The Scarlet Letter Project

1. The Scarlet Letter Project James Shaffer Period 7

2. Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. Hawthorne’s ancestors were some of the first Puritans to settle in New England. His great grandfather was involved in the Salem With Trials. Hawthorne loved to read and would write his own short stories. He attended Bowdoin College from 1821-1824. He anonymously published his novel, Fanshawe in 1828. Nathaniel also wrote collections of short stories such as Twice Told Tales and Mosses from an Old Manse. Hawthorne married Sophia Peabody in 1842 and had three children with her. Even after he was married and had children, Hawthorne continued to write. He wrote the Gothic romance novels The House of Seven Gables and The Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter was a best seller and one of the first mass produced books in America. Hawthorne’s health began to fail and it prevented him from finishing some of his romances. He died on May 19, 1864 in Plymouth, New Hampshire. Henry James once praised Hawthorne and said, “The fine thing in Hawthorne, is that he cared for the deeper psychology, and that, in his way, he tried to become familiar with it.” www.online-literature.com/hawthorne en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel Hawthorne

3. Arthur Dimmesdale Arthur Dimmesdale is a Puritan minister who had an affair with Hester Prynne. He is the father of Pearl, due to the affair he and Hester had. Dimmesdale hides that he is Pearl’s father and allows Hester to take all the blame for their shared sin. However, he feels guilty and is conscience is tortured. However, his guilt does help him become an emotionally powerful speaker and well liked member in the community. He is afraid of what his people would think of him of they knew the truth. During one of his sermons, he finally admits his sin and dies on the scaffold in the arms of Hester.

4. Arthur Dimmesdale: Conflict Analysis Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale struggles with the guilt of hiding that he committed adultery and had a child with Hester Prynne. Hester took all of the blame for their shared sin and this weighs on his conscience. On page 131, Dimmesdale wishes to tell his people: “I, your pastor, whom so reverence and trust, am utterly a pollution and a lie.” However, he was afraid of how the people would react and could not tell them. By doing this he acknowledged his shame as it states on page 131 “He loved the truth, and loathed to lie, as few men ever did. Therefore, above all things else, he loathed his miserable self.” Although he tortured on the inside, this caused him to give powerful sermons and become loved by the people. Page 128 states: “While thus suffering under bodily disease, and gnawed and tortured by some black trouble of the soul, and given over to machinations of the deadliest enemy, the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale had achieved a brilliant popularity in his office.” After giving another powerful sermon, the reverend tears off his shirt and reveals what many of the towns people believed was a scarlet letter that resembled the one worn by Hester. Then, he collapses on the scaffold and dies, finally confessing what he had done.