清教思想影响
Puritanism reached North America with the English settlers who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620. It is a dominant factor in American thought and its literature .The essence of Puritanism is an intense commitment to a morality ,a form of worship , and a civil society strictly conforming to God's commandments .
The Puritan emphasis on simplicity of worship ,its asceticism,and its standards of morality ,and some democratic principles had an important effect on American life.
The pioneer puritans showed different perspectives of the secular world .they considered the purpose of literature not only for entertainment ,but also for education. The early literature works attached great importance to morality,courtesy and most of them had a acceptable ending ,either happy or fair. Such ideology exercised a dominant influence on the late works.
The puritan advocated the way of keeping a dairy or writing a short letter to meditate and summarize life experience ,and it is the habit of writing such summaries with wisdom and philosophy that inspired their potential of requisite literature works .
The puritans bravely came to the new land , America and they hoped they could create another Eden here as representative of God . They drew a picture of freedom and independence , that
is , they had such a dream .with that ,they did not hesitate to make sacrifice .and in their works , they endowed some images with their ideology ,so they also pushed the development of the symbolism in literature works to the full .
The puritanism has become ,in some way ,so much a state of mind ,rather than a set of tents,so much a part of the national cultural atmosphere that the American breathes . It has witnessed the whole course of America , from the state of weak to the sate of prosperous.