The Scarlet Letter

[Galatea]

Went to Seville, didn't see this guy.

Did you sing "I'm the Barber of Seville! Figaro, Figaro, FIGARO!" Lol, I would if I went. But you might not get the reference. It is from AlfAlfa from The Little Rascals in the 1930s-1940s. He was attempting to sing opera.

I went to New York once and sang at George M. Cohan's statue "Give My Regards to Broadway, remember me to Harald Square..." I might have gotten some stares, but I didn't care.

All my references are old, my spirit is that of a grandma's, lol.

 

[DeerGlow]

Did you sing "I'm the Barber of Seville! Figaro, Figaro, FIGARO!" Lol, I would if I went. But you might not get the reference. It is from AlfAlfa from The Little Rascals in the 1930s-1940s. He was attempting to sing opera.

I went to New York once and sang at George M. Cohan's statue "Give My Regards to Broadway, remember me to Harald Square..." I might have gotten some stares, but I didn't care.

All my references are old, my spirit is that of a grandma's, lol.

I don't know Barber of Seville or Rabbit of Seville sadly.

 

[DeerGlow]

I have the book with me, glad I didn't throw it away after school. The introduction is a sort of ....

 

[Galatea]

I don't know Barber of Seville or Rabbit of Seville sadly.

I figured it was a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Lol, I remember when they played old Loony Tunes on Saturday mornings in the 1980s after Smurfs. Good times.

 

[Galatea]

I have the book with me, glad I didn't throw it away after school. The introduction is a sort of ....

I got so aggravated with one of my students trying to throw a book away. I said "WHAT are you doing?" He was like, I don't need it anymore. I asked him if he had gone insane, throwing away a book. Lol, he looked at me as if I were the one who had gone insane. I was like "Just give me the book and step away from the trash can."

 

[JackRT]

From what I remember, it was not an overly positive portrayal of Puritan religion. It seemed to use the setting as a curiosity for creating drama.

From my reading of history it is rather difficult to find a positive portrayal of the Puritans.

 

[DeerGlow]

From my reading of history it is rather difficult to find a positive portrayal of the Puritans.

I think it was kind of negative but maybe an irregular representation.

 

[HereIStand]

Here's you a good looking Spanish man since you missed out. He's a model from Seville.View attachment 200606

Ladies, that used to be me. It's all gone to pot.

 

[Galatea]

Ladies, that used to be me. It's all gone to pot.

Drugs do a body bad.

 

[FireDragon76]

For the most part it is not positive. I am rereading it now and Hawthorne talks about Hester's punishment. She was forced to stand on the pillory for several hours under the gaze of the populace. He says that they did not ridicule her, which was actually more intolerable than if they had jeered at her. But at least they recognized how bad her situation was.

Which I guess is really WORSE to know what a horrible thing it was they were doing to her.

From what I remember about Hawthorne, he was so ashamed of his Puritan ancestors persecuting witches, that he changed his last name's spelling. He was "not a fan" of Puritanism.

By his time the Puritans had mellowed out, having learned from their experiment, and were identified as Congregationalists. They are still around: churches like the United Church of Christ are directly descended from them.

I'll have to read this book again, something tells me my highschool reading did not do it justic. Aparrently, Hawthorne was a much more religiously influenced man than my highschool professors acknowledged, particularly retaining his ancestors belief in the human propensity towards evil and darkness. It may less be a story about the cruelty of Puritans, and more about a story of redemption and his sympathies with the plight of women. What is your take on it?

 

[DeerGlow]

By his time the Puritans had mellowed out, having learned from their experiment, and were identified as Congregationalists. They are still around: churches like the United Church of Christ are directly descended from them.

I'll have to read this book again, something tells me my highschool reading did not do it justic. Aparrently, Hawthorne was a much more religiously inclined man than my highschool professors acknowledged. It may less be a story about the cruelty of Puritans, and more about a story of redemption and his sympathies with the plight of women. What is your take on it?

I thought it had a lot of hypocrisy and.... frivolity(?). They were so self absorbed and shallow.

 

[faroukfarouk]

I read it two or three years ago for English (had the same teacher two years they blur together sometimes). I might refresh myself and come back.

I think Nathaniel Hawthorne was a friend of President Franklin Pierce.

 

[faroukfarouk]

Yes! I think Barcelona was best.

I expect you saw Gaudi's Sagrada Familia church.

partaste dot com

 

[Galatea]

By his time the Puritans had mellowed out, having learned from their experiment, and were identified as Congregationalists. They are still around: churches like the United Church of Christ are directly descended from them.

I'll have to read this book again, something tells me my highschool reading did not do it justic. Aparrently, Hawthorne was a much more religiously inclined man than my highschool professors acknowledged. It may less be a story about the cruelty of Puritans, and more about a story of redemption and his sympathies with the plight of women. What is your take on it?

I read it in high school, too. I think my senior year or perhaps my junior year, so it has been quite a while.

I'm rereading it and am currently in chapter four, where Chillingworth visits Hester in jail. From what I recall in high school, I HATED and DETESTED Dimmesdale, my loathing for him knew no bounds. We even debated in class who was the villain of the piece, Chillingworth or Dimmesdale? I plunked for Dimmesdale as his unwillingness to own up to his part was disgusting to me.

From what I have gathered from reading House of the Seven Gables and other things by Hawthorne, short stories and also Tanglewood Tales (not really from the tales, but short stories) he was definitely a Christian. The short story "The Great Stone Face" is a good indicator of his beliefs.

I think you are right, it is about redemption more than anything else, and mercy. These themes were prevalent in The House of the Seven Gables, too (also with an evil Puritan background).

The very first chapter describes a rose bush growing up beside the jail as a benison of mercy to the occupants. It kind of sets the stage "Guys, this story is about a person who committed a crime and we should be merciful."

I don't know if it so much about the plight of women as it is about the strength of women. Hester is hands down, the strongest character morally and spiritually. Dimmesdale basically begs her to denounce him as he is too morally weak to admit his adultery. Dimmesdale says "Wondrous strength and generosity of a woman's heart! She will not speak!" It kind of sums up how Hawthorne feels about her, too (but maybe not all women as he has some pretty strong things to say about the Puritan women in the beginning of the book). I've not finished rereading it, YET. So, I should not sum up all my impressions so quickly. I knew that the Congregationalists were formerly Puritans, but did not know that about the Church of Christ.

 

[FireDragon76]

From my reading of history it is rather difficult to find a positive portrayal of the Puritans.

They were hard working, but it sounds like Hawthorne is condemning them for lacking compassion and taking their religiosity to joyless and inhuman excesses. That was a typical characterization in Shakespeare as well, some English people who were not Puritans saw them as having annoying and imposing religious affectations.

 

[DeerGlow]

I expect you saw Gaudi's Sagrada Familia church.

partaste dot com

The lines were crazy. I think that was the one I talk about with the forrest architecture. It's another world in there.

 

[faroukfarouk]

The lines were crazy. I think that was the one I talk about with the forrest architecture. It's another world in there.

Sounds like you made good use of your time in Spain.

So did you manage to visit any Spanish beaches also? they are well known.

 

[DeerGlow]

Sounds like you made good use of your time in Spain.

So did you manage to visit any Spanish beaches also? they are well known.

Ah... we went to Lagos in Portugal.

 

[faroukfarouk]

Ah... we went to Lagos in Portugal.

That's a beach?

I went to Cascais in Portugal, and Lisbon also.

 

[DeerGlow]

That's a beach?

I went to Cascais in Portugal, and Lisbon also.

I normally dislike the beach but this one was nice.