Humanized Puritanism In The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was composed around 1850, when the writer had come to have established a mature outlook on and obtained an insight into the world and life as well. Once published, the novel aroused enormous interest and received a striking concern. Ever since then, many people have been and are studying the novel, having discovered different themes embodied in The Scarlet Letter, with the major concern focusing on religion and morality. There are, however, two completely contradicting points of view, one of which believes that the work reveals Hawthorne's rebellion against Puritanism while the other insists that The Scarlet Letter, in spite of the criticism found in it against Puritanism, reflects the fact that Puritanism was deeply rooted in the soul of the author. Besides, some critics hold the view that the novel is the interpretation of Hawthorne's contrasting attitudes towards Puritanism and morality, resulting in his confusion because of his failure to find for the mankind a spiritual way out.This dissertation is a study of The Scarlet Letter on the basis of the research of the predecessors, aiming to make it clear that the work does not reflect a total acceptance or a thorough overturn of Puritanism, but the result of profound meditation driven by a high social responsibility upon human nature and morality as well. Just as what Hawthorn commented on his work, when he refused to print more copies as the 5000 were quickly sold out after the first edition, that a book like this would not show its value without reading generation after generation., which proves absolutely that there had been no conflicts, no confusion whatsoever when Hawthorne was composing this great work. He believed with no doubt that The Scarlet Letter has its far reaching significance beyond time and space, which has been proved by the fact that there have been continuous studies on this novel that has aroused so great an interest and sympathy of the readers in almost every corner of the world.This dissertation aims to convince people of the point of view that The Scarlet Letter is an interpretation of the humanized Puritanism of Hawthorne. The work shows the author's great concern about the fate of the whole mankind, not of a class, nor of the people in a specific area. And it is the result of the pursuit of a perfect society with perfect moral standard and the result of his meditation upon and insight into the human nature. Puritanism embodied in The Scarlet Letter represents the author's moral standard, his awareness of the evil side of the human nature and his opinion of human salvation, while humanism we find in the work illustrates the respect the author shows to personality and human esteem. Hawthorne's humanized Puritanism criticizes the too stern religious principles and hypocrisy of the puritans and approves of the positive effect upon improving the social development and human self-perfection. This dissertation also studies how Hawthorne's humanized Puritanism came into being with the conclusion that it is the combination of Puritanism and the humanism originated from the European Renaissance, influenced in the meanwhile by the spirit of universal love of Bible and the native Transcendentalism in America.This dissertation consists of six parts. The first part is an introduction of the main arguments of the paper with a brief account of the author-----Hawthorne and his compositions as well as the concerned literature cited. The second part, chapter one deals with Puritanism embodied in The Scarlet Letter. The third part, chapter two analyzes the humanism ideas found in the novel with a detailed analysis of the author's criticism against the negative sides of Puritanism and of the specific reflection from the account of the main characters in the novel. Part four, chapter three deals with Hawthorne's humanized Puritanism on the basis of a detailed study of the fate of the main characters, which is often discussed and is so bewildering that it receives so much misunderstanding. The fifth part, chapter four analyzes the resources of Hawthorne's humanized Puritanism with a historical perspective as to how this special religious belief came into being. In the last part, also the conclusion of this dissertation, a summary of humanized Puritanism is put forward pointing out this religious belief is result of the author's pursuit of the true, the good and the beautiful. The realistic significance of this study is also made clear in the conclusion part.