The Scarlet Letter
Indians in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel HawthorneMaterials prepared by: |
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 A Gleam of Sunshine from chapter entitled "A Flood of Sunshine" in The Scarlet Letter |
The Scarlet Letter takes place fifteen or twenty years after the settlement of Boston when the wilderness inhabited by Indians encroaches upon the 'civilized' Puritan town. Hester Prynne, who has been imprisoned because she is pregnant and unmarried, is forced to stand before a derogatory crowd on the scaffold outside her jail as an example of one type of outcast or sinner who is typically punished by the Puritans for crimes. Although Indians do not play a major role in The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne refers to them throughout the novel in their stereotypical role of outcast, heathen, healer, or romanticized dweller of the primordial forests.
Literature Related to Native Americans and The Scarlet Letter
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The following 18 chapters (1 - The Prison Door, 2 - The Market Place, 3 - The Recognition, 4- The Interview, 5 - Hester at her Needle, 6 - Pearl, 7 - The Governor's Hall, 9 - The Leech, 10 - The Leech and his Patient, 13 - Another View of Hester, 15 - Hester and Pearl, 16 - A Forest Walk, 17 - The Pastor and his Parishner, 18 - A Flood of Sunshine, 19 - The Child at the Brook-side, 20 - The Minister in a Maze, 22 - The Procession, and 24 - Conclusion) give us glimpses of Hester and Pearl's passions reflected in the imagery of the wilderness and the heathen Indian. These chapters contrast the freedom of the forest and Hester's home on the fringe of the forest with | ||
the constraints of the Puritans who have isolated Hester and Pearl . These chapters also examine the medical practices of Chillingsworth whose knowledge of herbs gained during his time of captivity with the Indians becomes terribly twisted as he used the herbs for evil and not for the healing that the Indians had taught him.
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Images Relating to The Scarlet Letter"
Image of Other Gravestones
Other Related Images
Images of Ministers' Gravestones
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Rev. Joseph Green Gravestone, Danvers (Carved by John Holiman) Rev. Joseph Green came to Salem Village in 1697 to become its minister after Rev. Samuel Parris left. Rev. Green led the shaken community out of the shadow of the witchcraft delusion into the light of the 18th century. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Rev.John Hale Gravestone, 1700, Beverly, Massachusetts. In 1664 John Hale became minister of the church at "Bass River," which became the town of Beverly in 1667. He held this position for over thirty years. He supported the Salem witch hunt of 1692 until his second wife, Sarah (Noyes), was accused of witchcraft, at which time he changed his opinion. He is buried next to his wives in the Hale Family plot, not far from his house in Beverly, Massachusetts. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Michael Wigglesworth Slate Gravestone, 1705, Malden, Massachusetts. Michael Wigglesworth Gravestone, 1705, Malden, Massachusetts. |
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Portrait, right border, of Rev. Jonathan Pierpont Gravestone, 1709, Wakefield, Massachusetts This superbly executed portrait effigy of Rev. Jonathan Pierpont reading his prayer book was carved by the Charlestown stonecutter, Joseph Lamson, or his son Nathaniel. The stone is initialed "N.L." This is an exceptional example of early New England gravestone art. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Gravestone of Rev. Jonathan Pierpont, 1709, Wakefield, Massachusetts. The Pierpont gravestone illustrates superbly the folk art quality of early New England gravestones. The slate stone has two stylized portrait effigies of the minister and was carved by either Joseph or Nathaniel Lamson of Charlestown, Massachusetts. The epitaph reads: A Fruitful Christian, And a pastor who/ Did good to all and lov'd all good to do,/ A tender Husband and a parent Kind/ A Faithful Friend which who oh who can find/ A Preacher that a bright example gave/ Of Rules he preached the souls of Men to save./ A Pierpont all of this here leaves his dust/ And waits the Resurrection of the Just. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Rev. William Whitwell, 1781, Marblehead, Massachusetts The portrait of Rev. Whitwell of Marblehead was carved by Daniel Hastings of Newton, Massachusetts. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Rev.Nathaniel Rogers, 1775, Ipswich, Massachusetts. Carved by Daniel Hastings. This portrait of Rev. Nathaniel Rogers, 1775, in his formal wig and gown is one of the largest and most impressive in the old Ipswich burying ground. According to Dr. Stiles, Rogers was a man whose preaching was “Calvinistic, practical, and very solemn.” Local legend says that Nathaniel Hawthorne was a frequent visitor to the graveyard and used to enjoy counting the buttons on the Reverend's gown. Buttons were a status symbol in colonial times-- a statement of affluence and position. Not surprisingly, gravestone portraits of women and children are seldom shown with buttons. Hawthorne recorded the following in his journal after visiting the Ipswich Burying Ground: "...Entering the burial-ground,...we found a good many old monuments, and several covered with slabs of red freestone or slate, and with arms sculptured on the slab, or an inlaid circle of slate. On one slate gravestone, of the Rev. Nathl. Rogers, there was a portrait of that worthy, about a third of the size of life, carved in relief, with his cloak, band, and wig, in excellent preservation, all the buttons of his waistcoat being cut with great minuteness,--the minister's nose being on a level with his cheeks. It was an upright gravestone." (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Rev. Ebenezer Bridge, Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Detail of the Rev. Ebenezer Bridge gravestone in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
Images of Other Gravestones
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Mary Corry, Wife of Giles Corry, 1684 The Simple gravestone of Mary Corry, first wife of Giles Corry (Corey), who was pressed to death in September 19, 1692. Corey's second wife, Martha, was hanged as a witch on Gallows Hill September 22. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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George Jacobs, 1692, Nurse Family Plot, Danvers, MA Replica 17th century stone for George Jacobs, Sr., placed in the Rebecca Nurse Family Plot in Danvers, Mass. in 1992. Jacobs was accused of wizardry and hanged on August 19th, 1692. The words he used in his defense: “Well burn me, or hang me, I will stand in the truth of Christ,” are carved on this stone, which marks his remains. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Gravestone of Elizabeth Parris, 1696, Wadsworth Cemetery, Danvers, Massachusetts. Slate gravestone of Elizabeth Parris, wife of Rev. Samuel Parris of Salem Village. It was in her house, the old parsonage, that Tituba the Barbados slave told stories of the occult to impressionable girls and set off the hysteria that swept the towns north of Boston. The epitaph, initialed “S.P.” reads: “Sleep precious Dust no Stranger now to Rest. / Thou hast thy longed wish in Abrahams Brest. / Farewell best Wife, choice Mother, Neighbor, Friend. / Weel wail the less for hopes of Thee i th End.” (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Slate Gravestone for Nathanael Mather, 1688, Charter Street Burial Ground, Salem. An Aged person / that had seen but / Nineteen Winters / in the World.Hawthorne, a frequent visitor to Salem's Charter Street burial ground, used the epitaph for Nathanael Mather, the son of Rev. Increase Mather,in his story Fanshawe. Historian Sidney Perley wrote the following about Mather: “Nathaniel Mather was son of Rev. Increase and Maria Mather of Boston, where he was born July 6, 1669. His father was president of Harvard College; and two of his brothers were Reverends Cotton and Samuel Mather. He entered Harvard at the age of twelve, and took his first degree at the age of sixteen, when he gave a Hebrew oration, so great a scholar had he become at that tender age. His acquaintance with general literature and science of those times was extraordinary; and he excelled in mathematics, classics and theology. He was a hard student and a good scholar, but too close application, probably without relaxation, produced ill health. At the age of fourteen, he dedicated himself to God. His dedication consisted of devotion to prayer for personal sanctity, and he deliberated so much and so seriously that had became morbid and melancholy. He had taken his second degree at college just before his death. He had contracted ill habits of posture of body, which, persisted in, produced effects which made him appear like an old man. He died in Salem Oct. 17, 1688, at the age of nineteen, and was buried in the Charter Street burying ground, where his gravestone still stands. It is said that his brother Cotton wrote the epitaph upon it….“ (Sidney Perley, The History of Salem, Massachusetts, Vol. 3, pp. 231-32.) (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Slate Gravestone for Dr. John Swinnerton, 1690, Charter Street Burying Ground, Salem. John Swinnerton's gravestone in the Charter Street Burying Ground, Salem, is directly behind the "Grimshawe House," which was the family home of Sophia Peabody. In his unfinished story "Grimshawe," Hawthorne has Dr. Grimshawe's grave situated beside Swinnerton's, which is a row away from the grave of Nathaniel Mather, whose tombstone provided the epitaph for Fanshawe. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Detail of the Timothy Cutler Gravestone, 1694, Charlestown, Massachusetts Mortality symbols, such as hourglasses, coffins, and death imps are seen on early Boston-area gravestones. This stone was probably carved by Joseph Lamson. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Detail of the Zechariah Long Gravestone, 1688, Charlestown, Massachusetts The imps of Death attack the Death's Head on the Zechariah Long Gravestone, 1688. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Detail of the Polly Harris Gravestone, 1787, Charlestown, Massachusetts. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Joseph Tapping Gravestone, 1678. Joseph Tapping Slate Gravestone, 1678, King's Chapel Burial Ground, Boston, Massachusetts. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Detail of the Joseph Tapping Gravestone, 1678, King's Chapel Burial Ground, Boston. Detail of the Joseph Tapping Stone, 1678, Boston. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Detail of the Susanna Jayne Gravestone,Slate, 1776, Burial Hill, Marblehead. Detail of the Susanna Jayne Gravestone,1776, Burial Hill, Marblehead, Massachusetts. Carved by Boston stonecutter Henry Christian Geyer. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Elizabeth Pain Gravestone, 1704. The Elizabeth Pain gravestone, King's Chapel, Boston. Local tradition holds that Elizabeth Pain was the prototype for Hester Prynne in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. |
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Gedney Coat of Arms, King's Chapel, Boston A Coat of Arms was often used on the gravestones and monuments of prominent people before the Revolution. It was a source of pride for those who had the social ranking to possess one. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Coat of Arms, The Granary Burial Ground, Boston, Massachusetts. Family crests, such as this finely carved coat of arms, were a proud possession of some English settlers in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. They are often found embellishing tombs and gravestones and served as important station-in-life symbols. As the 18th century progressed they became less popular and were not used in public after the Revolution. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Capt. Richard More, 1692, Charter St. Gravestone for a "Mayflower Pilgrim" in Charter Street Burial Ground, Salem. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Phinehas Pratt Gravestone, 1680, Charlestown, MA. Slate. Gravestone for Phinehas Pratt, 1680, Charlestown, Massachusetts. The Epitaph states that Pratt was one of the first English inhabitants of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Josaih Peele 1784 Charter St. (L. Maxey) Josaih Peele Gravestone, 1784, Charter Street (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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"Caesar the Ethiopian" 1780. This well-known gravestone in North Attleboro, Massachusetts is for a slave named "Caesar." The epitaph reads: "Here lies the best of slaves, now turning into dust; / Caesar, the Ethiopian, craves a place among the just. / His faithful soul has fled to realms of heavenly light, / And by the blood that Jesus shed, is changed from black to white." (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Child's Gravestone,Plymouth, Massachusetts. Face from a Child's Gravestone in Plymouth, Massachusetts. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Gravestone of Capt. Thomas Lake, 1676, Copp's Hill Burial Ground, Boston. Capt. Thomas Lake, who was "perfidiously slain by ye Indians at Kennibeck, August ye 14, 1676." (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Sarah McKean and Child, 1776, Ipswich, MA Here is a portrait of Mrs. Sarah McKean of Ipswich and the child she lost along with her own life. The inscription below the image tells the reader that the two are buried together. These are words found frequently on old gravestones. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Gravestone for Mary Harvey and Child, 1785, Deerfield, Massachusetts. In Memory of Mary the Wife of Simeon Harvey, Who Departed this Life December 20th 1785 In 39th year of Her age. On her left Arm lieth the Infant Which was still born. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Gravestone of Lt. William Hescy, Wakefield, MA, 1689. The Hescy stone is a classic early Boston gravestone, made by the anonymous Boston-area carver known as "The Old Stone Cutter of Boston." The grapes and vines are symbolic of the "True Vine" of the New Testament and the wine of Holy Communion. Puritan poet Edward Taylor wrote: "Implant me as a branch in God's true vine / And then my grape will yield thy Cup rich wine." The vine theme was used on many early New England gravestones. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
Other Related Images
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King's Chapel Burial Ground, Boston The Elizabeth Pain gravestone is located in King's Chapel, Boston. Local tradition holds that Elizabeth Pain was the prototype for Hester Prynne in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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King's Chapel Burial Ground, Boston The Elizabeth Pain gravestone is located in King's Chapel, Boston. Local tradition holds that Elizabeth Pain was the prototype for Hester Prynne in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. (Photography by Joseph R. Modugno) |
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Pine Tree Shilling Pine Tree Shilling from Sidney Perley's The History of Salem (courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA) |
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Early Seal of Massachusetts Bay Colony Seal of Massachusetts Bay Colony, in use 1629-1684. This silver seal was first used by Gov. John Endecott. The Indian's words, "Come over and help us," express the early missionary purpose behind English colonization. (courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA) |
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"Stocks" An illustration of stocks from Sidney Perley's The History of Salem Massachusetts, 1924. Stocks were in use in Salem from the settlement's earliest days. They were located outside in the most conspicuous places. The use of stocks for public punishment ended in Salem in or before 1805. |
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An illustration of a pillory from Sidney Perley's The History of Salem Massachusetts, 1924. Salem's pillory was set up in 1642. (special thanks to Salem Public Library.) |
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"Whipping Post," Salem An illustration of a whipping post from Sidney Perley's The History of Salem Massachusetts, 1924. The whipping post in Salem was set up in 1657. The constable was paid two shillings and six pence for each person he whipped. In November of 1667, constables were released from whipping, and the town agreed to hired a whipper. |
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John Winthrop (1588-1649), Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1630-1649, engraving On June 12, 1630, John Winthrop, on board the flagship Arbella, landed at Naumkeag (Salem) and replaced John Endecott as governor. Soon after, Winthrop and his fleet of ships and Puritan colonists went on to "Mystic River" (Charlestown) and then to the Shawmut Peninsula (Boston). With the coming of Winthrop and the founding of Massachusetts Bay Colony, the "Puritan Experiment" in New England began. Rapid settlement occurred between 1630 and 1642, when approximately 21,000 English immigrants arrived in New England. The Puritan emigrants and their descendants set out to create a society based on Scripture, and as John Winthrop declared, one that should be a "Model of Christian Charity," "a city upon a hill." From vol. 1 , S. Perley's The History of Salem Massachusetts, 1924, p. 188 (courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA) |
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Witches with their Familiar Flying on Broomsticks. In the British Islands, it was believed that the Devil gave his witches a faithful demonic creature, often in the shape of a small animal (a black cat, dog, or toad, for example) that would advise the witch and assist in her evil doings. Also known as "imps" or "familiar spirits," these malicious creatures were different from the Devil himself, who often took the shape of a beast or a human, in European and early American traditions of witchcraft. It was thought that the witch's familiar would suck her blood for nourishment. (courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA) |
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Illustration by Frank T. Merrill of Shem Drowne’s Indian warrior weathervane that stood on top of the Province House in Boston Shem Drowne was a renowned weather vane-maker of the mid 1700s. The illustration was for "Howe's Masquerade" in In Colonial Days published by L.C. Page & Co. in 1906 (2) (courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA) |
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The Squaw Sachem's Mark. Detail of an early document showing the bow and arrow that was the Squaw Sachem's Mark. The words identifying the "signature" were written by a clerk. (courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA) |
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Pouch with Tassels Deerskin Pouch with Fur, Porcupine Quills, and Metal Chimes. Pawtucket Indian Artist. 17th Century. (courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA) |
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Black Stone Bear Black Stone Bear. Igneous Rock. Pawtucket Indian Artist. Ca. 16th Century (courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA) |
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Penobscot Indian Knife A Carved Crook Knife. Mid-Nineteenth Century Penobscot Indian. (courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA) |
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Penobscot Indian Powder Horn Late-Eighteenth, Early-Nineteenth Century (courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA) |
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Tray by unidentified Huron artist c. 1840 made of birchbark, moosehair, pigment, and thread "The design combines Native American beliefs about living harmoniously in the natural environment with an idealized view of nature in European art of the period. Beginning in the seventeenth century, Native American women learned European embroidery techniques at covent schools in Canada established to convert and educate them." (from exhibit notes, "Painted with Thread," Peabody Essex Museum, August 2001) (courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA) |
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An Indian Dance From The Histoire of Travaile into Virginia Britannia by William Strachey, Gent. |
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Reproduction of an Old Style Algonquin Indian Birchbark Canoe. Sixteen Feet Long. Made by Henri Vaillancourt, Greenville, NH. This traditional Algonquin birchbark canoe is based on a centuries-old design and is an example of a type of canoe used by New England Indians. (courtesy of Henri Vaillancourt.) |
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Abenaki Style Birch Bark Canoe. This Abenaki style birch bark canoe was made by Henri Vaillancourt, Greenville, NH, using traditonal materials and methods. A similar example is in the Peabody Essex Museum collection. (courtesy of Henri Vaillancourt.) |
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Indian Lands and Localities in Essex County Massachusetts Map of Essex County, Massachusetts from Sidney Perley's Indian Deeds of Essex County, 1912, showing Indian place names and tribal areas. (courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA) |
Criticism Related to Indians in The Scarlet Letter
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In The Scarlet Letter Indians are peripheral one- dimensional stereotyped characters that are not overtly connected with the central characters, the Puritans, or the plot. Instead, mentions of their presences connect to imagery that is related to the wilderness, to being outcasts of society, to reminders of Chillingworth's captivity with them and to knowledge of the herbal remedies/poisons he gained from them. Each main character has a link to Indians and the wilderness. Dimmesdale, after visiting the Indians, temporarily loses the trappings of his religious piety. Chillingworth, a former captive of Indians, darkens the herbal healing arts he has learned from them by using them for evil purposes, associated | ||
with the Black Arts. Hester lives on the fringe of society and chooses to stop short of banishing herself to live amongst the Indians where she would not be harshly judged, as she constantly is by the Puritans. Pearl symbolizes the freedom and oneness with the wilderness that the Indians have -- neither being tainted by the Puritans.
Criticism Related to IndiansExcerpts from chapters from Understanding The Scarlet Letter: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents by Claudia Durst Johnson (courtesy of Greenwood Press).
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Explore Activities Related to Indians in The Scarlet Letter
1. This activity was created by Dr. Doug Rowlett from Houston Community College System, Southwest Campus, Stafford, TX.
In nineteenth-century Salem the frontier was a distant place only to be read about by most inhabitants, and interactions with living Native Americans were few and far removed. The occasional Native American visitor to Salem had become by Hawthorne's time a quaint relic, more curiosity than threat in most people's minds.
However, residents did read about them in the newspapers and in popular books and articles and were certainly aware of their place in the history of New England, and there were still a few people alive during Hawthorne's early years who could recount old tales from previous generations about "Indian depredations." While Hawthorne never wrote the kinds of Indian-centered tales that Fenimore Cooper did, a close examination of his stories and novels will show he did make more use of Native Americans than is at first apparent.
- Margaret B. Moore's book The Salem World of Nathaniel Hawthorne provides useful information about Hawthorne's treatment of Native Americans. Read the synopsis cited above and then examine The Scarlet Letter for examples of Hawthorne's treatment of Native Americans in the novel . Note that the forest and its natural inhabitants are portrayed at times as dark, mysterious, and surely allied with the forces of darkness and iniquity and at other times as noble, enduring, natural, and even innocent. Consider how Hawthorne's attitude toward Indians in The Scarlet Letter may have informed his thematic treatment of the duality presented by God's Law on the one hand (civilized, restrained, white, and Christian) and Nature's Law on the other (savage, passionate, dark, and pagan).
- Review Ellen Knight's article on the Squaw Satchem , the excerpt of John Winthrop's Journal for June 1630 , and review some of the original documents from the early Colonial period . What can you glean from these documents about the attitudes of early colonists toward the Native Americans they encountered? Now read Johnson's critical commentary on The Scarlet Letter and the excerpt from Colacurcio's The Province of Piety. Does Hawthorne's attitude toward Native Americans in The Scarlet Letter seem to agree with or to be at odds with the early colonists' perceptions of them? Is he mainly sympathetic or antipathetic toward them?
Illustration by Frank T. Merrill of Shem Drowne’s Indian warrior weathervane that stood on top of the Province House in Boston (courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA) - Jarold Ramsey in Redefining American Literary History explores ". . . why, after four centuries of contact, America's first traditional literatures have had so little influence on our literary heritage." While his article deals mainly with Thoreau, explore the Hawthorne In Salem Web Site to find materials pertaining to Hawthorne to either support or refute his thesis that ". . . literary imaging of native life, of which there has been so much, must not be confused with literary assimilation of native imaginative traditions, of which there has been too little."