Puritans in a New World: The Setting of The Scarlet Letter

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English 11 The Scarlet Letter Essay on the importance of the setting in The Scarlet Letter and answering if the story could have been set in a different time and place and still had the same effect.

Grade:85%

(Out of 4) 4 in Focus, 4 in Content/Development, 4 in Organization, 2 in Style, 3 in Conventions

Contents

Paper

More than 300 years ago, in a region of the United States now called New England, settlers arrived in a new world. These settlers, today known as the Puritans, created a theocracy, a society based on inflexible religious laws. It is in this environment which The Scarlet Letter takes place. In a town called Boston, Hester is condemned to suffer after her husband fails to arrive. In his absence, Hester has an affair with Reverend Dimmesdale. The rulers of the town force Hester to live the rest of her life in shame with a scarlet letter "A" on her chest. The pietistic society which Hester and Dimmesdale live in consider adultery to be one of the worst things a human can do, subjecting one's self to an eternal stay in Hell. The nature of this society comes from its religious teachings, compounded by the unfamiliar and hostile surroundings in which it exists. The new world represents a unique setting in history. This was a new world, unexplored and unknown, half way around the world from everything the settlers knew. The story of The Scarlet Letter is greatly influenced and shaped by the Puritan setting and context. The Puritans had to start from scratch and set up their rules in place where many could not even survive. They knew nothing about the new world or what lurked outside of their settlement. Thus they mistrusted things which they could not control. The story of The Scarlet Letter would be very different in a different setting.

Physical Setting

Forest

One such thing which the Puritans did not have control over was the wilderness beyond the town. The forest was unruly and overgrown, a foil for the apparent perfection of the ordered society. It is here where Hester and Dimmesdale come to escape society's rules and to discuss their escape in private. It is here where Hester believes that Chillingworth cannot overhear their conversation. On page 165, Hawthorne has Hester explain why she talked in the forest; "But, partly that she dreaded the secret or undisguised interference of old Roger Chillingworth, and partly that her conscious heart imputed suspicion where none could have been felt, and partly that both the minister and she would need the whole wide world to breathe in, while they talked together, -- for all these reasons, Hester never thought of meeting him in any narrower privacy than beneath the open sky". It is here, among the dark tangled mess of branches, far from human society, where the two can be who they truly are.

The forest itself also affects the mood of the book. "[The forest] hemmed it in so narrowly, and stood so black and dense on either side, and disclosed such imperfect glimpses of the sky above, that, to Hester's mind, it imaged not amiss the moral wilderness in which she had so long been wandering" (Hawthorne 166). Hawthorne also attempts to represent Hester's mental state through the overgrown and unkempt nature of the forest. If Pearl was taken away from Hester, Hester would fall apart and hand over her life, as she said on page 104: "Had they taken her from me, I would willingly have gone with [Mistress Hibbins] into the forest, and signed my name in the Black Man's book too, and that with mine own blood!" (Hester qtd. in Hawthorne). The unknown nature of the forest is an important component of The Scarlet Letter. If the forest did not exist, or if its secrets would have been better known, The Scarlet Letter would lose an important symbol and hiding place.

Weather

The natural environment in The Scarlet Letter often mirrors the events which will take place. For example, when Hester goes into the forest to intercept Chillingworth, Hawthorne sets the scene by describing the weather. "The day was chill and sombre. Overhead was a gray expanse of cloud, slightly stirred, however, by a breeze; so that a gleam of flickering sunshine might now and then be seen at its solitary play along the path" (Hawthorne 166). In addition the forest is darkly described and Hawthorne uses it to foreshadow future events. "The forest was obscure around them, and creaked with a blast that was passing through it. The boughs were tossing heavily above their heads; while one solemn old tree groaned dolefully to another, as if telling the sad story of the pair that sat beneath, or constrained to forebode evil to come" (Hawthorne 178). The mood is set by the solemn branches and Hawthorne adds a bit of explicit foreshadowing.

In addition, the sunlight plays an important role as a symbol in the story. The sunlight follows Pearl because of her purity and hides from Hester who is not worthy of it. Pearl says on page 166, "Mother, the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. Now, see! There it is, playing, a good way off. Stand you here, and let me run and catch it. I am but a child. It will not flee from me; for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!" (Pearl qtd. in Hawthorne). The sunlight represents purity and society; those who have sinned cannot enjoy the pure light of God. The nature mirrors and predicts events which will happen in The Scarlet Letter. Without such symbols, the story would have been weaker.

Society

The Puritans' manners and customs are important to the power of the story in The Scarlet Letter. The Puritans recognized that they would need a prison in their new society and they built it as one of their first buildings. The nameless narrator spends almost a page at the beginning of the novel describing necessity of the prison in the beginning of the book:

The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognised it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison. [...] Certain it is that, some fifteen or twenty years after the settlement of the town, the wooden jail was already marked with weather-stains and other indications of age, which gave a yet darker aspect to its beetle-browed and gloomy front. The rust on the ponderous iron-work of its oaken door looked more antique than anything else in the New World. Like all that pertains to crime, it seemed never to have known a youthful era. (Hawthorne 41)

The narrator also describes the prison as the, "the black flower of civilised society" (Hawthorne 41-42). SparkNotes speculates that, "This belief fits into the larger Puritan doctrine, which puts heavy emphasis on the idea of original sin—the notion that all people are born sinners because of the initial transgressions of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden" (SparkNotes Chapters I–II). By setting The Scarlet Letter in the middle of Puritan society, Hawthorne builds the reason that Hester and Dimmesdale's shame is so powerful. In any other setting this shame would not have been as powerful, thus reducing the tragedy of Dimmesdale's death at the end of the story.

Today's Society

The story of The Scarlet Letter would be very different in modern society. Hester and Dimmesdale's intercourse would not have the gravitas in today's society, so the tragic and life-controlling impact of the story would be greatly reduced. Modern society is not isolated and does not function as a cohesive whole. Today there are many more freedoms society affords to its members. Punishments are no longer conducted in the middle of town. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester is punished on the pillory in the marketplace. Hawthorne describes it on page 49, "Knowing well her part, she ascended a flight of wooden steps, and was thus displayed to the surrounding multitude, at about the height of a man's shoulders above the street" (Hawthorne). Members of society do not concern themselves as closely to secrets as Hester does with her husband's identity. Hester keeps this painful secret even though she knows it is hurting the minister. However, she finally changes her mind and breaks her promise on page 146,

"As the life and good fame of yonder man [Dimmesdale] were in your [Chillingworth's] hands, there seemed no choice to me, save to be silent, in accordance with your behest. Yet it was not without heavy misgivings that I thus bound myself; for, having cast off all duty towards other human beings, there remained a duty towards him; and something whispered me that I was betraying it, in pledging myself to keep your counsel" (Hawthorne 156).

Today's society knows much more about medicine. Doctors get paid good money and no longer rely on leaches. Chillingworth was known as a leech when he became the doctor, as it was common for doctors to use leeches to cure patients at that time. Superstitions can be rationally explained by science or psychology. Many in today's society would not believe that a meteor is a sign from God, or that it represents a memorial for a government official. In The Scarlet Letter, "Nothing was more common, in those days, than to interpret all meteoric appearances, and other natural phenomena, that occurred with less regularity than the rise and set of sun and moon, as so many revelations from a supernatural source" (Hawthorne 139). Modern society is very different from that of the Puritans. For all of these reasons, Nathaniel Hawthorne could not have set The Scarlet Letter in modern society.

Closing

The Scarlet Letter would be a very different book if it was set in the present day. The Scarlet Letter relies on the pietistic nature of the Puritan society in the new world. The dark forest is free of the rules of society, letting Hester and Dimmesdale talk in secret. The author uses the weather and sunlight as symbols which mirror or predict actual events. Puritans believed that humans are born into sin, thus they built a prison as one of the first buildings in their new settlement. The Scarlet Letter was written during the Romanticism period of American literature, building a uniquely American story. Thus, the setting to The Scarlet Letter is an integral part of the book, and The Scarlet Letter could not have taken place anywhere else due to its reliance on Puritan values and morals.

Draft

I wrote much of the paper - it was too long and fragmented, so I dropped a lot of it. This section has uncompleted ideas and fragments that I choose not to continue.

More than 300 years ago, in a region of the United States now called New England, settlers arrived to start a new life free of religious intolerances. These settlers, today known as The Puritans created a theocracy, a society based on religious laws. It is in this environment which The Scarlet Letter takes place. In Puritan New England, society is based upon the inflexible religious beliefs of the colonial population. It is into this society which Hester is condemned to suffer after her husband fails to arrive. It is this society which forces Hester to believe that she has "sinned" by committing adultery. Modern day society is far more fractured and does not concern itself with the private lives of its citizens. In addition, today's society is, in general, less concerned with "sin". The pietistic society Hester Prynne lives in preaches what she and Dimmesdale must think about their adultery, thus condemning its citizens to a life of misery. (awkward sentence) The nature of this society comes from its religious teachings, compounded by the unfamiliar and hostile surroundings in which the colony exists. The new world represents a unique setting in history. A new world, unexplored and unknown, half way around the world from everything the settlers know. (refine) It is here in this foreign environment that Hawthorne chooses to tell his tale. Thus, The Scarlet Letter relies on the pietistic nature of Puritan New England to effectively make its point and tell its tragic tale. (refine closing)

Puritans

The story of The Scarlet Letter is greatly influenced and shaped by the Puritan setting and context. The Puritans were a religious-based society settling in a foreign world. They had to start from scratch and set up their rules in place where many could not even survive. They knew nothing about the new world or what lurked outside of their settlement. Thus they mistrusted things which they could not control.

Physical Setting

Forest

One such thing which they did not have control over was the wilderness beyond the town. The forest was unruly and overgrown, a foil for the apparent perfection of the ordered society whose control did not extend into the forest. (quote)

It is here where Hester and Dimmesdale come here to escape their pietistic and unforgiving society and to discuss their escape in private. It is here where Hester believes that Chillingworth cannot find them and listen in upon their conversation. "But, partly that she dreaded the secret or undisguised interference of old Roger Chillingworth, and partly that her conscious heart imputed suspicion where none could have been felt, and partly that both the minister and she would need the whole wide world to breathe in, while they talked together, -- for all these reasons, Hester never thought of meeting him in any narrower privacy than beneath the open sky" (Hawthorne 165).

It is here, among the dark tangled mess of branches, far from human society, where they can be who they truly are. "The forest, [...] is a space of natural rather than human authority. In the forest, society’s rules do not apply, and alternate identities can be assumed." (Spark Notes, Themes, Motifs & Symbols). (predict evil to come)

"[The forest] hemmed it in so narrowly, and stood so black and dense on either side, and disclosed such imperfect glimpses of the sky above, that, to Hester's mind, it imaged not amiss the moral wilderness in which she had so long been wandering" (Hawthorne 166). Hawthorne also attempted to have tangled nature of the wilderness represent Hester's mental state. The forest was overgrown and unkempt, just as Hester's mental state was. Hester is only kept together by caring for her young Pearl. "Had they taken her from me, I would willingly have gone with thee into the forest, and signed my name in the Black Man's book too, and that with mine own blood!" (Hester qtd. in Hawthorne 104).

It is clear that without her child Hester would have fallen apart. Throughout the book Hester is searching for the meaning of life. (off topic, cut).

(?cut this para?) The forests of colonial New England seemed to the Puritans to have stretched endlessly into the distance; forests were the domain of natives and savages. The Puritans did not know where the forest ended, and could not control it. They also considered the forest to be the devil's playground. (quote) The "black man" would wander around, meeting with witches and recruiting people to sell their souls by signing his little black book. Mistress Hibbins: "There will be a merry company in the forest; and I wellnigh promised the Black Man that comely Hester Prynne should make one" (Hibbins qtd in Hawthorne 104). Thus, the forest was viewed with mistrust and suspicion; even Hester does not know what it harbors while she talks with Dimmesdale.

Weather

The weather in The Scarlet Letter often mirrors the events which will take place. For example when Hester is going into the forest to intercept Chillingworth, Hawthorne sets the scene as such, "The day was chill and sombre. Overhead was a gray expanse of cloud, slightly stirred, however, by a breeze; so that a gleam of flickering sunshine might now and then be seen at its solitary play along the path" (Hawthorne 166). In addition the forest is darkly described, "the forest was obscure around them, and creaked with a blast that was passing through it. The boughs were tossing heavily above their heads; while one solemn old tree groaned dolefully to another, as if telling the sad story of the pair that sat beneath, or constrained to forebode evil to come" (Hawthorne 178).

In addition, the sunlight plays an important role as a symbol in the story. The sunlight follows Pearl because of her purity and hides from Hester who is not worthy of it. "Mother, the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. Now, see! There it is, playing, a good way off. Stand you here, and let me run and catch it. I am but a child. It will not flee from me; for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!" (Pearl qtd. in Hawthorne 166).

SparkNotes analyzes the sunlight as such, "By emphasizing the alternation between sunlight and darkness, the novel organizes the plot’s events into two categories: those which are socially acceptable, and those which must take place covertly. Daylight exposes an individual’s activities and makes him or her vulnerable to punishment. Night, on the other hand, conceals and enables activities that would not be possible or tolerated during the day." (Spark Notes, Themes, Motifs & Symbols).

Witches

The Puritans are well known for their aggressive hunting of witches.

  • the crucible

Society

Puritan society itself is paradoxical and its manners and customs are important in The Scarlet Letter. The name-less narrator spends almost a page at the beginning of the novel describing necessity of the prison.

The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognised [sic] it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison. [...] Certain it is that, some fifteen or twenty years after the settlement of the town, the wooden jail was already marked with weather-stains and other indications of age, which gave a yet darker aspect to its beetle-browed and gloomy front. The rust on the ponderous iron-work of its oaken door looked more antique than anything else in the New World. Like all that pertains to crime, it seemed never to have known a youthful era. (Hawthorne 41)

The narrator also describes it as the, "the black flower of civilised [sic] society" (Hawthorne 41-42). The Puritans recognized the need for a prision very early on. SparkNotes speculates that, "This belief fits into the larger Puritan doctrine, which puts heavy emphasis on the idea of original sin—the notion that all people are born sinners because of the initial transgressions of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden." (SparkNotes Chapters I–II).

In addition, the governers mansion is a very regal and "briliant" place.

The brilliancy might have befitted Aladdin’s palace rather than the mansion of a grave old Puritan ruler. It was further decorated with strange and seemingly cabalistic figures and diagrams, suitable to the quaint taste of the age, which had been drawn in the stucco, when newly laid on, and had now grown hard and durable, for the admiration of after times. [...] With many variations, suggested by the nature of his building materials, diversity of climate, and a different mode of social life, Governor Bellingham had planned his new habitation after the residences of gentlemen of fair estate in his native land. Here, then, was a wide and reasonably lofty hall, extending through the whole depth of the house, and forming a medium of general communication, more or less directly, with all the other apartments. At one extremity, this spacious room was lighted by the windows of the two towers, which formed a small recess on either side of the portal. At the other end, though partly muffled by a curtain, it was more powerfully illuminated by one of those embowed hall-windows which we read of in old books, and which was provided with a deep and cushioned seat. Here, on the cushion, lay a folio tome, probably of the Chronicles of England, or other such substantial literature; even as, in our own days, we scatter gilded volumes on the centre table, to be turned over by the casual guest. The furniture of the hall consisted of some ponderous chairs, the backs of which were elaborately carved with wreaths of oaken flowers; and likewise a table in the same taste, the whole being of the Elizabethan age, or perhaps earlier, and heirlooms, transferred hither from the Governor’s paternal home. On the table—in token that the sentiment of old English hospitality had not been left behind—stood a large pewter tankard, at the bottom of which, had Hester or Pearl peeped into it, they might have seen the frothy remnant of a recent draught of ale. On the wall hung a row of portraits, representing the forefathers of the Bellingham lineage, some with armour on their breasts, and others with stately ruffs and robes of peace. All were characterised by the sternness and severity which old portraits so invariably put on, as if they were the ghosts, rather than the pictures, of departed worthies, and were gazing with harsh and intolerant criticism at the pursuits and enjoyments of living men. At about the centre of the oaken panels that lined the hall was suspended a suit of mail, not, like the pictures, an ancestral relic, but of the most modern date; for it had been manufactured by a skilful armourer in London, the same year in which Governor Bellingham came over to New England. There was a steel headpiece, a cuirass, a gorget, and greaves, with a pair of gauntlets and a sword hanging beneath; all, and especially the helmet and breastplate, so highly burnished as to glow with white radiance, and scatter an illumination everywhere about upon the floor. This bright panoply was not meant for mere idle show, but had been worn by the Governor on many a solemn muster and training field, and had glittered, moreover, at the head of a regiment in the Pequod war. For, though bred a lawyer, and accustomed to speak of Bacon, Coke, Noye, and Finch as his professional associates, the exigencies of this new country had transformed Governor Bellingham into a soldier, as well as a statesman and ruler.

Lastly, the procession in the end of the book is characteristic of Puritan society. (why?)

Soon the head of the procession showed itself, with a slow and stately march, turning a corner, and making its way across the market-place. First came the music. It comprised a variety of instruments, perhaps imperfectly adapted to one another, and played with no great skill; but yet attaining the great object for which the harmony of drum and clarion addresses itself to the multitude—that of imparting a higher and more heroic air to the scene of life that passes before the eye. Little Pearl at first clapped her hands, but then lost for an instant the restless agitation that had kept her in a continual effervescence throughout the morning; she gazed silently, and seemed to be borne upward like a floating sea-bird on the long heaves and swells of sound. But she was brought back to her former mood by the shimmer of the sunshine on the weapons and bright armour of the military company, which followed after the music, and formed the honorary escort of the procession. This body of soldiery—which still sustains a corporate existence, and marches down from past ages with an ancient and honourable fame—was composed of no mercenary materials. Its ranks were filled with gentlemen who felt the stirrings of martial impulse, and sought to establish a kind of College of Arms, where, as in an association of Knights Templars, they might learn the science, and, so far as peaceful exercise would teach them, the practices of war. The high estimation then placed upon the military character might be seen in the lofty port of each individual member of the company. Some of them, indeed, by their services in the Low Countries and on other fields of European warfare, had fairly won their title to assume the name and pomp of soldiership. The entire array, moreover, clad in burnished steel, and with plumage nodding over their bright morions, had a brilliancy of effect which no modern display can aspire to equal. And yet the men of civil eminence, who came immediately behind the military escort, were better worth a thoughtful observer’s eye. Even in outward demeanour they showed a stamp of majesty that made the warrior’s haughty stride look vulgar, if not absurd. It was an age when what we call talent had far less consideration than now, but the massive materials which produced stability and dignity of character a great deal more. The people possessed by hereditary right the quality of reverence, which, in their descendants, if it survive at all, exists in smaller proportion, and with a vastly diminished force in the selection and estimate of public men. The change may be for good or ill, and is partly, perhaps, for both. In that old day the English settler on these rude shores—having left king, nobles, and all degrees of awful rank behind, while still the faculty and necessity of reverence was strong in him—bestowed it on the white hair and venerable brow of age—on long-tried integrity—on solid wisdom and sad-coloured experience—on endowments of that grave and weighty order which gives the idea of permanence, and comes under the general definition of respectability. These primitive statesmen, therefore—Bradstreet, Endicott, Dudley, Bellingham, and their compeers—who were elevated to power by the early choice of the people, seem to have been not often brilliant, but distinguished by a ponderous sobriety, rather than activity of intellect. They had fortitude and self-reliance, and, in time of difficulty or peril, stood up for the welfare of the state like a line of cliffs against a tempestuous tide. The traits of character here indicated were well represented in the square cast of countenance and large physical development of the new colonial magistrates. So far as a demeanour of natural authority was concerned, the mother- country need not have been ashamed to see these foremost men of an actual democracy adopted into the House of Peers, or made the Privy Council of the Sovereign.

Religion

  • hard to write about
  • write about their concept of sin
  • quote from packet

Will count because it is too hard and we are suppose to closely follow the book and not challenge ourselves.

Today's Society

The story of The Scarlet Letter would be very different in modern society. Hester and Dimmesdale's intercourse would not have the gravitas in today's society, so the tragic and life controlling impact of the story would be greatly reduced. Modern society is not isolated and does not function as a cohesive whole. Today there are many more freedoms society affords to its members. The state in most countries does not punish those who commit adultery. The laws of the state are separate from religious observances. (quote or drop) Punishments today are usually done in private, not in the middle of town. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester is punished on the pillory in the market place. "Knowing well her part, she ascended a flight of wooden steps, and was thus displayed to the surrounding multitude, at about the height of a man's shoulders above the street" (Hawthorne 49). Members of society do not concern themselves as closely to secrets as Hester does with her husband's identity. Hester keeps this painful secret even though she knows it is hurting the minister. "As the life and good fame of yonder man were in your hands, there seemed no choice to me, save to be silent, in accordance with your behest. Yet it was not without heavy misgivings that I thus bound myself; for, having cast off all duty towards other human beings, there remained a duty towards him; and something whispered me that I was betraying it, in pledging myself to keep your counsel" (Hawthorne 156). Society moves so much faster that people's lives are not shaped around the actions of one night or the friendship of one person. (more reasons, quotes) (last sentence difficult to support - get quotes)

In today's society we know much more about medicine. Doctors get paid good money and no longer rely on leaches. Chillingworth was known as a leech when he bacame the doctor, as it was common for doctors to use leeches to cure paitences at that time. "In pursuance of this resolve, he took up his residence in the Puritan town, as Roger Chillingworth, without other introduction than the learning and intelligence of which he possessed more than a common measure" (Hawthorne 106) Superstitions can be rationally explained by science or psychology. Many in today's society would not believe that a meteor is a sign from "God" or that it represents a memorial for a government official. In The Scarlet Letter, " Nothing was more common, in those days, than to interpret all meteoric appearances, and other natural phenomena, that occurred with less regularity than the rise and set of sun and moon, as so many revelations from a supernatural source" (Hawthorne 139). For all of these reasons, Nathaniel Hawthorne could not have set The Scarlet Letter in modern society.

Romanticism

  • American lit -> American setting
  • Mention in conclusion as an aside


Closing

Thus, The Scarlet Letter, would be a very different book if it was set in the present day. The Scarlet Letter relies on the pietistic nature of the Puritan society in the new world. The dark forest is free of the rules of society, letting Hester and Dimmesdale talk in secret. The author uses the weather and sunlight as symbols which mirror or predict actual events. Lastly, the Puritan society itself shows a hypocritical nature which immediately built a prison, as it knew some of its members would sin. The Scarlet Letter was written during the Romanticism period of American literature and in such, represents America trying to carve out a niche for itself, by creating uniquely American works. This, the setting to The Scarlet Letter is an integral part of the book, and The Scarlet Letter could not have taken place anywhere else due to its reliance on Puritan values and morals.

Sources

Brainstorm

  • Puritans
    • religious bigotry
    • today adultery is not as big of a deal
      • (we're not a community today)
  • forest and new world (setting) increased fears of colonists
    • they are by themselves in the wilderness
      • under attack by Indians
      • needed security
      • witches
    • just got their own government -> so they made it very religious
    • paradoxical views
      • prision was one of first buildings
      • the gov's house
      • the procession "celebration"
  • flawed view of the world (religion)
    • using old inflexible laws
    • (see my paper from 10th Grade

Remember

  • 3 quotes required per para.
  • special "RLA" formatting
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