A Pietist, or A Sceptic——On Hawthorne' s The Scarlet Letter and Puritanism Thought

摘要

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a classical novel in American literature in the 19th century.Hawthorne is deeply influenced by Puritanism.His representative work, The Scarlet Letter, reflects the Calvinistic thought of "Original Sin".His novel also expresses his pious attitude with skepticism for ethics and morality of Puritanism.On one hand,Hawthorne strongly criticizes Calvinism for constraining human nature, and on the other hand, regards some social problems as the sake of evil human nature.He advocates the believers to clear themselves of guilt and to purify their hearts by penitence and kindness.