Puritanism and its influences

1.Puritanism and its influences: Puritanism ,movement arising within the church of England in the later part of 16th century that sought to purify ,or to reform the church and establish a middle course between Roman Catholicism and the ideas of the Protestant reformers. It had a continuous life within the church until the Stuart Restoration. It remained the dominant religious force in New England throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Its doctrines are predestination ,original sin ,total depravity ,and limited atonement. It is a dominant factor of American life and the most enduring shaping influences in American thought and American literature. It has become ,to some extent ,so much a state of mind ,and a part of national atmosphere that the American breathe. We can safely say that without some understanding of Puritanism, there can be no real understanding of American culture and literature. We can see its influences in many worldwide famous American works ,such as Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography and Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.etc.

2.Why Edgar Allan Poe is unique?

Life:Among all the prominent figures of American Romantic age in American literature ,none ,except Poe is so miserable and poor throughout the whole life . What's more ,his marriage to his only 13 years old cousin is also pretty impressed to me.

Position :For a long time ,he remained the most controversial and most misunderstood figure in American literature history. He is poet of first rank,critic of acumen ,and great writer of short stories. Poe has often been considered as father of the modern short stories. Poe was the the first American writer who formularized the technique of the short story.

Unique features of his works: gothic elements ,romances of horror,attracting detective short stories. His style is traditional, but Poe is not easy to understand. He made good use of implications. His choice of words and syntax is very strict. Poe stresses on brevity, clarity and readable at one sitting. As for theme ,death and revenge are his two important aspects.

3.Explain the influence of Puritanism and Transcendentalism in The Scarlet Letter.

We know that in the early days of New England, puritans lived a life of strict and religious moral discipline . Our heroine, young Hester Prynne ,as a healthy and normal woman,is eager for true love . She is attractive ,appealing and mildly aggressive,though pure and innocent . So she fell in love with the young vicar. Then the conflicts arise. In the puritan's eyes, she is guilty and she has committed adultery for the drive of sexual. Here i just talk so much of the influence of Puritanism. Now let us come to the influence of Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism emphasizes the spirit, the oversoul , which is some kind of supernatural. We can find the use of supernatural in this work,such as the response of Pearl to the symbol of sin on her mother's breast, the appearance of the A in the sky, the totally different responses of Pearl toward Dimmesdale before and after he confessing his sin in a public gathering,as if she was the angel and knew everything .