The Scarlet Letter Setting

Mid-17th century new England, specifically Boston (Massachusetts Bay Colony)

The Puritans had settled in New England to practice their religious beliefs after leaving the Old World, where they had been persecuted. The Puritans were a legalistic sect of Protestant Christians influenced by Calvinism. Their beliefs emphasized God’s omnipotence and the concept of election, the idea that salvation is predestined. Religious behavior (and worldly success) was seen as both a result of salvation and evidence of it. Thus, Puritan communities were centered on the idea of purity (as is fairly clear from the name) in thought and deed, and sins were rooted out and punished harshly.

The physical setting of The Scarlet Letter reflects the beliefs and habits of the Puritans. In the first chapter, we are taken on a mini tour of the most important town buildings and structures: namely, the prison and the town scaffold. Law and religion form the heart of the town.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony is surrounded by forest and by ocean, vast expanses of nature. The colony is like an island in the midst of wilderness, and the sense of the unknown and unexplored is tangible. Nature (as represented by this ocean and this wilderness) is far larger than civilization (as represented by the town itself). The colonists are on the frontier, having left the Old World of England in exchange for the New.If you want to learn more about this time period in American history, check out Shmoop History's guide to "Puritan Settlement in New England."