The Reading Report of The Scarlet Letter

Yan Hongna 0311110323

This period, I have read a part of the book, The Scarlet Letter. This book was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was born in July 4, 1804. Salem, Massachusetts, United States, and died in May 19, 1864. Plymouth, New Hampshire, United States. who was an American famous romantic novelist and Psychological novelist in 19th century, His most works were mostly drawn from New England period, reflected the reality of the society at that time. In that time, Calvinism dominated position in the American continent. However, the religious rule makes people feel suffocated. They often persecuted the people who are alien or violate the Ten Commandments. They implemented personality insult or torture and even death. The Scarlet Letter is exactly an epitome of that time’s life. It is a love tragedy happening under cruel Puritanism in New England.

The Scarlet Letter was written in the background of New England in the middle of the 17th century. This book based on the three main character's thoughts and the tragedy of life, reveals the true picture of the society. The Scarlet Letter offers an extraordinary insight into the norms and behavior of the 17th century in American Puritan society. The Puritans believed good and evil were present in everyone’s soul. They searched external events in life for moral meaning. They believed that the relationship of an individual to the community was an important concern. The Puritans believed that government should enforce God's morality. They strictly punished drunks, adulterers, violators of the Sabbath and other religious believers different from themselves. The American values such as individualism, hard work, and respect of education owe very much to the Puritan beliefs. American Puritanism was one of the most enduring shaping influences in American thought and American literature. It has become, to some extent, so much a state of mind, rather than a set of tenets, so much a part of the national cultural atmosphere that the Americans breathe. Without some understanding of Puritanism, there can be no real understanding of American culture and literature. In this novel the main characters are Roger Chillingworth, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Pearl.

The story begins in seventeenth-century. The charming British woman, Hester Prynne, marries to a physically abnormal scholar who is much older than herself at a very young age. Later on, her husband sends her to Boston, then a Puritan settlement