans in an attempt to portray just how flawed they really are. After reading the book, you want to think that Hawthorne is telling the story of sinning in a Puritan society.
With the Puritans having strict religious beliefs about the devil and God, it gave them strong feelings about the ways in which women impacted their community. Along with their religious beliefs, their society had certain beliefs about women and the way they should act which led them to suspect anything out of the “norm” as a sign of the devil. While some of this could be on women and the way we speak, the Puritans already had such strong feelings toward the vulnerable mind of women that it wouldn’t matter. The women were represented by weakness in nearly every aspect a person can be judged on and this thought of them as the weaker vessel is what ultimately led to them being accused and persecuted more than men during the Salem Witch
Punishment 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
The exploration of societal pressures. Life can be separated into two equal parts totally independent from one another. The inner self, being the innermost thoughts and feelings of the individual, and the outer self, how the individual decides to conduct itself around the others in society. Often times one of these parts takes control of the other, suppressing its partner. The suppression is often not of equal frequency because of the obligation humans feel to be liked and to fit in causes the outermost self to be given the most thought and worry.
The Puritans were Christian Protestants, so they relied heavily on the Bible and interpreted it literally. However, this means their fundamental perception of women comes from the book of Genesis, in which Eve betrays God first. Richard Goodbeer, author and professor at the University of Kansas, says it best: “Eve’s legacy as the female prototype was double-edged: on the one hand, she served as a successful helpmeet in the Garden of Eden; on the other, she was Satan’s first human ally.” When interpreted literally – as Puritans often did – a conclusion pulled from Eve’s actions could be that women are the most likely to succumb to the Devil, as it is in their nature. When put into the time of the Salem Witch Trials, this framing resulted in the idea that women should be the first to blame for witchcraft.
After reading the story of Hester Prynne and her daughter Pearl in the Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne portrayed the Puritan society along with the rules of double standards. The Puritans were a religious minority group who believed that the Church of England needed to be purified of the influence of Catholicism. They believed that women were culturally inferior to men and married women were expected to follow the edicts of their husbands and were unable to interact with local government on their own. Married women were also unable to sue for divorce. Widows were an exception and had no male figure to guide them.
In the book, The Scarlet Letter, the author Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to bolster the characters and to help the readers get a better understanding of them. Symbolism is used by writers to better relate to objects. Some examples of symbolism would be in chapter 7. These would have to include: Pearl/the scarlet letter, the sunlight on Governor Bellingham’s mansion, and the reflection within the suit of armor. These three examples are the most paramount to help to reveal the characters and to distribute Hawthorne’s message.
Morality in The Scarlet Letter In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book, The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne commits what is deemed an immoral act in Puritan society. She perpetrates adultery and the people of the town condemn her for this. This is undoubtedly a sin, blackening a supposedly pure town; however, the Puritans lack of forgiveness attributes to staining the society even more so. The Puritans prove to be the most unethical since they punish Hester, try to take her child and attempt to shun her.
The appellation of the scarlet letter was completely useless. It had no purpose, everyone had already knew and witnessed her ignominy up on the scaffold. Even if new settlers had arrived, I am assuming the women of the town would gossip about it filling them in. Hester still would have slowly became the brave woman they all perceived her as at the end of it, with or without the scarlet letter. There has been a time when I was ostracized because of a single act, a harmless one in fact.
Term gender role is described as a set of social norms of what types of behaviors are generally considered acceptable, appropriate or desirable for a person based on their sex ussualy centered around opposing conceptions of femininity and masculinity. Gender roles traditionally were often divided into distinct feminine and masculine gender roles, until especially the twentieth century when these roles diversified into many different acceptable male or female roles in modernized countries throughout the world. Gender roles are closely linked with gender stereotypes.
The Puritan society thinks that it was their job to punish people who committed crime severely because they believe they were doing god’s work. They persecuted Hester for committing adultery while they are blinded by
(Hall, 127). This idea of a fair and just society was the centerpiece of Puritan society, and it subsequently led to the virtue of community over the individual which was previously discussed. When it comes to The Scarlet Letter, the ideology that Puritan morality is fundamental to everything is truly front and center. Hester’s struggle due to her past sin is a perfect example of this; The ministry attempted to purify and protect the community by excluding Hester from societal affairs, even going as far as attempting to strip Hester of her custody of Pearl. Overall, Hester’s forced
