American Literature

Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763)

Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)

This collection uses primary sources to explore Nathaniel Hawthorne&#39;s The Scarlet Letter.

A photograph from the set of the silent movie *The Scarlet Letter*, 1926.

A portrait of Jean Lander as Hester Prynne and “Little Mabel” Struthers as Pearl on the set of the play *The Scarlet Letter* in 1877.

The role of Hester Prynne was Ms. Lander’s last appearance on stage.

A 1965 oil painting by John Paul Jones inspired by a quotation from *The Scarlet Letter*.

John Paul Jones’ painting was inspired by the following quotation from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s *The Scarlet Letter*: "No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true."


A photograph of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Descended from the early Puritan settlers, Nathaniel Hawthorne drew upon his knowledge of both family and local history to create the plots and settings for such highly regarded works as *The Scarlet Letter* (1850) and *The House of the Seven Gables* (1851). Hawthorne's description of old New England added an important dimension to his fiction, but it was his exploration of the psychological and moral aspects of the human condition that distinguished his work.


A copy of *The Scarlet Letter* with a hand-painted celluloid cover.

Despite the widespread popularity of his novels and short stories, Hawthorne suffered financially from the lack of international copyright protection. Unauthorized editions of his books were published abroad, and he never earned more than $1,500 from his sales at home, largely because the market was flooded with cut-rate editions of works.

Excerpts (the opening scene and final scene) from a dramatic poem written for an opera of *The Scarlet Letter*, 1894.

A model of the ship *Arabella*, on which over 700 Puritans sailed with livestock and provisions from England to New England in summer 1630.

The *Arabella* was part of a fleet of eleven sailing ships under the rule of Governor Winthrop. 

An 1850 image of Governor Winthrop’s landing at Salem in 1630.

An 1858 image of John Elliot, the first missionary among Indians.

An 1856 image of a Puritan man with Native Americans.

The inscription reads: “Roger Williams sheltered by Narragansetts.”


A 1957 photograph of a reconstruction of a seventeenth-century Massachusetts Bay Colony home.

A 1928 historical map that shows Shawmut or Boston from 1630-1930.

A framed and embroidered medallion quilt owned by the White family of Westminster/Boston, 1785-1800.

An excerpt from Jonathan Edwards’s sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” which he preached on July 7, 1741 in Enfield, Connecticut.

The message of this sermon was meant to put fear in the hearts of all Puritans: God will judge and punish all sinners, and the punishment will be worse than they can possibly imagine.


An excerpt from *Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony* by George Francis Dow, 1935.

Questions

1. Read the opening scene in Lathrop’s [dramatic poem](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-scarlet-letter-by-nathaniel-hawthorne/sources/1032). How does this compare to the novel’s opening scene? Which is more effective? Now look at the final scene in both the poem and the novel. Why do you think Lathrop changed the ending? Which do you like better, Hawthorne’s or Lathrop’s? Why?
2. Look at the [painting](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-scarlet-letter-by-nathaniel-hawthorne/sources/1029) by John Paul Jones. Why do you think he used Hawthorne’s quote to title his painting? Which scene from the novel does this painting best represent? Explain.
3. Look at the pictorial [map](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-scarlet-letter-by-nathaniel-hawthorne/sources/1038) of Boston. Find all the examples of punishment and make a list of the crime and date. What do these crimes as well as the punishments say about the Puritans? Which did you find particularly interesting and why? In the opening line of *The Scarlet Letter*, Hawthorne states, “The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison.” Can you find evidence of this on the map?
4. Hester Prynne eventually earns back the respect of the community for her kind nature and her embroidery. In fact, by the end of the novel, her scarlet “A” no longer defines her as “adulteress” but rather as “able.” How is the [White family quilt](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-scarlet-letter-by-nathaniel-hawthorne/sources/1039) similar to Hester’s needlework? 
5. Look at the [image of Governor Winthrop’s landing](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-scarlet-letter-by-nathaniel-hawthorne/sources/1034) at Salem. Although not actually in the novel, Governor Winthrop is mentioned. Specifically, his death coincides with Reverend Dimmesdale’s midnight stand upon the pillory as he tries to atone for the sins he has kept hidden. Research Governor Winthrop. Why might Hawthorne have linked these two characters in this particular scene?
6. Look at the two images of Puritans with Native Americans. Explain how these two images relate to *The Scarlet Letter*. Find textual evidence to support your answer.
7. Read the excerpt of Edwards’s “[Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-scarlet-letter-by-nathaniel-hawthorne/sources/1040)." How does the behavior of Puritans in *The Scarlet Letter* towards Hester Prynne connect with this sermon? How does this explain the townspeople’s attitude toward Hester? What is Hawthorne saying about the rigors of Puritan life and faith? 


Activity

1. Ask students to read the selection on Crime and Punishment in [*Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony*](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-scarlet-letter-by-nathaniel-hawthorne/sources/1041). Ask them first to note the severity of punishment for adultery, then to locate the different types of crimes for which public shaming was used as punishment. Discuss with students whether contemporary society includes forms of public shaming. Finally, have students research, with a partner, examples of modern-day public shaming, then choose one to present to the class. Students must explain why modern-day public shaming is or is not as effective today as it was 360 years ago.
2. Ask students to find a “crime” in their student handbook that they have committed. Ask students to cut out a letter that represents that “crime” and wear their letter throughout the school day. Finally, ask them to write a journal entry about their experience.


Teaching Guide: Exploring *The Scarlet Letter*

Resources

1. [Hawthorne](http://www.pem.org/sites/hawthorne/#), Peabody Essex Museum. 
2. “[A Red Hot ‘A’ and a Lusting Divine: Sources for *The Scarlet Letter*](http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/biog/bachilerscarletletter.htm),” by Frederick Newberry, *New England Quarterly* via Lane Memorial Library.  
3. [Hawthorne in Salem](http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/), North Shore Community College. 

Overview

In a society governed by Puritans, Hester Prynne is an outcast. Why? Because she had a baby...out of wedlock. (Gasp!) Nathaniel Hawthorne’s *The Scarlet Letter*, published in 1850, sets its events in the Puritan society of two centuries before, and narrates a tale as scandalous for that time as the stuff in grocery-store paperbacks now. So why is this novel considered one of the greatest American novels, and why do we study it in schools? Hawthorne wrote in the tradition of romanticism, a term used to describe literature that emphasizes individualism and emotion, uses both imagery and symbolism, and looks into humanity’s darker impulses and desires. In *The Scarlet Letter*, Hawthorne’s romanticism helps him to critique the hypocrisy of the Puritan religion while also exploring more universal themes of self-consciousness, desire, revenge, shame, and guilt. The result made for one of the first mass-produced books in America, and a volume still on many high schools’ required reading lists today. This primary source set includes photographs, paintings, documents, maps, and items that relate both to the setting of *The Scarlet Letter*, the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the mid-seventeenth century, and thematic elements within the book.

English

*The Scarlet Letter* by Nathaniel Hawthorne

scarlet-letter-nathaniel-hawthorne_03_9f47df42156ddda30e369adda0c85e87.jpg

Courtesy of Smithsonian American Art Museum via Smithsonian Institution.

Jones, John Paul, “"No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/9f47df42156ddda30e369adda0c85e87.


A 1965 oil painting by John Paul Jones inspired by a quotation from The Scarlet Letter.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 3 of 15 in the Primary Source Set The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne