Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter, referred to the novel as a work of Romanticism. Hawthorne only describes it as Romanticism, but it also has Puritan ideals and beliefs in the novel itself. In novel, Hester, a young wife who committed adultery, was sentenced to a lifetime of cruelty, rejection, and sadness. Hester was required to wear the letter A on her chest to remind her of her sin and to remind others of what it would be like to commit a sin. Pearl, Hester’s daughter, was the only great thing that came from her sin, but Hester still saw Pearl as a sin and was afraid to consider Pearl a positive outcome because of the Puritan beliefs that she was surrounded by. The Scarlet Letter represents both Romanticism and Puritanism because it is not all about love and romance, but it is also about sadness, decay, and anger. Hester Prynne was married to a man named Roger Chillingworth. Chillingworth was captured and held hostage by Indians for a year. This made Hester believe her husband was dead during the time he was gone. She moved on and fell in love with a young minister named Arthur Dimmesdale, whom she committed the adultery with. In the eyes of the Puritans this is a great sin and should be punished. The women in this time, in the 1600’s, were not so friendly. They didn’t believe Hester had a severe enough …show more content…
There are many ways the novel represents Romanticism for example how Hester loved Dimmesdale so much that she would not give his name and turn him in. The novel also represents Puritanism, for instance when Hester was first punished for her sin all she had to do was stand on a scaffold. The Puritan women in the town didn’t believe that was a severe enough punishment. They wanted her to be killed for her sin. Puritan beliefs were very harsh and cruel and everything had to be done correctly. The novel is full of grief, animosity, bliss, and