Puritanism• Puritanism started in the sixteenth century as

a movement to reform the Church of England. It accepted the interpretations of John Calvin (1509-64) on the nature of man, free will ( 自由意志 )and predestination （预定论） , and other basic concepts, which had a profound influence on the social, political, ethical, and theological ideas of England and America.

Puritans

• Puritans was the name given in the 16th century to the more extreme Protestants within the Church of England who thought the English Reformation had not gone far enough in reforming the doctrines and structure of the church; they wanted to “purify” their national church by eliminating every shred of Catholic influence.

Basic Puritan Beliefs

1). Total Depravity - the concept of Original Sin2). Unconditional Election - the concept of predestination3). Irresistible Grace - God's grace is freely given, it cannot be earned or denied.4). Perseverance of the "saints" - those elected by God have full power to interpret the will of God, and to live uprightly.

The Main BranchesPresbyterian( 长老派 )

central church government

Independents ( 独立派 )

defined the church as congregation of believers

emphasized the point that each parish should be independentopposed a national, comprehensive church.

History(1): Persecution

• During the reign of James I, the Presbyterian majority unsuccessfully attempted to impose their ideas on the established English Church(1604). The result was mutual disaffection and a persecution of the Puritans, that brought about Puritan migration to Europe (Holland) and America( the Plymouth Colony in what is now southeastern Massachusetts).

• While In England other Puritans continued the struggle for reform. Between 1640 and 1660 (the English civil war). Those groups that remained in England grew as a political party and rose to their greatest power . Independents gained dominance.

• When Charles I attempted to rule England without Parliament and its many Puritan members, and when he tried systematically to root Puritans out of the English church, a larger, less separatistic body emigrated to Massachusetts Bay (1630).

• During the Restoration the Puritans were oppressed under the Clarendon Code( 克拉伦登法典） (1661–65),which secured the episcopal character of the Established Church.

• It cast the Puritans out of the Church of England. From this time they were known as nonconformists( 不从国教者 ), which marked the collapse of organized Puritanism in England.

History(2): Emigration

• The Mayflower

In autumn 1620, 102 people left Plymouth England for America by Mayflower from this dock.

Mayflower Monument at Plymouth England.

In 1621, they reached Plymouth of America.

Plymouth monument

Plymouth rock

Mayflower monument

American Values

self-strive and self-design

democracy and freedom

realistic and practicality

Key words:

individualism

equality

competition

The Original Sin

God’s Grace

The Elected

A City upon the Hill

hard working and plain living

simplicity

American Education

Harvard( 哈佛学院 ) (1636)

College of William and Mary( 威廉玛丽学院 ) (1693)

Yale( 耶鲁大学 )(1701)

• The Puritans looked even the worst of life in the face with a tremendous amount of optimism. American authors have been the outset conditioned by the puritan heritage to which American authors have been the most communicative heirs.

• The American Puritan’s metaphorical mode of perception was chiefly instrumental in calling into being a literary symbolism which is distinctly American. Puritan doctrine and literary practice contributed to no small extent to the development of an indigenous symbolism.

• With regard to technique one naturally thinks of the simplicity, which characterizes the Puritan style of writing.

The Influence of Puritanism on American Literature

John Winthrop (1558-1649)He emphasizes the importance of unity and describes the future colony as a "City upon a hill" that would set an example for others.

William Bradford (1590-1657)In 1651, Bradford wrote Of Plymouth Plantation, that described what life was like in the New World. He also encourages the New Englanders to expect God's approval of their endeavors

Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)Her poetry shows that she is deeply imbued with the Puritan belief of predestination.

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1840-1864)He based many of his works on Puritanism, and commonly examined the conflict between good and evil in human nature and, particularly, the problem of public goodness and private wickedness.

In Moby Dick, he created a work that was jam-packed full of Biblical references and religious meaning. The white whale is the embodiment of evil, for Ahab, and must be hunted down and dispensed with. This is the same thought many Puritans had.

Herman Melville (1819-1891)

• American Puritanism was one of the most enduring shaping influences in American. It has become, to some extent, so much a state of mind, rather than a set of tenets, so much a part of the national cultural atmosphere that the Americans breathe. Without some understanding of Puritanism, there can be no real understanding of American literature.

Conclusion