The Scarlet Letter

[mollyb]

Hello, this is my first post. I was wondering if anyone could give me some help on this question relating to "The Scarlet Letter". The question is: Is society civilized? I know how I am leaning, but would welcome some imput.
Thanks!

[SlimmyD]

Hawthorne defintely gives the impression that Puritan society of the 17th century was uncivilized. He makes many references throughout the novel, some more obvious than others...

In one specific example in chapter 2, "The Market Place", he commentates on the Puritan people and their physical nature when comparing Hester's beauty to the Puritan women. He claims that the "man-like Elizabeth" [referring to Queen Eliz I of Eng.] was a good example of what the women were like. He also claims that "beef and ale" diets made up the women's "broad shoulders and well-developed busts". Basically, the women were beasts.

Furthermore, Hawthorne also makes the Puritans seem crude in their treatment of Hester as well as in their overall mental capacity.

I haven't the time to cite specific examples of that, but they're all over the novel.

Hopefully this was relevant to what you were asking.

[ladymacbeth]

I think that Hawthorne was haunted by the fact that his ancestor, John Hathorne, was one of the judges who oversaw the Salem Witch trials. The rumor is that he added the "W" to his name to distance himself from this man. It is obvious that this impacted his writing to an extent. Reading "Young Goodman Brown" should give you a good idea of his beliefs. The townspeople were extemely hypocritical, but I think love prevails in the end (which I think is mostly the case throughout his somewhat depressing body of work.)