Sign up for this American literature course with Dr. Russell and learn why this novel is not a condemnation of Puritan intolerance, but rather of the destructive and bigoted God-playing of Hester and her countless American imitators.
Two main streams of thought shape the great American novels: one is the fervor of Christianity, the other is the skeptical Deism popularized in the 18th century. In English Romanticism that Deism becomes transformed into a confused doctrine of the poet as priest and prophet. Ralph Waldo Emerson transported this doctrine in a form wildly popular for Americans. Although Nathaniel Hawthorne found the idea congenial at first, he became a devastating critic of it in his portrait of Hester Prynne (America’s first anti-heroine). This novel is not a condemnation of Puritan intolerance, but rather of the destructive and bigoted God-playing of Hester and her countless American imitators.
Our readings in Emerson will provide a brief but clear introduction to the ideas behind Deism and Romanticism. Then Hawthorne’s novel will provide a tightly constructed, claustrophobic response that operates like a Greek tragedy illumined mainly by the comic ending of Pearl’s destiny.
Week 1: Emerson on “Nature” and “The American Scholar”
Week 2: Emerson’s Views on God
Week 3: The Scarlet Letter: Preface—The Custom-House
Week 4: Chapters 1-4
Week 5: Chapters 5-8
Week 6: Chapters 9-12
Week 7: Chapters 13-16
Week 8: Chapters 17-20
Week 9: Chapters 21-24
Course materials: The Scarlet Letter—any complete edition; Emerson essays provided free to students by Dr. Russell.
Homework: Approximately 30-40 pages of reading per week. There will be computer-graded quizzes available after each class and a final.