The author summarizes the introduction to The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It states that Hawthorne discovered some old records from his time working at the Custom House in Salem, Massachusetts that inspired him to piece together the fictional story of Hester Prynne, an adulterous woman living in Puritan Salem. The introduction provides the frame story for how Hawthorne came to write his novel The Scarlet Letter based on documents he found during his employment.

1. The Least You Need to Know

2.  Used symbolism to
great effect
(seriously—it’s
everywhere…)
 Sin, pain, & evil exist
 Holds readers’
attention through
dread of a series of
terrible possibilities

3.  The author tells about his life
working at the Custom House
in Salem Massachusetts.
 During his time there, he
discovers some records in the
attic and begins to piece
together the story of Hester
Prynne, an adulterous woman
in Puritan Salem.
 The Scarlet Letter is his
fictional account of the story
gathered from the documents
he found.

4. 2) Salem- childhood, later work at the Custom
House, as Surveyor of the Port
“The Custom House” introduction creates a
FRAME STORY
This introduction gives an account of his experience as
surveyor; he attacks the officials who connived in his
dismissal… Like his heroine Hester, Hawthorne
emerges from confrontation with a self-righteous
society as an individual of integrity,passion, and moral
superiority.

5. Persecuted in England, the Puritans
came to North America to form their
own communities.

6. Life in the Colonies was
harsh,
but it gave the
Puritans the
opportunity to
escape persecution
and form a society
based on their own
religious ideals.

7. Puritans sought the
freedom to live by
their own beliefs.
However, the Puritan
leaders did not tolerate
religious beliefs that
differed from their own.

8. As for personal
freedom…
every member of the
community was held
to strict standards of
behavior.

9. In a Puritan community such as Hester’s,
no aspect of life was truly private.
People kept a close watch
on their neighbors.

10. Those
considered
sinners were
publicly—and
often harshly—
punished, as
an example to
others.

11. As we begin reading the story, pay
attention to how the culture and beliefs
of the Puritan society influence the story
differently than perhaps if the tale had
taken place in a more modern American
society. Also, consider how we might
share similar aspects with the Puritan
culture and treatment of the situation.