The Scarlett Letter/Nathaniel Hawthorne

One facet of literary criticism involves determining what relationship the author 's own life has with his creative works . Biological criticism seeks to discover how an author 's own experiences are reflected in his novels or poems . Nathaniel Hawthorne 's The Scarlet Letter is a work that lends itself nicely to this form of criticism . His experiences and life history are intertwined with the story he weaves

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4 , 1804 in Salem , Massachusetts His forefathers were Puritan immigrants , about which Hawthorne studied incessantly . He seemed to be

psychologically attempting to rid himself of some residual guilt of the witch trials for which one of his great grandfather 's was responsible ( Nathaniel Hawthorne 1804-1864 ' 875 After college , where he met some of the foremost and poets of the era , he returned to Salem to write . He considered himself a great judge of character At his best , he was a master of psychological insights , and some of his power of psychological burrowing remained with him throughout his career (876

Indeed , the characters of the novel are extraordinarily well-developed and driven . The story begins with an introduction called The Custom House ' which was written while Hawthorne was a surveyor for the Port of Salem . This introduction has been called his revenge on the Salem Whigs who had ousted him ( Nathaniel Hawthorne 1804-1864 ' 977

Others find the introduction as a type of validation for the novel itself . He notes that while he was working at the custom house , he found in the upstairs room a box of manuscripts and documents which proved that .the past was not dead . Once in a great while , the thoughts , that had seemed so vital and so active , yet had been put to rest so quietly , revived again (Hawthorne The Custom House ' 989 The most important discovery is the faded red cloth of the `original scarlet letter

Of course , the novel is set in Salem and reflects the Puritanical environment about which Hawthorne had studied and from which Hawthorne had descended . The main character , Hester , is a woman who has radically broken the rigid moral code of society . This type of character is the perfect example of the psychological study of human beings of which Hawthorne was so fond . In the Puritan era , women were bound by the strict laws of Puritan men . Hester , too , falls under this jurisdiction Her punishment puts her on display , and she finds herself at the mercy of an angry mob . Ironically , it is a woman who is most irate and who believes the scarlet letter to be too easy a punishment . She says This woman has brought shame on us all and ought to die (Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter , 56 . Perhaps these women are so angry because Hester has found a way to break out of the sexless , matronly role of Puritan womanhood while they are left to suffer silently in her wake whether they are aware of it or not . In a way , Hester represents...