Tradition, Modernity and Form

Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter

In this course, Dr Nicholas Lawrence (University of Warwick) explores Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel, The Scarlett Letter (1850). In the first module, we think about the tension in the novel between the traditional and the modern, focusing in particular on the novel's form. After that, we think about the politics of the novel before moving on in the third module to think about cultural ownership and the themes of possession, property and propriety. In the fourth module, we focus on the presentation of the law and morality in the novel, before turning in the fifth module to the importance of the marketplace, both as a setting for three of most important scenes in the play, but also as a metaphor for the key themes of (moral) valuation, evaluation and revaluation. Finally, in the sixth module, we think about the themes of dissent and subjectivity in the novel – especially as encapsulated in the novel's highly ambivalent ending.

Tradition, Modernity and Form

In this module, we think about the tension in The Scarlet Letter between the traditional and the modern, focusing in particular on the novel's setting and language, the theme of adultery, and the novel's unorthodox form.