Scarlet Letter notes

Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne, a direct descendant of Judge Hathorne from the Salem witch trials.

Set in 1850 Salem, Massachusetts

Tax man in the Custom House, a Democrat.

Zachary Taylor, a Whig, becomes president of the United States, and the narrator gets fired.

He believes this will help him with his writing, which he wasn’t doing before because of Puritan guilt.

Hawthorne was born on the Fourth of July

Stories inspired by history (family and history)

Romance V.S. Novel

Hawthorne is not the narrator; he creates the narrator character who’s a parallel figure.

Hawthorne was a romance writer.

Narrator goes up to the attic and finds a package with a letter with a bright red “A” with gold.

He puts the letter to his chest, and he feels it burn.

The manuscript/letter is the story of the scarlet letter.

1650s - time in which the story actually begins - 42 years pre-witch trials

Story takes place in Boston, Massachusetts

Prison house has an oak, or hardwood, door with metal spikes - very harsh-looking

Symbolizes Puritanism with its rigid structure and rules

A wild rosebush grows in front of the prison, the only thing that’s alive and beautiful

The rosebush represents Hester Prynne - wild, resilient, stands out

Hester Prynne wears the elaborate scarlet letter “A”

Puritans needed to build a cemetery and a prison when they first got to the Bay Colony.

Hester Prynne walks out of the prison and to a scaffold, or a raised platform.

Reverend Dimmesdale is the reverend of Boston, who couldn’t believe this scandal had happened.

This was for shame and symbolistic of drawing attention to the person on the platform.

You also could be going to your hanging.

Hester Prynne has a baby in her arms named Pearl (3 months old).

Hester Prynne reflects on her life in England, where she was married to an older scholar she didn’t love.

Hawthorne compares her to the Virgin Mary with her child, as well a loving, merciful religion.

Hester Prynne has had an affair; Pearl Prynne is the illegitimate child.

The husband had gone missing and was presumed dead; that’s why they didn’t kill her right away.

Adultery is the 6th Commandment - don’t do it.

Tribunal - court of justice

Scaffold - raised platform

Impropriety - state of being improper

Rotundity - rounded

Behoof - advantage

Gentility - upper class

Evanescent - vanish to vapor

Iniquity - wickedness

Cloister - area of seclusion in a church