ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Puritans believed that it was necessary to be in a covenant relationship with God in order to be redeemed from one’s sinful condition, that God had chosen to reveal salvation through preaching, and that the Holy Spirit was the energizing instrument of salvation.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Puritans were members of a religious reform movement known as Puritanism that arose within the Church of England in the late 16th century. They believed the Church of England was too similar to the Roman Catholic Church and should eliminate ceremonies and practices not rooted in the Bible.

Detailed explanation-3: -New England Puritans believed that the wilderness was the natural habitat of the devil. Since Native-Americans belonged to the wilderness, their familiarity with the ways of the devil seemed obvious to the settlers.

Detailed explanation-4: -primeval forest functions as a key symbolic aspect, representing Puritan fears concerning the weak boundary between their civilised world and the lawless wilderness beyond. The vast unexplored lands of America that surrounded their settlements, combined with their theology, created many anxieties.