An Analysis of Puritanism and Hawthornes Contradictory.docx

1、An Analysis of Puritanism and Hawthornes ContradictoryAn Analysis of Puritanism and Hawthornes ContradictoryReligious Thoughts in The Scarlet Letter1. IntroductionNathaniel Hawthorne (18041864) is an outstanding representative of American Romantic writers in the late of 19th century and one of the f

2、ounders of American literature. In the early of 17th century, Hawthornes ancestors had immigrated to the United States. His family was prominent and rich more than two centuries and began to decline until the 19th century. Generations of his ancestors were fanatical Puritan, which two generations of

3、 ancestors were the leading figures of theocratic authority of New England. Strong religious atmosphere and the intense struggle of religious denominations are deeply affected Hawthornes novel creation.At present, a large number of domestic translations and studies of Hawthornes works have yielded f

4、ruitful results. When review the studies towards Hawthorne throughout the decades, although some people explore the Puritanism and religious thoughts reflected in his works, that is far from systematic and comprehensive. The article attempts to probe into the Puritanism and Hawthornes contradictory

5、religious thoughts reflected in The Scarlet Letter on the basis of previous studies and to make more people know Hawthorne deeply.2. PuritanismPuritanism is one of the Protestant factions. It starts in the sixteenth century as a movement to reform the Church of England. Because of the dissatisfactio

6、n with the reform of church, Puritans required punishing the corruption, but they failed and fled to the American continent. At that time, the Puritans constituted the main part of the North American immigrants and Puritanism became the common value of people. They promote the concept of piety, humi

7、lity, seriousness, honesty, diligence and frugality. Inspired by these values, the Puritans overcame difficulties, and soon harvested prosperity and wealth. Therefore, they are more convinced of Puritanism, and expanded their territory ambitious, and American history is indeed the history of continu

8、ous westward expansion. Westward Movement is not only making the United States become a great country, but also spread the values of Puritanism to a broader space. Puritanism is not a strict sense of factions, just an attitude and a value. Puritan are the most devout and holy protestants. They belie

9、ved that human beings were predestined by God before they were born. Some were Gods chosen people. The success of ones work or the prosperity in his calling is given by the God. Therefore, everyone must work hard. Working hard and living a moral life were their ethics. To the Puritans, a person by n

10、ature was wholly sinful, so they also advocated self-discipline and introspection. They regarded Bible to be the authority of their doctrine. To be able to read the Bible and understand Gods will, education was essential for Puritans.Puritans advocate for commercial and industrial activities. In com

11、mercial activities, they are honest and trustworthy, and cherish their reputations, never swindling. Puritan entrepreneurs are not only to maximize the profit, but also to assume social responsibility and support social justice. They make a great contribution to social public welfare undertakings. T

12、o sum up, Puritanism is not only a religious concept, but also a philosophy, a way of life and a value. The puritans always develop their business and pioneer territory with a sense of mission and sanctity. They always live a holy and righteous life. They make great contribution to America and also

13、to the development of the market economy. 3. The Puritanism in The Scarlet LetterPuritanism accepted the interpretations of John Calvin on the nature of man, free will and predestination, and other basic concepts, which had a profound influence on the social, political, ethical, and theological idea

14、s of England and America. The Puritans believed in the Bible, strictly in accordance with the Bible to build their theological system. Due to family, social and background, Hawthornes novels were permeated with strong atmosphere of the Puritanism.3.1 Awareness of the “original sin” in The Scarlet Le

15、tter The Bible says “Therefore, just as the sin came into the world though one man and death came though sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned. Sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses,

16、 even over those whose sins were not like transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.” (The Bible, 1998: 270-271) Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, Everyone has the original sin and this is a basic doctrine of Christianity. Hawthornes morality is based on this religious doctri

17、ne and the sense of “original sin” occupies the central position in his ethics. He believes that everyone is guilty and deserves the punishment from the God. Hawthorne regarded the evil as a snake in the heart which tortures human soul all the time.Opening Hawthornes masterpiece The Scarlet Letter,

18、what catches the readers eye is the following sentences “The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and anothe

19、r portion as the site of a prison.” (Hawthorne, 2005: 2) This indicates the basic attitude of Hawthorne that everyone has the original sin. The characters of The Scarlet Letter also confirmed this view. Whether the martyr as Hester Prynne or the serpent as Roger Chillingworth, weather the governor o

20、r the ordinary spectators, they are all guilty. However, the sins of some people like Hester Prynne can be seen; and the sins of some people like the Arthur Dimmesdale is hided; but more people such as Chillingworth are not aware of their own sin. He is originally a victim, but his mind was overwhel

21、med of the idea of revenge, eventually committed the unpardonable sin-destroyed others soul.We can see from The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne paid more attention to explore the evil which hides in peoples heart when study the sin of human beings. He believes that everyone has hidden sin, and the purity

22、of appearance is just an illusion. Human beings are the carriers of sin. The evil absolutely exist, just performs in different ways. Arthur Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter is a representative of hidden sin. He not only had no courage to admit his sin, but also found excuses for himself. He set a th

23、eory to escape the sanctions of morality and law, however, his heart subjected to the punishment from the God all the time, suffering the torture of conscience until nervous breakdown. Before his death, he finally summoned up to public his sin, and took his behavior as an example to make people beli

24、eve that in the heart of the God, we are all sinners.Hawthornes creation was deeply influenced by the “original sin”. The “original sin” made him know the nature of the human beings more clearly, and also made him has a different understanding of peoples evil. However, due to the addiction to “origi

25、nal sin”, Hawthorne cant understand the society objectively, only stayed in the abstract discussion of it. He attributed all social contradictions, conflicts and various manifestations of crime to the evil. This resulted that he often hovered in the tragedy and hold a pessimistic attitude towards hu

26、man beings and life. So his novels often take on negative and gloomy atmosphere.3.2 Self-redemption of the sinCalvin thinks everyone has the sin, so they need to redeem. However, the only way of redemption is to believe in Jesus. Jesus died for human beings, contacting them with the God, and made th

27、e God reconcile with humans. As the chapter six of Romans in New Testament of Bible said “Dying and Rising with Christ” (The Bible, 1998: 271). Hawthorne also believes that the sin can be redeemed. He thinks that people should consciously to redeem and make the soul to be saved. He advocates redeemi

28、ng through confession and good deeds. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester could have left the New England and started a new life in other place after she was released from prison, however, she did not choose to leave the New England, the place where she committed. She wanted to seek forgiveness in here. S

29、he moved to the cottage along seaside, away from the hubbub, quietly living a repentant life. In this long period of seven years, she was overcome loneliness and contempt which the ordinary people cant stand. She earned meager income by sewing to feed the Pearl, and continue to aid the poor. Her goo

30、d deeds and beautiful virtues reduced her sin and purified her soul. The scarlet letter “A” wearing on her chest was no longer a sign of adultery, but became a symbol of Able and Angel.Hawthorne further stressed that people should be honest to face their own sin, so that they have hope to be saved.

31、Arthur Dimmesdale as a pastor in the early stage of the New England colonial enjoyed a high social status. He is wisdom, knowledgeable and his sermons always touched many parishioners. However, what behind the holy reputation was a sinner who was suffering the torment of the soul all the time. He ha

32、d been aware of his sins, but did not want to lose the reputation and status. Over the years his conscience had not been able to overcome the hypocrisy and selfishness. For fear of being cast side, he had no courage to stand out to bear sin with Hester. He told Christians that they should repent, wh

33、ile in his heart concealed a big secret. In order to punish himself and repent sins, he fasted, introspected and whipped himself behind closed door. His pain even reached to such an extent: it seems that because of his dishonesty, the entire world is hypocritical. However, the pain of the body could not purify himself and rel