Question

In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a woman named Hester Prynne has been imprisoned for having an affair. Read the following excerpt from the text surrounding her imprisonment and answer the question that follows. "Had there been a Papist among the crowd of Puritans, he might have seen in this beautiful woman, so picturesque in her attire and mien, and with the infant at her bosom, an object to remind him of the image of Divine Maternity, which so many illustrious painters have vied with one another to represent; something which should remind him, indeed, but only by contrast, of that sacred image of sinless motherhood, whose infant was to redeem the world. Here, there was the taint of deepest sin in the most sacred quality of human life, working such effect, that the world was only the darker for this woman's beauty, and the more lost for the infant that she had borne." Which aspect of the historical context is most present in this passage from the novel? Economic Language Religion Politics

Answer 1

Answer:

1. 1804-1864

2. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, 1804

3. Scarlet letter was published in the 19th century but it is set it the time of the Puritans

4. One of his ancestors had been among the judges who condemned women as witches at the 1692 trials.

a) Looked down on Puritan way and wrote fiction

b) Felt guilt and that the fate of his ancestors came down on him

c) Like he was also at fault

5. Worked at Boston Custom House before coming back to Salem-there is an intro section in the Scarlet letter called Custom House

6. Lived on brooke farm which is where he met his wife

7. 1850: The Scarlet Letter

a) Became a sensation right away

8. 1851: The House of the Seven Gables

9. He calledhis tales "allegories of the heart."

10. ONE OF THE FIRST AMERICAN AUTHORS TO USE N EXTENSIVE AMOUNT OF SYMBOLISM