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TheScarletLetterHistoricalContextTheTranscendentalistMovementTheScarletLetter,whichtakesasitsprincipalsubjectcolonialseventeenth-centuryNewEngland,waswrittenandpublishedinthemiddleofthenineteenthcentury.Hawthornebeganwritingthenovelin1849,afterhisdismissalfromtheCustom-House,anditwaspublishedin1850.Thediscrepancybetweenthetimerepresentedinthenovelandthetimeofitsproductionhasoftenbeenapointofconfusiontostudents.BecauseHawthornetookanearliertimeashissubject,thenovelisconsideredahistoricalromancewritteninthemidstoftheAmericanliterarymovementcalledtranscendentalism(c.1836-60).TheprinciplewritersoftranscendentalismincludedRalphWaldoEmerson,HenryDavidThoreau,MargaretFuller,andW.H.Channing.Transcendentalismwas,broadlyspeaking,areactionagainsttherationalismofthepreviouscenturyandthereligiousorthodoxyofCalvinistNewEngland.Transcendentalismstressedtheromantictenetsofmysticism,idealism,andindividualism.InreligioustermsitsawGodnotasadistantandharshauthority,butasanessentialaspectoftheindividualandthenaturalworld,whichwerethemselvesconsideredinseparable.Becauseofthisprofoundunityofallmatter,humanandnatural,knowledgeoftheworldanditslawscouldbeobtainedthroughakindofmysticalrapturewiththeworld.ThistypeofexperiencewasperhapsmostfamouslyexplainedinEmerson'sNature,wherehewrote,Ibecomeatransparenteyeball;Iamnothing;Iseeall;thecurrentsoftheUniversalBeingcirculatethroughme;IampartandparcelofGod.EventhoughHawthornewasclosetomanytranscendentalists,includingEmerson,andeventhoughhelivedforawhileatthetranscendentalistexperimentalcommunityofBrookFarm,hewasratherperipheraltothemovement.HawthorneevenpokesfunatBrookFarmandhistranscendentalistcontemporariesinTheCustom-House,referringtothemashisdreamybrethrenindulginginfantasticspeculation.Wheretheysawthepossibilitiesofachievingknowledgethroughmysticalexperience,Hawthornewasfarmoreskeptical.AbolitionismandRevolutionMoreimportanttoHawthorne'sliteraryproductions,andparticularlyTheScarletLetter,wasabolitionismandEuropeanrevolution.These,inHawthorne'sview,wereepisodesofthreateninginstability.Abolitionismwasthenineteenth-centurymovementtoendslaveryintheUnitedStates.Thoughitvariedinintensity,abolitionismcontainedaveryradicalstrainthathelpedtoformaclimateforJohnBrown'scaptureofHarpersFerryin1859.(JohnBrownintendedtoestablishabaseforarmedslaveinsurrection.)TherisingintensityandviolenceofabolitionismwasanimportantcauseoftheCivilWar.Hawthorne'sconservativepositioninrelationtoabolitionismdidnotnecessarilymeanthathewaspro-slavery,buthedidquiteclearlyopposeabolitionists,writingthatslaverywasoneofthoseevilswhichdivineProvidencedoesnotleavetoberemediedbyhumancontrivances.WhatHawthornefearedwereviolentdisruptionsofthesocialorderlikethosethatwerehappeninginEuropeatthetimehewroteTheScarletLetter.ThebloodysocialupheavalthatmostinterestedAmericansbeganinFrancein1848.This,andotherrevolutionsoftheperiod,pittedthelowerandmiddleclassesagainstestablishedpowerandauthority.Whiletherevolutionseventuallyfailed,theywerelargelywagedunderthebannerofsocialism,anditwasthisfactthatcausedconcerninAmerica;asonejournalistwrote,asquotedbyBercovitch,heretherewereforebodingshadowsofCommunism,Socialism,Pillage,Murder,Anarchy,andtheGuillotinevs.LawandOrder,FamilyandProperty.CriticshaverecentlypointedtoHawthorne'sguillotineimageryinTheCustom-House(whereheevensuggeststhetidleThePosthumousPapersofaDecapitatedSurveyorforhistale)andmetaphorsofhisownvictimizationassomeevidenceofhissympathieswithregardtorevolutionandsocialorder.ThePuritanColoniesThenovelwaswritteninthemid-nineteenthcentury,butittakesthemid-seventeenthcenturyfortheeventsitdescribes(1642-49).TheMassachusettsBayColonywasestablishedbyJohnWinthorp(whosedeathisrepresentednearthecenterofthenovel)andotherPuritansin1630.TheysoughttoestablishanidealcommunityinAmericathatcouldactasamodelofinfluenceforwhattheysawasacorruptcivilandreligiousorderinEngland.Thissenseofmissionwasthecenteroftheirreligiousandsocialidentity.Directedtowardtherealizationofsuchanideal,thePuritansrequiredastrictmoralregulation;anyoneintheconmmunitywhosinnedthreatenednotonlytheirsoul,buttheverypossibilityofcivilandreligiousperfectioninAmericaandinEngland.Notcoincidentally,theyearsHawthornechosetorepresentinTheScarletLetterwerethesameasthoseoftheEnglishCivilWarfoughtbetweenKingCharlesIandthePuritanParliament;thelatterwasnaturallysupportedbytheNewEnglandcolonists.PlotsummaryThenoveltakesplaceduringthesummerin17th-centuryBoston,MassachusettsinaPuritanvillage.Ayoungwoman,namedHesterPrynne,hasbeenledfromthetownprisonwithherinfantdaughterinherarmsandonthebreastofhergownaragofscarletcloththatassumedtheshapeofaletter.ItwastheuppercaseletterA.TheScarletLetterArepresentstheactofadulterythatshehascommittedanditistobeasymbolofhersin—abadgeofshame—foralltosee.Aman,whowaselderlyandastrangertothetown,entersthecrowdandasksanotheronlookerwhat'shappening.HerespondsbyexplainingthatHesterisbeingpunishedforadultery.Hester'shusband,whoismucholderthanshe,andwhoserealnameisunknown,hassentheraheadtoAmericawhilstsettlingaffairsinEurope.Ho