Interpreting American Literary Works and Improving English Literary Competence—On Hawthorne’s <i>The Scarlet Letter</i>

The Scarlet Letter is the masterpiece of Nathaniel Hawthorne who is an American romantic writer. The novel tells a tragic love story during the Puritan rule of North American colonies. The female protagonist, Hester Prynne is arranged to marry the old and weak Roger Chillingworth, and their marriage is devoid of love. In her loneliness, Prynne falls in love with the young, handsome, and erudite minister Arthur Dimmesdale and gives birth to their daughter Pearl. Prynne is punished publicly but she refuses to reveal the father of her child. Many critics hold the opinion that what Hawthorne advocates in The Scarlet Letter is the Puritan doctrine of original sin and Puritan morality since his thought is deeply affected by Puritan ideology. However, the authors conclude that Hawthorne’s religious thought is both complex and pluralistic. What he expresses in his work The Scarlet Letter, is not Puritanism but non-Puritanism and anti-Puritanism.