- Introduction
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The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850. It is about a married woman who lived during the 1600s in a Puritan village. She had come to Massachusetts from England ahead of her husband, but her husband never showed up. It is believed that he is dead. The woman, Hester Prynne, ends up pregnant but refuses to reveal who the father of the child is. She is put on trial, put in jail, and eventually punished by having to wear a red letter A signifying adulterer on all of her clothes.
Hawthorne viewed Puritans as hypocritical and cruel. Puritans were very conscious of sin and were forever punishing someone. The basis of Puritan punishment was public humiliation. Even minor transgressions could result in locking people in the stocks, or the pillory, with some sign of their fault hung upon them where all could see.
Puritans tried to cast out evil from their society so that they were “pure.” A predominant theme Hawthorne takes from the Puritans is that man has a sinful nature. Man needs to find a balance in his life between sinfulness and purity.
Video
To become better acquainted with the Puritans and the Salem Witch Trials, watch the following video.
Presentation
Reading and Research Tools
Now that you have learned about the author, themes, and symbols in The Scarlet Letter, the next step is to go over the vocabulary. The wording in this novel is understandably difficult, mainly because the novel was written in the 1800s. In order to help you understand the novel, you will be completing a vocabulary list in this lesson to have handy as you begin reading The Scarlet Letter in the next three lessons.
- Use the online glossary to look up the words you don't know. This is a great site to have open while you're reading the novel.
- Download and complete The Scarlet Letter Vocabulary Chart.
- You will submit the completed chart later in the lesson.
