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The Scarlet Letter. Nathaniel Hawthorne English 10. A. Nathaniel Hawthorne 1804-1864 Salem, Massachussetts Published in 1850-brought fame Over 150 years ago. Themes Alienation Breaking society’s rules A woman lets her heart rule her head and suffers.
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The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne English 10 A
Nathaniel Hawthorne • 1804-1864 • Salem, Massachussetts • Published in 1850-brought fame • Over 150 years ago.
Themes • Alienation • Breaking society’s rules • A woman lets her heart rule her head and suffers. • Romance – Deals with internal truth or truths of the human heart. • Relationship with nature. • Interior psychology of individual characters.
Setting • Puritan Boston, Massachusetts, in the early 1600s. • Puritans arrived in New England in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 1600s. • Believed in a pure interpretation of the Bible. • Religion and government closely intertwined. Ministers counseled judges. • Strict rules against theater, music, sensuous poetry, and frivolous dress.
Character • Hester- • Came to America to wait for her husband who was finishing business in Europe to arrive. • Husband is captured by Indians and never shows up. He is believed to be dead. • Hester commits adultery and becomes pregnant. • She is imprisoned and must wear the scarlet letter, which she elaborately embroiders in gold. • Must stand on the public scaffold. • Does so wearing the letter and holding three-month-old Pearl.
Chillingworth-An old man new to the village asks about her and learns her story. • Rev. Dimmesdale- A revered minister in the village. • Pearl-Hester’s daughter
Romance – Deals with internal truth or truths of the human heart. • Relationship with nature.
Assignment • Read chapters 1-6 by Tuesday, September 7. • Keep character profiles in your novel section. Write down characteristics of the characters and emotions you feel for the characters. • As you read, think of whom you feel to be the father of Hester’s child.