What is "american" about the scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne?

Answer 1

nathaniel hawthorne lived here that is why it is an american story

Answer 2

Short answer:
Because Nathaniel Hawthorne was among the first American authors to become widely read, both in America and England. It's considered literature.

Long answer:
The concept that a religion operates a state which then imposes its will on the individual is essentially pre-"American." At the time, most European countries were Theocracies. The King/Queen of England were always the head of the Church of England. They got tired of tolerating the Puritans (who became a political/financial threat), and essentially kicked them out. The Puritans then founded their own absolutist colonies in the new world.

The concept of separating church & state really got rolling with the Federalist Papers, and Thomas Jefferson actually started a revolution by instilling in Virigina's constitution the radical concept that choice of religion was up to the individual human, not to the State. This was an entirely new idea at the time.

Puritans gradually gave up their extremism, because they soon had to compete for followers with less strict religions.

Thanks to the Bill of Rights, the United States has never had the horrible religious civil wars that European Nations suffered.

So, consider the book about "pre-American" concepts of religion, and the treatment and attitudes of the people in the book are considered historical source documents.

Answer 3

The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850, is a classic American novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and is generally considered to be his masterpiece. Set in Puritan New England in the 17th century, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who commits adultery, refuses to name the father, and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout, Hawthorne explores the issues of grace, legalism, and guilt.
The Scarlet Letter is framed in an introduction (called "The Custom House") in which the writer, a stand-in for Hawthorne, purports to have found documents and papers that substantiate the evidence concerning Prynne and her situation. The narrator also claims that when he touched the letter it gave off a "burning heat...as if the letter were not of red cloth, but red hot iron." Previously, Hawthorne worked in the Salem Custom House several times, losing his job as a result of administration changes.


Hester Prynne, the story's protagonist, is a young married woman whose husband was presumed to have been lost at sea. She begins an adulterous relationship with Arthur Dimmesdale, the highly regarded town minister, and becomes pregnant with a daughter, whom she names Pearl. She is then publicly vilified and forced to wear the scarlet letter "A" on her clothing to identify her as an adulteress, but loyally refuses to reveal the identity of her lover. She accepts the punishment with grace and refuses to be defeated by the shame inflicted upon her by her society, and gradually regains her community's favor through good deeds and admirable character.

Dimmesdale, knowing that the punishment for his sin could be execution, does not admit his relationship with Prynne. He thus maintains his righteous image, but internally he is dogged by his guilt and the shame of his weakness and hypocrisy. The reappearance of Prynne's husband, Roger Chillingworth, causes him further emotional strife, as Chillingworth covertly exacts his revenge on Dimmesdale by exacerbating his guilt while keeping him physically alive. Ultimately, Dimmesdale contracts a mysterious disease as a result of his shame, which eventually kills him, just moments after he admits his guilt publicly.

Answer 4

Umm....its set in America?

It tells of the strict principles and scruples of Puritan society?

Hester Prynne, she's deep in sin.

An example of the American Romanticist movement.

Answer 5

The Puritans never lived in most of the world.

Answer 6

Well it was actualy ben franklin who wrote his secret letters to his brother through the washington post...but I dont know what they were about

Answer 7

Adultery is alive and well in America.

Answer 8

its based in america.

Answer 9

i dont think anything, that book is boring in my book

Answer 10

idk but lets make a letter of love 2gether