Biblical Literalism in The Scarlet Letter: The Path to God and Social Conformity
Biblical literalism is a pejorative that is often used to ridicule the interpretative approaches of fundamentalist Christians, who often hold the ideology that the Bible is God’s work and is authoritative on ethical, spiritual, and moral matters. Similarly, the early Puritan societies in New England advocated for this literal interpretation of the Bible because they also believed that the Bible was written by the Holy Spirit through the medium of its human authors. In the romance novel of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the portrayal of the Puritans in the Salem society, as cruel and unforgiving individuals, effectively manifests the consequence of their …show more content…
Most importantly, the early Puritan societies believed in physiognomy, a theory that the personality or character of a person can be assessed from one’s external appearance. By comparing the outer appearance of these Puritans with hardness and iron, Hawthorne is implying that the Puritans have a cold and harsh nature. In addition, these adjectives also remind the audience of the prison door mentioned in previous chapters, which is described to be made of hard oak wood and iron spikes. Consequently, the audience can make connections between the characteristics of the Puritans with their prison as their appearances and the prison door have many resembling features. Therefore, subconsciously, Hawthorne has successfully persuaded the audience that like prison, the Puritans are very strict and heartless when it comes to sinners who have violated their religion and laws. Moreover, this idea that the Puritan citizens are harsh individuals is further reinforced when Hester Prynne is accepting her punishment for committing adultery. Although Hester Prynne’s sentence is to be publicly humiliated on an open scaffold, some of the women are unhappy about the light penalty …show more content…
It is therefore crucial for all readers to recognize the importance of thoughtful reading in avoidance of ignorance and
Biblical literalism is a pejorative that is often used to ridicule the interpretative approaches of fundamentalist Christians, who often hold the ideology that the Bible is God’s work and is authoritative on ethical, spiritual, and moral matters. Similarly, the early Puritan societies in New England advocated for this literal interpretation of the Bible because they also believed that the Bible was written by the Holy Spirit through the medium of its human authors. In the romance novel of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the portrayal of the Puritans in the Salem society, as cruel and unforgiving individuals, effectively manifests the consequence of their …show more content…
Most importantly, the early Puritan societies believed in physiognomy, a theory that the personality or character of a person can be assessed from one’s external appearance. By comparing the outer appearance of these Puritans with hardness and iron, Hawthorne is implying that the Puritans have a cold and harsh nature. In addition, these adjectives also remind the audience of the prison door mentioned in previous chapters, which is described to be made of hard oak wood and iron spikes. Consequently, the audience can make connections between the characteristics of the Puritans with their prison as their appearances and the prison door have many resembling features. Therefore, subconsciously, Hawthorne has successfully persuaded the audience that like prison, the Puritans are very strict and heartless when it comes to sinners who have violated their religion and laws. Moreover, this idea that the Puritan citizens are harsh individuals is further reinforced when Hester Prynne is accepting her punishment for committing adultery. Although Hester Prynne’s sentence is to be publicly humiliated on an open scaffold, some of the women are unhappy about the light penalty …show more content…
It is therefore crucial for all readers to recognize the importance of thoughtful reading in avoidance of ignorance and