Puritanism Essay

Conformity Introduction The need to fit into society is a common human desire that confronts individuals of all ages. Human beings seek to relate with their peers and as a result tend to align their thoughts and actions towards this mission. This phenomenon is prevalent in all human groups such as cultures, religious affiliations, educational centers and even in the basis unit of society, the family. The attitudes, values and behaviors are indicated as group-think where individuals within the…

As small colonies grew to the nation now known as the United States of America there is a clear shift in philosophy and in the size of communities. In the beginning, many small conservative communities combated the dangerous and unforgiving new frontier. As the colonies banded together and forged a new nation, the people found strength in interconnectivity. After the period of uncertainty had passed people began to explore how individuality and self reliance could benefit them more than relying…

The society demanded conformity due to protecting their religion. The Puritans and their harsh ways despised individualism and favored in a utopian society. Hester refuses to conform to Puritanism and suffers the consequences by being shunned and embarrassed in the eyes of the public. Puritan law revolves around punishment; therefore, when Hester was put in jail for her wrongdoings, she was completely looked down upon. She was treated terribly…

through the year 1724. The title of the book “Unredeemed Captive” contains the two main themes; religious redemption and being released from bondage/captivity. Each of these two themes is interwoven throughout the text. The antagonist in the book is Puritanism itself and the apostasy of the daughter Eunice, in rejecting the Puritan beliefs of her Pastor…

Puritanism, a religious reform movement in the late 16th and 17th centuries that attempted to “purify” the Church of England, influenced its followers’ day-to-day lifestyles and played key roles in the civil war in England and in the formation of the American colonies (which served as working models for the Puritan lifestyle). Calvinist theology and polity played significant parts, with regards to shaping Puritan teachings: the moral and religious qualities that were representative of Puritans…

In this quote, Hawthorne uses symbolism to convey the differences between Puritanism and nature. The prison, which is ugly and overgrown with weeds, represents Puritanism as cold and unforgiving. A metaphor also describes the prison as a black flower of society. Black represents sin, and the prison is a black flower because it feeds on sin. In stark contrast, the beautiful rose-bush embodies the forgiving demeanor of nature. Prisons punish sin, while nature forgives sin. This quote is an…

non-conformational is not necessarily negative. But in regards to Reverend Dimmesdale the “A” was carved on his chest, unnoticed by the public. He did not acknowledge his sin. He tried to conform to the social norms and pretended to personify everything Puritanism stood for. His hypocrisy destroys him in the end: “No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.” He grew weaker with…

them women), not everyone of them met the same fate. 19 people were hanged, one man was pressed to death, and a few died while imprisoned. The reasons behind the trials themselves are complex and they tie into the religious beliefs/constraints of Puritanism, socioeconomic class issues, and the longing for power in a strict community. The Salem Witch Trials also caused problems within the Puritan community by making fear a prominent factor of everyday life, which led to people doing things they…

The time period was the early 17th century. A group of people traveled on a ship to the New World. They all came over looking for a new way of life and religious freedom. Religion is what drove them all out of England to North America. The all left England to escape religious persecution. Massachusetts back in the early 1600’s wasn’t like it is today. It wasn’t a small state that had a land area of approximately 10,000 square miles. It stretched across most of the north eastern part of the…

The works of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter depict a harsh but accurate portrayal of life as a Puritan. Both Miller and Hawthorne delve into the intricacies of Puritan society, shedding light on its strict moral code and the consequences of sinning. Both works show the views of religion, dealings with sin, and concept of identity of the Puritan community. The Puritans were an exceptionally religious group of people who came from England so that they…