APEN 11
Warm-Up
Hawthorne
Writing Prompt
The Scarlet Letter
Warm-Up
What symbols exist within The Scarlet
Letter? What does each represent?
How do you know?
The Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Hawthorne was born on
July 4th, 1804 in Salem,
Massachusetts
Father: Nathaniel
Hathorne Sr. was a sea
captain.
Mother: Elizabeth Clarke
Manning was a
descendent of blacksmiths
The Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Hawthorne attended
Bowdoin College
After his graduation
he turned to writing.
He wrote several
successful short
stories which were
collected in TwiceTold Tales (1837).
The Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Following university,
Hawthorne returned
to Salem where he
met Sophia Peabody.
After a five year
engagement, they
were married in 1842.
The Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Unable to support
his new family by
writing, in 1846
Hawthorne
accepted a political
appointment to the
Salem Custom
House as Surveyor
of the Port.
The Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne
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This bureaucratic
position stunted
Hawthorne's creativity.
A change in
administration,
however, led to his
termination in 1849.
Hawthorne's mother
died at the same time.
The Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Some critics have
suggested that the
loss of both his
position and mother
provided the
creative impetus to
write The Scarlet
Letter (1850).
The Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Hawthorne's
connection to
Salem haunted
him.
His greatgrandfather John
Hathorne was the
chief-interrogator
of the "Salem
Witches."
The Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne
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The story that
Hawthorne added
the "w" to his name
to distance himself
from his Hathorne
ancestors has no
clear evidence to
support it.
The Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Nathaniel Hawthorne
died on May 18, 1864
in Plymouth, New
Hampshire.
He is credited with
writing the first truly
American novel: The
Scarlet Letter.
Literary Themes
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Alienation – a
character is isolated
due to self-cause or
societal-cause
Guilt vs. Innocence
– a character's
sense of guilt caused
by Puritanical
values/heritage
Literary Themes
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Individual vs. Society
Self-reliance vs.
Accommodation
Hypocrisy vs. Integrity
Fate vs. Free Will
Unconventional
Gender Roles
Impossibility of
Human Perfection
Imagery
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Hawthorne makes use
of the following
patterns of images:
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Light vs. Dark
Natural vs. Unnatural
Sunshine vs. Firelight
or Moonlight and
Reflections
Romantic/Gothic Motifs
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Fantasies
Dreams
Reveries
Open-ended endings
and unanswered
questions – the openended possibilities of
idealistic romance
Hawthorne's Views of Romanticism
and Transcendentalism
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Hawthorne did not
conform to the
Romantic focus on
the emotions and
abandonment of
reason.
Hawthorne strove to
create a balance
between "head and
heart."
Hawthorne's Views of Romanticism
and Transcendentalism
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Hawthorne believed that human
fulfillment was achieved through a balance
between mind, reason, heart, spirit, will,
and imagination.
Hawthorne's balanced approach placed
him in opposition to Transcendentalists
like Emerson, Thoreau, and Longfellow.
The American Novel
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Hawthorne's novel
was not a means of
escape, but rather a
means to examine
society and life.
His novel invited
criticism of the
worlds he reflected
– Puritanism.
Hawthorne's Novel
Hawthorne's novel
found relevance as
more than mere
entertainment, but as
something more
prophetic and
integral to the
American identity.
The Puritans
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1565 – Spanish settlers
land in St. Augustine, FL
1607 – Captain John
Smith and others land at
Jamestown and establish
the first English
settlement in America
1638 – Anne Hutchinson
is banished from New
England for her beliefs.
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1650 – The events of The
Scarlet Letter take place
1773 – The Boston Tea
Party is staged to protest
British taxes on the
colonists
1776 – Colonists declare
their independence from
Britain
1850 – The Scarlet Letter
The Custom House
Why is this included in the text?
What purpose does it fulfill?
Writing Prompt
“Why dost thou smile so at me?” inquired
Hester, troubled at the expression of his eyes.
“Art thou like the Black Man that haunts the
forest round about me? Hast though enticed me
into a bond that will prove the ruin of my soul?”
“Not thy soul,” he answered, with another smile.
“No, not thine!”
In your own words, explain this exchange
between Hester and Roger Chillingworth.
What bond is she discussing and whose soul is
in danger? Your answer should prove a
thorough reading of the text!
The Scarlet Letter – Part I
“He was small in stature, with a furrowed
visage which, as yet, could hardly be termed
aged. There was a remarkable intelligence in
his features, as of a person who had so
cultivated his mental part that it could not
fail to mould the physical to itself…one of this
man’s shoulders rose higher than the other.”
The Scarlet Letter – Part I
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How do you feel about what happens to Hester
Prynne in the beginning?
What is her punishment? What do you think the
magistrates are hoping to accomplish with this
punishment?
“On the breast of her gown, in fine
red cloth, surrounded with an
elaborate embroidery and
fantastic flourishes of gold thread,
appeared the letter A.”
SYMBOLISM
Hester’s and Pearl’s Clothing
“Her own dress was of the coarsest materials and the
most sombre hue; with only that one ornament—the
scarlet letter—which it was her doom to wear.”
“The child’s attire, on the other hand, was distinguished
by a fanciful, or, we might rather say, a fantastic
ingenuity, which served, indeed, to heighten the airy
charm that early began to develop itself in the little
girl…”
SYMBOLISM
PEARL (the name)
“Her Pearl!—For so had Hester called her; not
as a name expressive of her aspect, which had
nothing of the calm, white, unimpassioned
lustre that would be indicated by the
comparison. But she named the infant “Pearl,”
as being of great price—purchased with all
she had—her mother’s only treasure!”
SYMBOLISM
The A!
“It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility
and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the
effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel
which she wore; and which was of a splendor in
accordance with the taste of the age, but greatly
beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary
regulations of the colony.”
“Not a stitch in that embroidered letter, but she has felt
it in her heart.”
SYMBOLISM
The Prison Gate and the Rose
“But on one side of the portal, and rooted
almost at the threshold, was a wild
rosebush, covered, in this month of June,
with its delicate gems…This
rosebush…has been kept alive in history;
but whether it had merely survived out of
the stern old wilderness…It may serve, let
us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral
blossom that may be found along the
track, or relieve the darkening close of a
tale of human frailty and sorrow.”
Homework
Scarlet Letter Journals are due 11/6