What is your impression on how puritan world view is taken up and treated by Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter?
The Scarlet Letter is an indictment on the follies of the puritans featuring the rigid values and beliefs of the society. Hawthorne criticizes various aspects of the puritan confraternity through the lives of the characters and the punishsment one is made to undergo because of the sin committed. Hawthorne took the puritan view seriously in the scarlet letter by depicting the gender inequality, hypocrisy of government officials and stiff rules of the puritan society.
The puritan worldview is taken up sternly by Hawthorne in the scarlet letter because he emphasized on the gender inequality through society’s reaction to the sin that Hester and Dimmesdale committed. Hester committed an adulterous act with …show more content…
For instance, Arthur Dimmesdale who committed adultery with Hester denies bearing the punishment he is accounted for. The townspeople thought he is a true priest and a religious man. People considered him sinless and a model to look up in the society whereby putting their utmost faith in him. With the view of the people, Dimmesdale is made to concern the position he hold and notions of the people who have intense faith and respect in him. This attention he gained from the society made him conceal his sin instead of admitting it which makes him a hypocrite (Foster, 2013). Dimmesdale’s decision of not making his love affair public though he loves Hester and expounding her is hypocritical. Further, Chillingworth who uses his knowledge and skills of a physician to mistreat the health of Dimmesdale is a hypocritical act. He even doesn’t reveal that he and Hester was married and retaining the identity of a scholar end up avenging Hester and Dimmesdale which makes him a hypocrite. Thus, these events clearly reveal the hypocrisy of the government
The Scarlet Letter is an indictment on the follies of the puritans featuring the rigid values and beliefs of the society. Hawthorne criticizes various aspects of the puritan confraternity through the lives of the characters and the punishsment one is made to undergo because of the sin committed. Hawthorne took the puritan view seriously in the scarlet letter by depicting the gender inequality, hypocrisy of government officials and stiff rules of the puritan society.
The puritan worldview is taken up sternly by Hawthorne in the scarlet letter because he emphasized on the gender inequality through society’s reaction to the sin that Hester and Dimmesdale committed. Hester committed an adulterous act with …show more content…
For instance, Arthur Dimmesdale who committed adultery with Hester denies bearing the punishment he is accounted for. The townspeople thought he is a true priest and a religious man. People considered him sinless and a model to look up in the society whereby putting their utmost faith in him. With the view of the people, Dimmesdale is made to concern the position he hold and notions of the people who have intense faith and respect in him. This attention he gained from the society made him conceal his sin instead of admitting it which makes him a hypocrite (Foster, 2013). Dimmesdale’s decision of not making his love affair public though he loves Hester and expounding her is hypocritical. Further, Chillingworth who uses his knowledge and skills of a physician to mistreat the health of Dimmesdale is a hypocritical act. He even doesn’t reveal that he and Hester was married and retaining the identity of a scholar end up avenging Hester and Dimmesdale which makes him a hypocrite. Thus, these events clearly reveal the hypocrisy of the government