Examining the concept of religion from the point of view of Calvinism in two short stories "Young Goodman" and "The Priest's Black Mask" by Nathanael Hawthorne

Subject Areas : مطالعات نقد ادبی

fatemeh azizmohammadi ¹

1 - --

Received: 2023-01-22 Accepted : 2023-04-21 Published : 2023-08-23

Keywords: Calvinism, Absolute destruction, Definite choice, Forced grace, Conditional compensation, The persistence of the pious,

Abstract :

The research of the two short stories "Goodman the Younger" and "The Priest's Black Mask" by Nathanael Hawthorne is evaluated and explained by examining the concept of religion, sin, and salvation based on Calvinism's point of view, such as absolute destruction, definite choice, forced grace, conditional compensation, and the persistence of the pious. It also explains the view of John Calvin's theory in relation to the literary field and how to use it to describe the works of Nathanael Hawthorne. The theoretical framework that has been considered for this research is the examination of the concepts of Calvinism and the short stories of Hawthorne, Goodman Brown, and The Priest's Black Mask. This research is actually a more detailed study of Hawthorne's two short stories, which has two theoretical and practical dimensions. First, in the theory section, a detailed and general history of the religion of Calvinism and how this religion was formed was presented, and then Hawthorne's position as a religious writer was examined in his works. In the practical part, the concepts of Calvinism were practically examined on the works of Hawthorne. This research has examined the effects of Calvinism in the Puritan society on Hawthorne's short stories and has thoroughly clarified the role of New England as the main setting of his stories.

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