The influences of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s upbringing in Salem, Massachusetts and his Puritan ancestry are evident in his literary works. Many of his writings are expressions of Puritan ideals and the correlation of those ideals with human nature. Considered serious and solitary by nature, Hawthorne used these character traits to clearly portray his feelings toward Puritanism.
Hawthorne found himself haunted as well as intrigued by the history of his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts. Surrounded by the town’s past, he struggled to rectify in his mind the incongruence of Puritan practice. Further adding to the complexity of his situation was the reality of his Puritan ancestry. Not only was he the descendent of Puritan immigrants, but had a great-great grandfather who served as a judge for the Salem witch trials (Pennell 2; Bloom 11). Perhaps a feeling of personal responsibility and guilt led Hawthorne to select Puritanism as a theme for so many of his works. Exposing Puritan transgressions and forcing the reader to acknowledge the wrongdoings of the past gave Hawthorne an outlet for the misplaced blame he laid on himself. His first person fictional introduction to The Scarlet Letter (entitled The Custom House) divulges his sense of duty toward exposing the cruelties of the Puritan era. Upon discovering the letter itself, the author is visited by a ghost who states, “‘ I charge you in this matter of old Mistress Prynne, give to your predecessor’s memory the credit which will be rightfully its due!'” To which the author replies, “‘And I said to the ghost of Mr. Surveyor Pue, -‘I will!'” (1351)
Hawthorne’s obvious disagreement with Puritan theology courses through The Scarlet Letter. Though he doesn’t deny the sin that took place between the characters Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, Hawthorne bestows upon the reader a sense of sympathy toward the couple and their gross shortcomings by referring to them with adjectives of positivism and pity while the Puritan hierarchy is presented as an evil malefactor. One cannot help but feel compassion for Hester and her daughter Pearl’s plight amidst the injustice of their situation, and anger toward the Puritan system of repression whose followers he describes as “being of the most intolerant brood that ever lived” (1383; ch.6). Further suggesting the author’s clash with Puritan ideals is the manner in which he portrays Hester as a heroine rather than wrongdoer. He makes specific reference to her good works in feeding and sewing for the poor (1377; ch. 5) and takes his praise a step further by comparing Hester and Pearl to the Madonna and Child (1363; ch.2). Hawthorne also goes beyond Hester’s undisputed charitable qualities and implies that her inward rebellion is also heroic. “Her personal moral strength transcends her suffering and transforms her punishment into self-designed grace” (Scharnhorst 224). The reader is given a sense of admiration and respect for Hester which counteracts the negative stigma given to her by the Puritan community.
Although The Scarlet Letter presents the most famous examples of Hawthorne’s conflict with Puritanism, it is by no means the only writing from which one can infer the author’s convictions. Hawthorne’s The Gentle Boy is a fictional narrative which describes the self-righteousness, hypocrisy, and cruelty of Puritan practice in Hawthorne’s view. The author forcefully describes the Puritan governmental leader of the period as “a man of narrow mind and imperfect education, and his uncompromising bigotry was made hot and mischievous by violent and hasty passions; he exerted his influence indecorously and unjustifiably to compass the death of the enthusiasts; and his whole conduct, in respect to them, was marked by brutal cruelty” (Pearson 891). Hawthorne goes on to describe the congregation members’ sanctimonious attitude toward a helpless Quaker child: “And all the inhabitants of this miserable world closed up their impure hearts against him, drew back their earth-soiled garments from his touch, and said, ‘We are holier than thou”’ (Pearson 896). It is noteworthy that preceding his scathing portrayal of the Puritan mind-set and the account of injustices, that Hawthorne assumes a measure of cultural responsibility if not personal guilt toward the events. His introduction to The Gentle Boy announces that “the fines, imprisonments, and stripes, were liberally distributed by our pious forefathers” (Pearson 890). Though he obviously disagrees with Puritan cruelty, Hawthorne does not refute the Calvinistic principle of total depravity. In fact, the belief is represented almost as a quality since it is Tobias’ motivation for showing mercy to the child Ilbrahim. “‘God forbid that I should leave this child to perish, though he comes of the accursed sect,’ said he to himself. ‘Do we not all spring from an evil root? Are we not all in darkness till the light doth shine upon us? He shall not perish, neither in body, nor, if prayer and instruction may avail for him, in soul”’ (Pearson 893).
Another abrasive expression of Hawthorne’s awareness of the Puritan past is found in his tale The May-Pole of Merry Mount. In this fictional account, the Puritans are described as sub-human (“most dismal wretches”) and violent (“Their weapons were always at hand, to shoot down the straggling savage”) (Baym 1276). By contrast, their victims the Merry Mount colonist are depicted as innocent, happy, and pure. “But May, or her mirthful spirit, dwelt all year round at Merry Mount.” “Through a world of toil and care, she flitted with a dreamlike smile, and came hither to find a home among the lightsome hearts of Merry Mount” (Baym 1273). The Puritan’s descent upon the inhabitants at Merry Mount in an almost plague-like fashion, and their subsequent demolition of the May-Pole indicates Hawthorne’s overall view of the destructive effects of Puritan methods. “And with his keen sword, Endicott assaulted the hallowed May-Pole. Nor long did it resist his arm. It groaned with a dismal sound; it showered leaves and rose-buds upon the remorseless enthusiast; and finally, with all its green boughs, and ribbons, and flowers, symbolic of departed pleasures, down fell the banner-staff of Merry Mount. As it sank, tradition says, the evening sky grew darker, and the woods threw forth a more sombre shadow” (Baym 1278). Hawthorne concludes the story on a seemingly contradictory note, implying that the newly married couple accepted Puritanism and “never wasted one regretful thought on the vanities of Merry Mount” (Baym 1280).
In spite of his opposition of Puritan methods, Hawthorne concurs with their fundamental doctrine of Total Depravity. This is evident not only by his fictional narratives, but by his statement in his personal journal, “There is evil in every human heart” (Bloom 11). The Scarlet Letter, The Gentle Boy, and The May-Pole of Merry Mount are all attempts by Hawthorne to affirm his belief it Total Depravity while condemning outrageous Puritan methods of discipline. Composition of fictional works allowed Hawthorne to examine the virtues and vices of his ancestor’s beliefs, and to resolve the conflict in his own mind of the Puritan way of life.
Pennell, Melissa M. Student Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Westport: Greenwood P, 1999.
Bloom, Harold. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Broomall: Chelsea House P, 2000.
Scharnhorst, Gary. The Critical Response to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Westport: Greenwood P, 1992.
Pearson, Norman H. The Complete Novels and Selected Tales of Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Random House, 1937.
Baym, Nina. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 6th ed. Vol. B. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003.
