Transcript Outline
Lauren Simcic 25 October 2012 Exploring evil is his hobby – Varied approaches Studying him is my hobby Little guesswork – Kept journals Born in Salem, 1804 Changed “Hathorne” to “Hawthorne” Momma’s boy Little interest in school Married Sophia Peabody Experienced success in his lifetime – With friends’ help! The Scarlet Letter published 1850 – Mother’s death – Earlier works: Fanshawe and Twice Told Tales Died 1864 Powerful connections – Emerson, Holmes, Longfellow – Brook Farm Political involvement – Taylor and Pierce Interest in family history – “Custom House” confession “Each work is meant to instruct readers on the nature of sin, its role in human nature, and its function in personal salvation.” Jason Courtmanche Plot: Narrator describes massive bonfire, meant to extinguish evil on earth Source of evil: the human heart Important element: regeneration of social ills Plot: A man enters a poisonous garden because of love for the woman inside. His attempts to cure her lead to her death. Important element: Woman as (unintentional) temptress Companion work: “The Birthmark” Plot: A minister alarms his entire community by wearing a veil for decades Source of evil: Concealed sin Important element: Effect of sin on society Companion work: “Young Goodman Brown” Hawthorne’s Eve, Dimmesdale’s self-mutilation, Chillingworth’s obsession Calvinist undertones, sin inescapable Puritan legalism, the Black Man, festering secret Plot… Evil and sin NOT EQUIVALENT – “The fortunate fall” – Stigma remains Important element: Religious allegory – Adam and Eve, Mary and Christ Known as “Felix culpa” (happy fault) Sin allows God to enter the world and redeem us, thus creating a greater good Adopted by Augustine, Aquinas, and Ambrose “Was that very sin, into which Adam precipitated himself and all his race, was it the destined means by which, over a long pathway of toil and sorrow, we are to attain a higher, brighter, and profounder happiness, than our lost birthright gave? Will not this idea account for the permitted existence of sin, as no other theory can?” From The Marble Faun Pearl If I suffer enough in isolation for my sin, I’ll be saved. (Hester and Arthur) “Is there no reality in the penitence thus sealed and witnessed by good works?” “Of penance, I have had enough. Of penintance, there has been none! Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly… Mine burns in secret!” “Surely, surely we have ransomed one another, with all this woe!” “Wilt thou stand here with mother and me, to-morrow noontide?” “Not then Pearl, but another time… At the great judgement day… But the daylight of this world shall not see our meeting.” He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them they will receive mercy. -Proverbs 28:13 Whatever, you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. -Luke 12:2-3 I am beyond God’s reach “I fear! I fear! That when we forgot our God… it was thenceforth vain to hope that we could meet hereafter, in an everlasting and pure reunion.” Romans 10:9 Chillingworth is spurned Satan figure “Hast thou enticed me into a bond that will prove the ruin of my soul?” “Not thy soul. No not thine!” “That old man’s revenge has been blacker than my sin!” “The Unpardonable Sin might consist in a want of love and reverence for the Human Soul; in consequence of which, the investigator pried into its dark depths, not with a hope or purpose of making it better, but from a cold philosophical curiosity… Would not this, in other words, be a separation of the intellect from the heart?" You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things… So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Romans 2:1,3 Sin and repentance can lead to character development Hester’s sixth sense, Dimmesdale’s incredible sermon “all things together” David and BathshebaSolomon Interesting contradiction there… – Pearl’s unusual behavior What saves you? – Acknowledging sin and confessing it (scaffold scene) *Social effects (Pearl again) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgives our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. -1 John 1:9 But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. -1 Corinthians 6:11 The problem of underestimating God’s grace Separation of head and heart is an impediment to the Christian walk Can the good of Christ’s sacrifice be viewed as outweighing human corruption?