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Life in Puritan 17th century Massachusetts Bay

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Life in Puritan 17th century Massachusetts Bay

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Throughout the colony public punishment was favored like that in the old testament. One common punishment was that of adulterers wearing a scarlet A upon their chest. Throughout the history of the colony there are two known executions of adulterers.

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Life in Puritan 17th century Massachusetts Bay

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Life in Puritan 17th century Massachusetts Bay

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The Massachusetts Bay Colony was one of the earliest English settlements, established in the early 1600s. By the mid 17th century the colony grew to about 20,000 Puritans, puritans being english reformed protestants. They worked all hours of the day and dedicated everything to god.

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At the beginning of a story we see a prison door and beside it is a rosebush. This Rosebush represents kindness and forgiveness. While the door represents all things that are harsh and strict, the bush represents forgiveness.

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The A on Hester's chest is arguably the most symbolic item in the story. It represents not only adultery, but sin, guilt, hard work, etc. It is given to Hester after she has an affair with an unknown man while her husband is gone. She has to live with the guilt and shame brought with it and constantly work at bettering herself and being a good person in order to have it removed.

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Throughout the story you follow along with Roger Chillingworth and his attempt to get his revenge on the secret lover of Hester's. He spends years torturing Dimmesdale trying to get every bit of vengeance he can get.

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One of the major themes of Scarlet Letter is sin. From the very beginning of the story you hear of Hester and her sin of adultery and how she has to bare a letter A on her chest which tells everyone of her sin. The story seems to revolve around this scenario from her husband trying to find her lover to get his revenge, to her trying to remove the letter from her chest.

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Nathaniel had many jobs at the beginning of his career. He went from being an editor of a magazine, to working at a custom house, and even short stories in magazines. None of this gaining him much attention. He later worked at Brook Farm shoveling manure in order to save money to marry Sophia Peabody, which he did on July 9, 1842. They moved to Concord, Massachusetts, where they lived for three years. They had three children together the first of which was born on March 3, 1844. Two years later, in October of 1846, the young family moved to Salem. Their two other children were born later in 1846, and 1851.

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Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. After the death of his father in 1808, his mother brought him and his two sisters to live with relatives. They eventually moved to a home in Raymond, Maine, built by his uncles. In 1819 he was sent back to Salem but complained about being so far from home. He was sent to Bowdoin college in 1821, despite not wanting to himself, and later graduated in the class of 1825.

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Nathaniel Hawthorne.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Aug. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Hawthorne.
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Shmoop Editorial Team. “The Scarlet Letter Themes.” Shmoop, Shmoop University, 11 Nov. 2008, www.shmoop.com/scarlet-letter/themes.html.
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Shmoop Editorial Team. “The Scarlet Letter Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory.” Shmoop, Shmoop University, 11 Nov. 2008, www.shmoop.com/scarlet-letter/symbolism-imagery.html.
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Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Massachusetts Bay Colony.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 18 July 2017, www.britannica.com/place/Massachusetts-Bay-Colony.