sort of in orderInflunce of Puritanism on the Characters in the Scarlet Letter
Abstract: The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of the most famous romantic novelists in the 19th century in America. There is a strong religious tone in The Scarlet Letter. Every characters’ life is closely related to the Puritanism belief. In this paper, the impacts of Puritanism on the main characters in The Scarlet Letter will be analysed. By analysing the Puritan persecution on the main characters, this paper reveals many issues in the Puritan society and the author’s attitude towards the Puritanism, hoping to enlighten people to ponder these issues in present society.
Key word: The Scarlet Letter,  Puritanism,  main characters
1. Introduction: The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 romantic work of fiction in a historical setting, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is considered to be his magnum opus. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an adulterous affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Hester had been alienated from the Puritan society, both in her physi
cal life and spiritual life. Dimmesdale is also persecuted to death by the Puritan spirits in his mind. Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne, is sort of comfort from god as well as a kind of punishment given to her by God. The townspeople who are puritans refer to her as the offspring of the devil. Every people’s life is deeply affected by the spirits of the Puritan. This novel has shown how Puritanism affects people’s life.
2. The beliefs and values of Puritanism
Puritanism, in the 16th and 17th cent., a movement for reform in the Church of England that had a profound influence on the social, political, ethical, and theological ideas of England and America. Historically Puritanism began early (c.1560) in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I as a movement for religious reform. The early Puritans felt that the Elizabethan ecclesiastical establishment was too political, too compromising, and too Catholic in its liturgy, vestments, and episcopal hierarchy. Calvinist in theology, they stressed predestination and demanded scriptural warrant for all details of public worship. They believed that the Scriptures did not sanction the setting up of bishops and churches by the
state. The main body of Puritans, the Presbyterians, favored a central church government, whereas the separatists, Independents or Congregationalists, defined the church as any autonomous congregation of believers, emphasized the point that one could arrive at one's own conclusions in religion, and opposed a national, comprehensive church.
During the reign of James I, the Presbyterian majority unsuccessfully attempted to impose their ideas on the established English church at the Hampton Court Conference (1604). The result was mutual disaffection and a persecution of the Puritans, particularly by Archbishop William Laud, that brought about Puritan migration to Europe and America. In New England, in the Puritan “Holy Commonwealth,” some 35 churches had been formed by 1640. The Puritans in New England maintained the Calvinist distinction between the elect and the damned in their theory of the church, in which membership consisted only of the regenerate minority who publicly confessed their experience of conversion. The Cambridge Platform (1648) expressed the Puritan position on matters of church government and discipline. To the Puritans, a person by nature was wholly sinful and could achieve good only by severe and unremitting discipline. Hard work was considered a religio
us duty and emphasis was laid on constant self-examination and self-discipline. Although profanation of the Sabbath day, blasphemy, fornication, drunkenness, playing games of chance, and participation in theatrical performances were penal offenses, the severity of the code of behavior of the early Puritans is often exaggerated.
After the 17th cent. the Puritans as a political entity largely disappeared, but Puritan attitudes and ethics continued to exert an influence on American society. They made a virtue of qualities that made for economic success—self-reliance, frugality, industry, and energy—and through them influenced modern social and economic life. Their concern for education was important in the development of the United States, and the idea of congregational democratic church government was carried into the political life of the state as a source of modern democracy.
3. Influences of Puritanism upon characters in the Scarlet Letter
3.1 Hester,one of the victims of Puritanism
Firstly, Hester Prynne, the main character in The Scarlet, who in order to pursuit her own re
al love is convicted of adultery and is condemned to wear The Scarlet Letter “A” on her chest as a permanent sign of her sin. In modern society, Hester has done nothing wrong. She is brave and of graceful nature. She isn’t hide her own feeling and to love Dimmesdale bravely and commit a sin. But in the Puritan society, Hester should have kept adherence to her husband, even she had not a bit love for him. After Hester commits the sin, the Puritan society immediately enforced its law against her. Besides to wear the red letter, she also suffer public shame on the scaffold.
Later the official sentenced Hester to stand for three hours on the platform of the pillory and for the rest of her life, to wear The Scarlet Letter “A” on her bosom. The public don’t pay any pity on her, but take her punishment as one way of amusing themselves. It is a typical phenomenon of Puritanism thought. What’s more, the Puritan communities were formed in a theocratic state where the Church and State share authority, and having equal responsibility for keeping law and order in the colony. This is based on the social order pictured in the Old Testament, and scholarly clergymen such as John Wilson and Arthur Dimmesdale, the English university graduates, explain it. Emphasis is placed on the Biblica
l Covenant, which promised obedience to elect leaders.
This scene also shows the weight of values and morals upon society in the 17th century where public punishment was not only used as a punishment but as a way to discourage others from committing the same crime. The community was the key helper in making this punishment because it didn’t helped to alienate Hester but to further her pain. This pain not only broke surface once,yet throughout the whole story Hester must deal with the shame and emotional pain of The Scarlet Letter.The stranger summed it up best with the quotation. Thus she would be a living sermon against sin, until the ignominious letter be engraved upon her tombstone. C.Hester’s rebellion to the Puritanismk
Secondly, if we have a glimpse of Hester’s state of mind and her attitude towards her sin during her punishment in scaffold; it is evident that Hester does not feel that she has sinned against God. Hester shows her rebellion against Puritanism to the community. This can be shown by “her strong protest against her daughter being taken away from her” and  “her standing out in helping her weaked lover”. Hester’s bravely brought much sunlight to the so
ber Puritanical society. However, one aspect of Puritanism is a Trinity with absolute power, controlling everything. Man has no real decisions to make, for God-at His whim-will completely decide for him. But Hester doesn’t think so. She believes one has the right to determine their own destiny. In rebellion against Puritanism, she achieves her goal and comes to understand that the society is not fixed by God in immutable law but is subject to change. So over and over again, Hester aids those around her who need help. She especially makes great efforts to nurse and sew for the poor. However, often this group repays her by taunting her with bitter words.

版权声明：本站内容均来自互联网，仅供演示用，请勿用于商业和其他非法用途。如果侵犯了您的权益请与我们联系QQ:729038198，我们将在24小时内删除。