Puritans tried to make a Christian utopia in New England in 1630. The typical image of Puritans is that they hated too much pleasure and beauty and freedom and other religions.
Click on a picture below to enter the gallery and see larger images and read my captions.
Click on a picture below to enter the gallery and see larger images and read my captions.
In 1850 Nathaniel Hawthorne published a novel about 17th century Puritans called The Scarlet Letter. It is an American classic! In the story, Hester Prynne's husband has been gone for a long time, but she suddenly has a baby, so that all the Puritans know that she committed adultery (Japanese uwaki), so they make her wear the scarlet (red) letter "A" on her chest, to show to everyone that she is a bad woman, an adulterer. Who is the baby's father? It's a secret! But the handsome young minister seems very guilty. Then Hester's husband suddenly returns after many years away...
In 1926, a famous early Hollywood star called Lillian Gish made a silent movie version of The Scarlet Letter. Here are videos showing scenes from that 1926 movie, one set to the song "Secrets" (2009) by the American group OneRepublic, one set to the song "Shot" (2006) by the Finnish group The Rasmus, and the other set to nice music. The scary ugly man with black hair and beard etc. in each video is Hester's husband.
The videos show that Americans have been interested in and influenced by Puritans for a long time: in the 19th century, in the 20th century, in the 21st century...
To watch the whole movie on YouTube, click on the youtube link I have below for the "Full Film" of the Scarlet Letter (with yellow around Lilian Gish). It's not hard to watch because there are only a few English sub-titles, because it is a silent movie (you cannot hear the actors speaking)! But it will be strange to you because there is no BGM and it's very old. Anyway, it's only 90 minutes long, so you can watch it!
In 1926, a famous early Hollywood star called Lillian Gish made a silent movie version of The Scarlet Letter. Here are videos showing scenes from that 1926 movie, one set to the song "Secrets" (2009) by the American group OneRepublic, one set to the song "Shot" (2006) by the Finnish group The Rasmus, and the other set to nice music. The scary ugly man with black hair and beard etc. in each video is Hester's husband.
The videos show that Americans have been interested in and influenced by Puritans for a long time: in the 19th century, in the 20th century, in the 21st century...
To watch the whole movie on YouTube, click on the youtube link I have below for the "Full Film" of the Scarlet Letter (with yellow around Lilian Gish). It's not hard to watch because there are only a few English sub-titles, because it is a silent movie (you cannot hear the actors speaking)! But it will be strange to you because there is no BGM and it's very old. Anyway, it's only 90 minutes long, so you can watch it!
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