Elements of transcendentalism and anti-transcendentalism from The Scarlet Letter.

          The Scarlet Letter is based upon Puritan society in the mid 1600s. This time period was significant since Hawthorne was part of the anti-transcendentalist literary movement, which attempted to expose the flawed nature of human life.

The transcendentalist movement, in contrast, was very popular in his time period (19th century), which is why Hawthorne used his writing as a way to counter the widespread utopian beliefs that were present because of it.

Transcendentalism is the opposite of anti-transcendentalism, as it propagated the idea that the nature is categorically good. One transcendentalist theme we see in The Scarlet Letter is that of the individual versus society. Condemned and ostracized for the sin of adultery, Hester lives figuratively and literally on the outskirts of the Puritan community with Pearl, the daughter Hester conceived during her affair.

Anti-transcendentalism responded to transcendentalism by proving that human nature is corrupt and will forever be tarnished by elements such as guilt and sin. Anti-transcendentalism is a predominant theme within The Scarlet Letter. For instance, the focus on the punishment that the main character, Hester, was inflicted with for committing adultery exposes how regressive society was just two centuries before the time of publishing. Writing about this shows the 19th century public how susceptible people are to being immoral, not only in terms of Hester’s actions, but also the public’s reactions to her.

Hawthorne paints in The Scarlet Letter, he effectively established a theme of anti-transcendentalism.

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