2. This novel is a romantic work
written in 1850
The high point of his carrer and his
magnus opus
It Is set in a Puritan Boston
The main elements of the puritan
doctrine are:
• The strict conformity to
religious rules;
3. Born in
Salem, Massachusetts
, in 1804;
Came from a Puritan
family which had
played a prominent
part in New England’s
history;
Had a calm
childhood, a little
isolated but far from
unhappy, especially
4.
5.
6. His stories are influenced by
his family;
His works belong to dark
romanticism;
Many of his works are inspired
by Puritan New England;
He uses depictions of the
past to express common themes
of Sin, Guilt and retribution;
9. She’s the protagonist of the novel;
She’s the mother of Pearl
She must wear the scarlet letter ‘A’ on her
body as a punishment for the adulterous affair
with Arthur Dimmesdale;
She is married to Roger Chillingworth;
She cannot understand how her punishments
could be so harsh;
The governor orders to take away his daughter but
she says that she had only followed his heart;
She decides that her marriage was not to be
sanctified, in the first place, for her husband has
the seething rage of the devil himself;
She’s paired with Dimmesdale upon the scaffold.
10.
11. Minister in Boston;
He must suffer the
ignominy since no one
knows of his
culpability when
Hester is publicly
shamed for the
adultery;
Hester’s husband
Chillingworth seeks to
destroy Dimmesdale;
He admits to be
12. Is Hester’s husband;
He arrives in Boston when Hester is
publicly shamed for the adultery;
He vows revenge on Dimmesdale, because
he
knows that he has committed adultery
with his
wife;
The revenge is frustrated at the end of
the novel, when Dimmesdale reveals that
13. She is Hester’s daughter
She is the living version of
the Scarlet Letter;
She causes her mother and
Dimmesdale torment;
She has the ability to state
the truth and, at the same
time, deny it when it is
necessary;
She’s extremely beautiful but
lacking
14. Sin: The story of Hester Prynne and
Dimmesdale recalls the story of Adam
and Eve. In both cases, sin results in
expulsion and suffering.
The Nature of Evil: The true Evil
arises from the close relationship
between hate and love. Evil is found in
the revenge of Chillingworth or in
Dimmesdale when he doesn’t
acknowledge publicly his daughter.
15. The author was masterful in the
use of symbolisme;
The letter ‘A’ is his most potent
symbol;
For one interpretive pole the ‘A’
stands for adultery, and sin and the
novel is the story of individual
punishment and reconciliation;
For another pole it stands for
16. The structure is tight, with all of
the events interrelated and
skilfully integrated into logical
sequence;
The style is precise, formal and
descriptive;
The author combining historical
characters with fictional
17.
18.
19. Manzoni writes about the
plague-spreaders who were
tried because people
thought they brought
plague;
Hawthorne tells about
Hester, who stood trial for
adultery.
In both novels readers can
find some considerations
about Evil.
For Manzoni Evil can be won
with God’s help.
