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The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne. Menu. Introduction Background Discussion Starters. The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter: Introduction. What happens when a private sin. becomes a public crime?. The Scarlet Letter: Introduction.
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The Scarlet LetterNathaniel Hawthorne Menu Introduction Background Discussion Starters
The Scarlet Letter: Introduction What happens when a private sin becomes a public crime?
The Scarlet Letter: Introduction In Puritan New England a young woman named Hester Prynne gives birth to a baby girl.
The Scarlet Letter: Introduction Hester’s elderly husband has been missing for years. Everyone knows he can’t be the father.
The Scarlet Letter: Introduction The town punishes Hester harshly for her adultery. First, they imprison her. Then, they condemn her to wear a scarlet letter A for the rest of her life.
The Scarlet Letter: Introduction The townspeople treat Hester as an outcast.
The Scarlet Letter: Introduction What her neighbors don’t know is the identity of the baby’s father. Hester refuses to tell.
The Scarlet Letter: Introduction Her lover, whoever he is, seems to escape punishment. Or does he?
The Scarlet Letter: Introduction Perhaps hidden suffering is even worse than public shame.
The Scarlet Letter: Background Persecuted in England, the Puritans came to North America to form their own communities.
The Scarlet Letter: Background Life in the Colonies was harsh, but it gave the Puritans the opportunity to form a society based on their religious ideals.
The Scarlet Letter: Background The setting of The Scarlet Letter is Boston in the 1640s. Boston had recently been founded by about one thousand English Puritans, led by John Winthrop.
The Scarlet Letter: Background Puritans sought the freedom to live by their beliefs. However, the Puritan leaders did not tolerate religious beliefs that differed from their own.
The Scarlet Letter: Background As for personal freedom… every member of the community was held to strict standards of behavior.
The Scarlet Letter: Background In a Puritan community such as Hester’s, no aspect of life was truly private. People kept a close watch on their neighbors.
The Scarlet Letter: Background Those considered sinners were publicly—and harshly—punished, as an example to others.
The Scarlet Letter: Discussion Starters Discuss (1) Hester goes to jail for an action that, in our society, usually would remain private. • What kinds of wrongdoing do you think should be punished publicly? • What kinds should remain private for the people involved?
The Scarlet Letter: Discussion Starters Discuss (2) Motivated by love and loyalty, Hester keeps a painful secret. • What kinds of secrets should you keep? • When might it be better to reveal a friend’s secret, even though that person will be angry with you?