AMERICAN LITERATURE

MEG-06 By
Aishwarya Katyal
 THE BEGINNINGS
America discovered in 1491 by Christoforo Columbus (better known as
Christopher Columbus.
In 1584 Sir Walter Raleigh dispatched an English ship to investigate if it was
possible to colonize other lands.
Another attempt-in 1606; first ever British establishment in Jamestown,
Virginia, named after their virgin queen and the then monarch James I of
England.
Earliest settlements marked by many disasters. Thousands of settlers died
from starvation and illness.
Chesapeake or the “Red Indians” resented their coming. There were
conflicts between the natives and the British; British were savage in their
assaults.
GREAT BRITAIN IN THE AMERICAS
AMERICAN COLONIES
• America culturally came to be divided into 3 parts:
✔ New England
✔ Middle-Colonies
✔ South

New England- north-eastern states including Massachusetts, New Hampshire,

Rhode Island---occupied by Calvinists----Puritan hegemonic control. They were
intolerant of other faiths and killed non-conformists.

Middle colonies- occupied by Quakers----another sect of Christianity; they were

not fanatical as Puritans were; were called Pacifists, Rationalists, Humanitarians,
they were tolerant of other faiths.

South- occupied by mostly conservative peasants. Not much education, not

many schools and colleges in this area. Agrarian part of America. This
conservatism ultimately led to the Civil War in 1880s led by Abraham Lincoln
wanting to abolish slavery.
NEW ENGLAND- THE BIBLE
COMMONWEALTH
• The first settlers that came to Massachusetts to found a dedicated community were the
Pilgrims.
• 1630s- The Great Puritan Migration from England.
• Boston- the spiritual capital in America
• Unsettlement of Europe led to settlement of America.
• Most people who went to America were followers of Calvin.( concept of predestination)
• Puritanism began agitation within the Church of England in the later half of the 16th
century. 1530s- Church of England broke had broken with the Roman Catholic Church.
Puritanism was the belief that the reform should be continued, that more abuses
remained to be corrected, that practices still survived that must be renounced. They
believed the Church must be restored to “purity” of the 1 century Church as
st

established by Christ himself.

• Puritans believed England to be in an anarchic condition. There was disorder: gambling,
whoring, thievery, rape, murder, etc.
• Puritans celebrated temperance, caution, thrift and hard work
• They believed Old England was being taken over by Satan and they had no option but
to flee. Considered themselves as God’s emissaries on a “mission into the wilderness”
• Their project in America- a Utopian goal, a world that would serve as an example to the
entire world- to do God’s work on earth; must erect a rejuvenated Jerusalem marked
with principled and committed life.
• This utopian goal was supremely unconcerned with those who
already live in America.
• In 1616, English fisherman visiting New England had brought the
European disease bacilli which assuming epidemic proportions,
had annihilated probably half of the Indians on New England who
had numbered 25,000. Second devastation came with Smallpox
with the coming of Puritans which in early 1630s killed thousands
more Indians.
• English looked at it as a proof of God’s will that the land be made
empty for them. The weakened local India population made room
for Puritans.
 DISSENT IN PURITANS
Roger Williams- preached that not everyone be required to attend
the Church and also spoke on taxation policies that did not go well
with the rest of the Puritans. Preached in favor of complete freedom
of conscience and democracy of institutions.
Expressed that only people’s actions and not thoughts should be
supervised by the government.
Inevitably, he had to leave and in 1636 he founded his own colony,
Rhode Island—Puritans regarded as something emblematizing
licentiousness and lasciviousness that they found hard to accept.
ANNE HUTCHINSON
Born in 1591
She emigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634

She realized that women were to be excluded from colonial

affairs, she began holding meetings for women to discuss
both religious and secular matters.

Anne and her supporters constantly came into confrontation

with authorities.
Opposed wars with the Indians, fought against the concept
of Eve-induced Original Sin, upheld the separation between
Church and state.

By 1637, she became more popular than the Governor John

Winthrop. She was brought to trial, was compared to lustful
Eve, banished from the colony and finally ironically
–murdered in exile by the Indians.
3 SEGMENTS: DIFFERENT LITERATURES

• New England literature- Puritan through and through, books

they wrote largely based on The Bible. Eg- the concept of free-
will and predestination or the concept of the fallen man.
• Puritans had a fetish of recording their experiences in the New
World noting in detail the day-to-day episodes of their
adventures on the alien shores.
• The ability to write was supposed to be a mark of civilization of
the European traveler. The unlettered aboriginals, the Indians
and slaves, the Africans brought in as labour a little later were
either written down or written out of the Puritan narratives.
• 2 motifs recurrent in their literature- the America was utterly
savage and that America had to do nothing with Europe.
• Puritan literature was marked with a style that was simple, lucid
and controlled, fit to satisfy the intellect, not excite the passions, to
instruct not to titillate.
• Writings not ornate and not very elaborate in diction, marked by
gloom.

Eminent Historians
of New England; 1st
generation
immigrants

WilliamBradford Cotton Mather

Both William Bradford and Cotton Mather brought out narratives

about their lives and times with the express purpose of reaching out
to everyday reader.
• The term “Puritan-poetry” is somewhat an oxymoron. Puritans
believed that the senses were unreliable, appeals of imagination
were dangerous.
• Yet, from 1940s to 1960s scholars continued to discover and exhibit
innumerable Puritan poems many of which contain provocatively
striking decorative language and allusions not only to the Bible but
also to classical models such as Ovid, Cicero, Virgil, Horace and
Livy. Numerous poems also contain intertextual references to the
work of contemporary poets- Spencer, Sidney, Shakespeare,
Herbert, Vaughan,etc. ---Exposed apparent gap between Puritan
theory and Puritan practice.
Quaker literature:
Leading writer- William Penn---wrote about slavery system, he
wanted it abolished, spoke in favor of treating slaves as humans.
Also wrote on the treatment of the poor, against religious fanaticism.

The Quakers believed that divine guidance was not to be foundin

any outward church or even in the Bible (though the latter was
central to all faith). It was to be found in the voice of conscience,
which is God’s voice. Neither rituals nor clergy was needed.
Southern literature:
Largely about slavery, writings of slaves either suppressed or lack of
access to educational resources kept them from contributing to
literature.
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
THE SCARLET LETTER (1850)
• An American classic
• One of the first mass-produced books in America.
• "perfect work of the American imagination". –D H Lawrence
• Set in Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649
• tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an
affair and then struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity.
• Contains a number of religious and historic allusions
• explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.
 ANALYSIS
• The experience of Hester and Dimmesdale recalls the story of Adam and Eve
because, in both cases, sin results in expulsion and suffering. But it also results
in knowledge—specifically, in knowledge of what it means to be human.
• For Hester, the scarlet letter functions as “her passport into regions where other
women dared not tread,” leading her to “speculate” about her society and
herself more “boldly” than anyone else in New England. 
• As for Dimmesdale, the “burden” of his sin gives him “sympathies so intimate
with the sinful brotherhood of mankind, so that his heart vibrate[s] in unison
with theirs.” His eloquent and powerful sermons derive from this sense of
empathy.
• Puritan society is stagnant, while Hester and Dimmesdale’s experience shows
that a state of sinfulness can lead to personal growth, sympathy, and
understanding of others. Paradoxically, these qualities are shown to be
incompatible with a state of purity. 
• After Hester is publicly shamed and forced by the people of Boston to wear
a badge of humiliation, her unwillingness to leave the town may seem
puzzling. She is not physically imprisoned, and leaving the Massachusetts
Bay Colony would allow her to remove the scarlet letter and resume a
normal life. Surprisingly, Hester reacts with dismay when Chillingworth tells
her that the town fathers are considering letting her remove the letter.
Hester’s behavior is premised on her desire to determine her own identity
rather than to allow others to determine it for her. To her, running away or
removing the letter would be an acknowledgment of society’s power over
her: she would be admitting that the letter is a mark of shame and something
from which she desires to escape.
• The relationship between Hester and Dimmesdale explores the tension
between natural desires, and the ways in which society tries to control
human nature by imposing rules and laws. Similarly, Pearl, a product of
natural impulses, exhibits a personality that aligns her with nature, rather
than society. She is a wild and impulsive child, and the narrator attributes
Pearl’s personality to the circumstances under which she was conceived: “In
giving her existence, a great law had been broken; and the result was a being,
whose elements were perhaps beautiful and brilliant, but all in disorder.”
• The novel’s climax, the key scene where Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl are
finally reunited, takes place in the woods. This location highlights the tension
between nature and society. In a space that is still untamed and not ruled by
social conventions, Dimmesdale and Hester can speak openly with each other,
and even dare to imagine a future in which they might be able to break free and
find happiness together. Hawthorne depicts Nature being on the side of the
lovers: “that wild, heathen Nature of the forest, never subjugated by human law,
nor illumined by higher truth—with the bliss of those two spirits!” Likewise, Pearl
can roam safely through the woods because “all recognized a kindred wildness
in the human child.” However, while nature offers a safe haven to the
unconventional family, they are ultimately still subject to the laws of society, and
must eventually live with the consequences.
 Symbols in the novel:
• The Scarlet Letter A: In the beginning of the novel Hester's letter A is a representation of her sin and adultery.
However, as time progresses, the meaning of the letter changed. It now represented, to some, able. It states “The
letter was the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her—so much power to do, and power to
sympathize—that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant
Able, so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength”
• Meteor: The meteor shaped as an A serves as another symbol in the book. To Reverend Dimmesdale the meteor is
a sign from God who is revealing his sin to everyone and causes him to be ridden with guilt. However, others
perceived the letter to be a symbol for angel.
• Dimmesdale's name: Dimmesdale's name itself also holds symbolism. His name contains the root word "dim"
which evokes the feeling of faint, weak, and gloom. This represents the constant state Dimmesdale finds himself in.
His life has dimmed itself ever since his sin, causing his light of life to fade and dim.
• Pearl: Pearl symbolizes the embodiment of her parents' sin and passion. She is a constant reminder of the sin from
which her mother cannot escape. It is mentioned she "was the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letter
endowed in life” (84).
• Rosebush: The rosebush is mentioned twice within the course of the story. At the beginning, it is first viewed as
nature's way of offering beauty to those who leave and enter the prison as well as providing a glimmer of hope to
those who inhabit it. The rosebush is perceived as a symbol of brightness in a story filled with human sorrow. Also a
reference to Anne Hutchinson that evokes a sense of sympathy for Hester’s characters.
• The Scaffold: The scaffold is mentioned three times throughout the novel. It can be viewed as separating the book
into the beginning, middle, and end. It symbolizes shame, revelation of sin, and guilt for it is where Hester received
her scarlet letter as punishment and where Dimmesdale experiences his revelation through the meteor.
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