红字历史背景(3页).doc

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1、-红字历史背景-第 3 页The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 romantic work of fiction in a historical setting, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and is considered to be his magnum opus.Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, Massachusetts during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a d

2、aughter through an affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the book, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.The Puritans were a group of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries, including, but not limited to, English Calvinists. Purit

3、anism in this sense was founded by John Calvin from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England.In modern times, the word puritan is often used to mean against pleasure.1 Historically, the word was used pejoratively t

4、o characterize the Protestant group as extremists, similar to the Cathars of France and, according to Thomas Fuller in his Church History, dated back to 1564. Archbishop Matthew Parker of that time used it and precisian with the sense of the modern stickler.2Puritans were blocked from changing the e

5、stablished church from within, and were severely restricted in England by laws controlling the practice of religion. Their beliefs, however, were transported by the emigration of congregations to the Netherlands (and later to New England), and by evangelical clergy to Ireland (and later into Wales),

6、 and were spread into lay society and parts of the educational system, particularly certain colleges of the University of Cambridge. They took on distinctive beliefs about clerical dress and in opposition to the episcopal system, particularly after the 1619 conclusions of the Synod of Dort they were

7、 resisted by the English bishops. They largely adopted Sabbatarianism in the 17th century, and were influenced by millennialism.In alliance with the growing commercial world, the parliamentary opposition to the royal prerogative, and in the late 1630s with the Scottish Presbyterians with whom they h

8、ad much in common, the Puritans became a major political force in England and came to power as a result of the First English Civil War (164246). After the Restoration of 1660 and the 1662 Uniformity Act, almost all Puritan clergy left the Church of England, some becoming nonconformist ministers. The

9、 nature of the movement in England changed radically, although it retained its character for a much longer period in New England.Puritans, by definition, were dissatisfied with the limited extent of the English Reformation, and the Church of Englands tolerance of practices which they associated with

10、 the Catholic Church. They formed, and identified with, various religious groups advocating greater purity of worship and doctrine, as well as personal and group piety. Puritans adopted a Reformed theology and, in that sense, were Calvinists (as were many of their earlier opponents), but they also t

11、ook note of radical criticisms of Zwingli in Zurich and Calvin in Geneva. In church polity, some advocated for separation from all other Christians, in favor of autonomous gathered churches. These separatist and independent strands of Puritanism became prominent in the 1640s, when the supporters of

12、a Presbyterian polity in the Westminster Assembly were unable to forge a new English national churchNathaniel Hawthorne (/hrn/; born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer.He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and th

13、e former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, the only judge involved in the Salem witch trials who never repented of his actions. Nathaniel later added a w to make his name Hawthorne in order to hide this relation. He entered Bowdoin College in 1821, was elected to Phi Bet

14、a Kappa in 1824,1 and graduated in 1825. Hawthorne published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe, in 1828; he later tried to suppress it, feeling it was not equal to the standard of his later work.2 He published several short stories in various periodicals which he collected in 1837 as Twice-Tol

15、d Tales. The next year, he became engaged to Sophia Peabody. He worked at a Custom House and joined Brook Farm, a transcendentalist community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires, then to The Wayside in C

16、oncord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. A political appointment took Hawthorne and family to Europe before their return to The Wayside in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, and was survived by his wife and their three children.Much of Hawthornes

17、 writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, Dark romanticism. His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. His published works include novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend Franklin Pierce.