The Scarlet Letter ( Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism )

by Hawthorne, Nathaniel; Murfin, Ross C.

• ISBN13: 9780312256937
• ISBN10: 0312256930
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-15
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

Summary

This volume presents the authoritative Centenary Edition text of Hawthorne's classic 1851 novel, along with critical essays that readThe Scarlet Letterfrom contemporary reader-response, psychoanalytic, feminist, and new historicist perspectives. Three brief additional essays demonstrate how several critical perspectives can be combined. As in the first edition, the text and essays are complemented by biographical and critical introductions, bibliographies, and a glossary of critical and theoretical terms. Five of the seven essays are new to the second edition, as is a selection of cultural documents and illustrations.

Table of Contents

About the Series	v
About This Volume	vii
PART ONE The Scarlet Letter: The Complete Text in Cultural Context
Introduction: Biographical and Historical Contexts	3	(18)
The Complete Text [1850]	21	(182)
Contextual Documents and Illustrations	203	(70)
Personal Contexts	203	(9)
Nathaniel Hawthorne at Forty-six (1850)	205	(1)
Cephas Giovanni Thompson
Portrait of Sophia Peabody	206	(1)
S. A. Schoff
From Letter to Sophia Peabody (July 24 and 25, 1839)	207	(1)
Nathaniel Hawthorne
From Letter to Sophia Peabody (August 8, 1839)	208	(1)
Nathaniel Hawthorne
From Letter to Ralph Waldo Emerson (November 9, 1840)	209	(1)
George Ripley
From Years of Experience: An Autobiographical Narrative (1887)	210	(1)
Georgiana Bruce Kirby
The Custom-House, Salem, MA	211	(1)
Political Guillotine (1848)	211	(1)
Puritan Contexts	212	(15)
Winthrop's New England, 1630--1649	214	(1)
Robert C. Forget
Boston and Vicinity, 1630--1649	215	(1)
Robert C. Forget
Plan of Boston in 1722	216	(1)
A. Bowen
From A Modell of Christian Charity (1630)	216	(1)
John Winthrop
Portrait of John Winthrop	217	(1)
From Trial of Anne Hutchinson (1844)	218	(1)
Peleg W. Chandler
South East View of Boston	219	(2)
A. Bowen
From A History of Boston (1825)	221	(1)
Caleb Snow
From Account of Mrs. Cary's Examination for Witchcraft	222	(2)
Robert Calef
Nathaniel Cary
Broadside Showing the Punishment of Seth Hudson in Boston (1762)	224	(1)
From The Relation of the Individual to the Republic (1844)	225	(2)
E. H. Chapin
Indians	227	(14)
Seal of the Massachusetts Bay Colony	230	(1)
John Eliot (``the Apostle'')	231	(1)
A Page from John Eliot's Indian Bible	232	(1)
New-Englands Rarities Discovered (1672)	233	(1)
Early Colonial Captivity Scene	234	(1)
From A Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (1682)	234	(2)
Mary Rowlanson
Title page of A True History of the Captivity & Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (1682)	236	(3)
The Duston Family (May 1836)	239	(1)
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Excerpt from the Writings of Henry Schoolcraft	240	(1)
Adultery	241	(6)
Laws Addressing Adultery, Massachusetts Bay Colony	242	(2)
From The History of New England from 1630 to 1649	244	(2)
John Winthrop
From Advice to Young Men (1831)	246	(1)
William Cobbett
The Status and Role of Women	247	(6)
From Of Husband and Wife (1765)	248	(1)
William Blackstone
From How the Americans Understand the Equality of the Sexes (1835)	249	(2)
Alexis de Tocqueville
From The Peculiar Responsibilities of American Women (1846)	251	(1)
Catharine Beecher
Woman's Rights Convention, Seneca Falls Resolutions (July 19, 1848)	252	(1)
The Education and Custody of Children	253	(5)
Education Law, Massachusetts Bay Colony (June 14, 1642)	254	(1)
From Proceedings in the d'Hauteville Case (1840)	254	(3)
From On the Management of Young Children (1846)	257	(1)
Catharine Beecher
The Publication of The Scarlet Letter	258	(15)
Letter to James Fields (January 15, 1850)	259	(1)
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Title Page, First Edition of The Scarlet Letter (1850)	260	(1)
Hester Prynne and Pearl at Governor Bellingham's Mansion with the Governor, John Wilson, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth (1908)	261	(1)
George H. Boughton
Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Pearl on the Scaffold at Night, with Roger Chillingworth Below (1908)	262	(1)
George H. Boughton
Letter to James Fields (January 20, 1850)	263	(1)
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Letter to Horatio Bridge (February 4, 1850)	263	(1)
Nathaniel Hawthorne
From The Scarlet Letter: A Romance (March 30, 1850)	264	(2)
E. A. Duyckinck
From Review of The Scarlet Letter (July 1850)	266	(1)
Anne Abbott
From Review of The Scarlet Letter (October 1850)	267	(1)
Orestes Brownson
From The Writings of Hawthorne (January 4, 1851)	268	(5)
Arthur C. Coxe
PART TWO The Scarlet Letter: A Case Study in Contemporary Criticism
A Critical History of The Scarlet Letter	273	(24)
Psychoanalytic Criticism and The Scarlet Letter	297	(188)
What Is Psychoanalytic Criticism?	297	(11)
Psychoanalytic Criticism: A Selected Bibliography	308	(6)
A Psychoanalytic Perspective
Re-Reading The Letter: Hawthorne, the Fetish, and the (Family) Romance	314	(17)
Joanne Feit Diehl
Reader-Response Criticism and The Scarlet Letter	331	(1)
What Is Reader-Response Criticism?	331	(12)
Reader-Response Criticism: A Selected Bibliography	343	(5)
A Reader-Response Perspective
The Address of The Scarlet Letter	348	(24)
Stephen Railton
Feminist and Gender Criticism and The Scarlet Letter	372	(1)
What Are Feminist and Gender Criticism?	372	(16)
Feminist and Gender Criticism: A Selected Bibliography	388	(8)
Feminist and Gender Perspectives
The Scarlet Letter (a)doree, or the Female Body Embroidered	396	(16)
Shari Benstock
The New Historicism and The Scarlet Letter	412	(1)
What Is the New Historicism?	412	(15)
The New Historicism: A Selected Bibliography	427	(5)
A New Historicist Perspective
Citizen Hester: The Scarlet Letter as Civic Myth	432	(30)
Brook Thomas
Combining Perspectives on The Scarlet Letter	462	(23)
Homosocial Romance: Nathaniel Hawthorne	466	(19)
Lora Romero
Glossary of Critical and Theoretical Terms	485	(20)
About the Contributors	505