Hawthorne is influenced by Puritanism deeply. He is not a puritan himself, but he was greatly influenced by his Puritan ancestors who played important role in his life and works, and was different from his ancestors, he had a feeling to some extents of Puritanism as being intolerant and cruel. He often examined and analyzed social phenomenon in the view of Puritanism, but he detested the rigidity of Puritanism .
Melville:霍桑描写黑暗的巨大力量，是由于受到加尔文派交 易关于与生俱来的堕落与原罪思想的影响。没有一位思想深 邃的人能摆脱这种思想所发生的各种形式的影响。 Hawthorne 评价Melville：“他即不肯信教，又对自己的不 信感到惶恐不安。”对霍桑同样适用


Hawthorne and transcendentalism


Puritanism in New England made a great influence on American culture. The Puritans hoped to build "a city upon hill"—an ideal community. New England also established another American tradition—a strain of often intolerant moralism. The Puritans believed that government should enforce God's morality. They strictly punished drunks, adulterers, violators of the Sabbath（安息日） and other religious believers different from themselves. The American values such as individualism, hard work, and respect of education owe very much to the Puritan beliefs. American Puritanism was one of the most enduring shaping influences in American thought and American literature. It has become, to some extent, so much a state of mind, rather than a set of tenets, so much a part of the national cultural atmosphere that the Americans breathe. Without some understanding of Puritanism, there can be no real understanding of American culture and literature.
the Salem Witch Trials. (塞勒姆女巫审判案)

The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft—the Devil's magic— and 20 were executed. Eventually, the colony admitted the trials were a mistake and compensated the families of those convicted. Since then, the story of the trials has become synonymous with paranoia and injustice, and it continues to beguile the popular imagination more than 300 years later. Hawthorne changed the spelling in his name, adding the ―W‖ to his last name and it is said that he did this because he did not want to be associated with the Salem witch trials that his father helped preside over. His ancestors: William Hathorne, who emigrated from England in 1630, was the first Hawthorne's ancestors to arrive in the colonies. After arriving, William persecuted Quakers. William's son John Hathorne was one of the judges who oversaw the Salem Witch Trials.
Brief Introduction

Born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts（马萨诸塞 州）. Entered Bowdoin College in 1821 and graduated in 1825. Published his first work anonymously（不具名地）, a novel titled Fanshawe《范肖》in 1828. He worked at a Custom House（海关） and joined Brook Farm, a transcendentalist community, before marring Peabody in 1842. Published The Scarlet Letter in 1850. Died on May 19, 1864.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864

I do not want to be a doctor, and live by men‘s diseases, nor a minister to live by their sins, nor a lawyer live by their quarrels. So I don‘t see that there is anything left for me but to be an author. Nhomakorabea


Major Works 主要作品



1828 Fanshawe 长篇小说《范肖》 1837 The Minister's Black Veil《教长的黑纱》 1850 The Scarlet Letter 长篇小说《红字》—a treatment of the effects of sin on the human spirit. 1851 The House of Seven Gables《有七个尖角阁 的房子》 1852 The Blithe dale Romance 《福谷传奇》 1860 The Marble Faun《玉石雕像》

Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the most outstanding romanticists in the nineteenth century. His creation was closely related to the philosophical in his time –transcendentalism. On one hand, as displayed in some of his works the idea of self-examination 自省, self-reliance自恃, breaking the theological disciplines like the theory of destiny（命运）, and the widely used technique symbolism embodied to some extent to the connotation of transcendentalism;
Hawthorne and American Puritanism


Puritans was the name given in the 16th century to the more extreme Protestants（新教徒，基督教徒）within the Church of England who thought the English Reformation （英国宗教改革）had not gone far enough in reforming the doctrines and structure of the church. They wanted to purify their national church by eliminating every shred of Catholic influence（加尔文教势力 残余）. In the 17th century many Puritans emigrated to the New World, where they sought to found a holy Commonwealth in New England. Puritanism remained the dominant cultural force in that area into the 19th century. Puritans believed that human beings were predestined by God before they were born. Some were God's chosen people (God's elect 上帝的选民)while others were predestined to be damned to hell. The success of one's work or the prosperity in his calling given by God was the sign of being God's elect. Therefore, everyone must work hard, spend little and invest for more business. Working hard and living a moral life were their ethics. They regarded Bible to be the authority of their doctrine. To be able to read the Bible and understand God's will, education was essential for Puritans.