What stereotypes and allusions are there in the first four chapters of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne?

Hawthorne presents the Puritans in a stereotypically stern and somber way.  The narrator describes the men as wearing "sad-colored garments, and gray, steeple-crowned hats" and the women as having a great deal in common with "the manlike Elizabeth"; this is an unflattering allusion to Queen Elizabeth I of England who was, in many ways, masculine in her speech, her assumption of power, and her will.  He notes the "severity of the Puritan character" and the...

Hawthorne presents the Puritans in a stereotypically stern and somber way.  The narrator describes the men as wearing "sad-colored garments, and gray, steeple-crowned hats" and the women as having a great deal in common with "the manlike Elizabeth"; this is an unflattering allusion to Queen Elizabeth I of England who was, in many ways, masculine in her speech, her assumption of power, and her will.  He notes the "severity of the Puritan character" and the combination of their religion with their laws.  Moreover, he paints them as incredibly unsympathetic and even cruel, especially in their judgment of Hester.  Despite the injunctions against judging others, the Puritans were "self-constituted judges" of this sinner.  This is certainly a fulfillment of the Puritan stereotype that even we still have.

The narrator also describes Hester as an "image of Divine Maternity," alluding to the Virgin Mary.  This is an ironic comparison and allusion because Hester's baby was brought into the world through her sin, and the Virgin Mary's baby was supposed to be the savior of the world.  It certainly helps to show us how wrong Hawthorne believes the Puritans to be in their judgment of Hester.

In the third chapter, the narrator describes the man we later learn to be Hester's husband with an allusion to the Garden of Eden.  He says, "A writhing horror twisted itself across his features, like a snake gliding swiftly over them [...]."  Snakes, because the Devil appeared as a snake to tempt Eve into sinfulness, are often associated with evil, and that association certainly fits here because of Chillingworth's terrible capacity for evil in the novel.

Further, in the fourth chapter, Hester refers to Chillingworth as "the Black Man," an allusion -- like the snake in the previous chapter -- to the Devil.