THE SCARLET LETTER

AUTHOR: NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

HE WAS BORN IN 1804 DIED 1864

IN 1821 HE WENT TO BOWDOIN COLLEGE HERE HE MET FUTURE PRESIDENT FRANKLIN PIERCE HE ALSO MET POET HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW HE SAID” I DO NOT WANT TO BE A DOCTOR AND LIVE BY MEN’S DISEASES, NOR A MINISTER TO LIVE BY THEIR SINS, NOR A LAWYER AND LIVE BY THEIR QUARRELS. SO, I DON’T SEE THAT THERE IS ANYTHING LEFT FOR ME BUT TO BE AN AUTHOR.”

HE WAS INTERESTED IN TRANSCENDENTALISM. AMONG THE TRANSCENDENTALISTS' CORE BELIEFS WAS THE INHERENT GOODNESS OF BOTH PEOPLE AND NATURE. THEY BELIEVE THAT SOCIETY AND ITS INSTITUTIONS—PARTICULARLY ORGANIZED RELIGION AND POLITICAL PARTIES—ULTIMATELY CORRUPT THE PURITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL. THEY HAVE FAITH THAT PEOPLE ARE AT THEIR BEST WHEN TRULY "SELF-RELIANT" AND INDEPENDENT.SELF-RELIANT

BROOKS FARM HE RESIGNED HIS POSITION AT THE CUSTOM HOUSE TO GO TO BROOKS FARM A KIND OF COMMUNE FOR TRANSCENDENTALISTS. HE HAD ALSO FALLEN IN LOVE WITH SOPHIE PEABODY AND WANTED TO MAKE ENOUGH MONEY TO MARRY. AFTER A YEAR HE LEFT. HE SAID “A MAN’S SOUL MAY BE BURIED UNDER A DUNG HEAP OR IN A FURROW OF THE FIELD JUST AS WELL AS UNDER A PILE OF MONEY.”

SOPHIE PEABODY THEY MARRIED IN 1942 AND THEY BECAME A PART OF THE TRANSCENDENTALISTS SOCIAL SCENE. SOPHIE WAS MORE INTO IT THAN HE WAS. HE THOUGHT THERE WAS MORE DARKNESS AND GLOOM IN MAN’S NATURE THAN THE TRANSCENDENTALISTS ALLOWED FOR.

1845 HE TOOK A JOB AT THE SALEM CUSTOM HOUSE. IT WAS A POLITICAL APPOINTMENT BUT ALLOWED HIM TIME AND MONEY TO WRITE. HE LOST THE JOB WHEN TAYLOR BECAME PRESIDENT. BUT USED IT FOR THE CUSTOM HOUSE BEGINNING TO THE SCARLET LETTER.

TWO ASPECTS OF HIS BACKGROUND ESPECIALLY AFFECTED HIS IMAGINATION AND WRITING CAREER. THE HATHORNES (NATHANIEL ADDED THE "W" TO THE NAME) HAD BEEN INVOLVED IN RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION WITH THEIR FIRST AMERICAN ANCESTOR, WILLIAM. ANOTHER ANCESTOR, JOHN HATHORNE, WAS ONE OF THE THREE JUDGES AT THE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY SALEM WITCHCRAFT TRIALS, WHERE DOZENS OF PEOPLE WERE ACCUSED OF, AND LATER EXECUTED FOR, BEING "WITCHES." HE DISAPPROVED OF THEIR ACTIONS AND HIS ATTITUDE TOWARD THE PURITANS IS SHOWN IN THE NOVEL.SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY

SET IN BOSTON IN 1600 AND USES REAL HISTORICAL FIGURES SUCH AS GOVERNOR BELLINGHAM, MISTRESS HIBBENS, REVEREND JOHN WILSON.

THEMES: SIN IS UNIVERSAL THEREFORE IT IS UP TO GOD TO JUDGE NOT HUMANS. EVERYONE SINS BUT IN ORDER TO RECOVER FROM SIN IT NEEDS TO BE CONFESSED OPENLY.