Associations With Puritanism in The Scarlet Letter #1

The history of "The Scarlet Letter" displays Hawthorne's fascination with the Puritanism period, as his forefathers had been especially involved with the law courts as judges and speakers. Due to this, the book is set in the Puritan time period, although Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote it when he was living in the Romantic Period in American Literature. This is crucial to understand. No matter what period we are living, there are similar ethical issues that continue to be confronted, as well as the harsh criticism coming from society, particularly coming from the mass media in our generation.

From the introduction of The Scarlet Letter up to chapter two, I've found a variety of connections to Puritanism. The Puritans were intolerant of other types of religions. "It might be that an Antinomian, a Quaker, or other heterodox religionist was to be scourged out of the town, or an idle and vagrant Indian, whom the white man's firewater had made so riotous about the streets..." (57). Puritan society in Massachusetts believed, besides for Puritanism being the "purest"and the most supreme religion, that other types of people (in this case, Indians) were threatening simply because they practiced different religions and principles. They were either mandated to leave or forced to join the Puritan church. Puritans also had an incredibly strong work ethic;  a person who displayed idleness was believed to be "one of the damned" but a person who was hard-working showed evidence that he was one of God's chosen ones to acquire salvation. 

Among the Puritan society were conspiracies against witches. The Salem Witch Trials took place in 1692 during the Puritan era, which definitely caused much unrest and prejudice against witches, although there was no radical evidence of witches, but there were numerous severe accusations against them. Chapter two referred to Mistress Hibbins, "that a witch, like old Mistess Hibbins, the bitter-tempered widow of the magistrate, was to die upon the gallows," (58). At this point in history, Puritans believed widows and social outcasts were witches and alienated them from the rest of society. The controversy against witches were that they defied God with their supernatural powers. Hester Prynne, the shamed woman in this chapter, is ridiculed in front of the entire town. This shows the natural behavior of their society, purposefully mocking and degrading her just like our society does today.