Nathaniel Hawthorne and religion/Puritans/nature...

[fiolkowa]

Hi :)

I'm trying to write my M.A paper about Hawthorne.
I want to include his puritan interests and I need to know which of his works were about religion etc.
Could you help me, please?
There's a great deal of stories, he wrote ( http://www.online-literature.com/hawthorne/ ) but I don't have enough time to read them all.

Maybe you know other books which cover this material? Some works of critics or lecturers...?

[The Catcher]

well the most obvious choice would probably be The Scarlet Letter..its the one that just immediately comes to mind.

it mostly deals with the puritan religious ideals but in relation to their hypocrisy.

i actually just wrote a really bomb essay about that.

[fiolkowa]

Thanks for help, but I know this novel is about Puritanism ;)
I would be grateful if you could help me with his short stories :)

[Ona]

young goodman brown is also a great piece that reveals his views of the hypocritical elements in a puritanical community.

[tdahlke]

Young Goodman Brown is a good example of the Puritan influences in Hawthorne's writing. Deacon Gookin was involved in the witch trials. Goody Cloyse,Goody Cory, and Martha Carrier were all executed as witchs. The story also alludes to his ancestors who were directly involved in the trials. His great-great-great grandfather Major William Hathorne was involved in the whipping of Quakers, his great-great grandfather Justice John Hathorne was known as the witch judge, and his great-great uncle Captain William Hathorne was involved in King Philip's War. I just finished two papers on this and have alot of reference books still cluttering my desk.