Transcript Nathaniel Hawthorne - Livaudais English Classroom

Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Scarlet Letter
1850
Nathaniel Hawthorne
•Born as Nathaniel Hathorne in
Salem, Massachusetts in 1804
•Added the “w” to disassociate
from relative John Hathorne, a
judge in the Salem Witch Trials.
Major Themes
• 1.) Alienation: a character is in a state
of isolation because of self cause,
societal cause, or both
• 2.) Initiation: involves the attempts of
an alienated character to get rid of his
isolated condition.
Major Themes
• 3.) Guilt: a character’s sense of guilt
forced by the puritanical heritage or by
society; guilt VS innocence
• 4.) Pride: Hawthorne treats pride as
evil. Physical, Spiritual Pride,
Intellectual Pride
Literary Devices
Allegory: is a form of extended
metaphor, in which objects, persons,
and actions in a narrative, are equated
with the meanings that lie outside the
narrative itself. The underlying meaning
has moral, social, religious, or political
significance, and characters are often
personifications of abstract ideas as
charity, greed, or envy.
Other Themes
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Individual VS Society
Hypocrisy VS Integrity
Love VS Hate
Fate VS Free Will
Influences on Hawthorne
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Salem - early childhood
Belief in the existence of the devil
Belief in determinism
Puritan family background
– One of his forefathers was Judge
Hathorne, who presided over the Salem
witch trials