The Puritan Zeal In "The Birthmark"

The Puritan Zeal and Spiritualized Maternalism in The Birthmark
On the surface it seems that Nathaniel Hawthornes short novel The Birthmark is solo cautionary tarradiddle ab reveal the abuse of recognition. A story about a mad scientist facing the fatal consequences of his overreach ambition, and his wife dies after taking part in an look into where the intention is to remove her birthmark and thus make her perfect. From this quest of view the moral of the story seems simple and straightforward. But it is a mistake to read the story as only concerning science and scientists. Hawthorne is actually commenting on the American psyche as a whole, indeed the Western psyche in the larger context. The specialised point he makes is that the western faith, be it religious or secular, it fatally tied to materialism, which appears in the guise of an avid principle in the potential of science to deliver salvation. In erect to arrive at this interpretation the broader context in which the story was written must be considered and relate this to a more than nuanced reading of the story.
We must first consider the Puritan hereditary pattern of America, which is an abiding theme in Hawthornes work as a whole.



The Puritan forefathers has brought with them an intense Calvinist faith, which was instrumental in forming the character of the new nation. The central tenet of this faith was doctor fide, or justification by faith alone. Calvinism was a reaction against the institutional basis of Catholicism, and therefore aimed to establish a personal communion with theology, the only means to which was faith in Jesus Christ, and in the Bible as the words of God addressed directly to the believer. The Calvinist doctrine implied predestination, so that existence in a state of grace marks out the believer. Only with grace are the words of God meaningful, and it is through the Bible that God establishes communion with the believer, and therefore confirms to believer that he or she is without sin. The Puritans were an...If you want to get a full essay, effect it on our website: Orderessay



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