The Scarlet Letter Essays & Research Papers

The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is a book of love, lust, passion, and punishment. The main character Hester Prynne is right in the middle of all of these things, along with being in the middle of a rocky relationship with her husband. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows the reader the consequences of being part of an unfair relationship. It is the society's comfort zone, having males dominate. Males have always been thought to be stronger, braver, and...

The Good, the Bad, and the Puritans Exodus Chapter twenty, verse 14 reads, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Being one of the Ten Commandments given to the prophet Moses, this declaration from God was strictly obeyed by the Puritans. Those found guilty of breaking this law, and any other of the Ten, were severely punished to a degree determined by the leader of the church. Hester Prynne, the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, is exposed as an adulteress-which creates the...

Moral of the guilt that transform people’s hearts Guilt empowers us to take action but can also enslave us. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic, The Scarlet Letter, sin makes a permanent `mark on a Puritan Salem Massachusetts in Boston. Through the actions and reactions of both the community and characters, we learn that guilt not only influences behavior but it also transforms us. Guilt is a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime and wrong, which can overwhelms the...

The Scarlet Letter Motif: Words and names for the Scarlet Letter Chapter 1: Chapter 2: 1. “‘But she—the naughty baggage—little will she care what they put upon the bodice of her gown!’” (49) CM: Like many Puritan women in Boston, this woman illustrates the hate they all have for Hester Prynne, by declaring that Hester is unmoved by her sin. 2. “‘Ah, but,” interposed, more softly, a young wife, holding a child by the hand, "let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will...

Nathaniel Hawthorne"s, The Scarlet Letter is a book about a woman, Hester, who moves to Boston from England during the Puritan times. She has a husband, and tells the colonists of Boston he will be arriving to be with her soon. After years go by and he doesn"t arrive, Hester finds another man whom she becomes close to. She becomes pregnant and the town finds out she has committed adultery. She is forced to wear a letter "A," meaning "adulteress," on her bosom for the rest of her life. The book...

Dimmesdale’s Arguments: 1. In chapter 8, Dimmesdale, Mr. Wilson, and Governor Bellingham are visited by Hester and Pearl at the Governor’s mansion. When pearl is asked “who made thee?”, she responds that she was not made, but rather "plucked . . . off the bush of wild roses that grew by the prison door.". This causes the governor and Mr. Wilson to immediately become horrified and ready to take Pearl from Hester’s custody. As Pearl protests her God given right for Pearls custody, she pleads...

Holly Hunt English III H P.3 October 16, 2012 Mr. Dicus The Scarlet Letter Regret as a verb is defined as “to feel sorry about something previously done that now appears wrong.” Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses characterizations to illustrate Hester Prynne’s journey of overcoming her regret, adultery, on which this whole book is written. The puritan people intended to shame Hester when she is branded a sinner with the use of a scarlet colored “A”, but Hester learns...

ENG 102 What lies beneath? Nathaniel Hawthorne employs varying levels of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter to convey his messages about sin, guilt, women’s liberation, and the definition of love. Hawthorne relied on personal experience and convictions to support these ideas. Many of the thoughts and symbols are thought to be traced back to Hawthorne’s childhood and even into his early adulthood. He is haunted by his past and the guilt from the fact that he descended from Colonel John...

The Aspects of Public Guilt V.S. Private Guilt The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne One of the main aspects and purposes of The Scarlet Letter, was to illustrate the differences between the public humiliation of a person about their sin's, or the private suffering of a persons guilt and sin in their private acts. The fact that Hester had not just one of these,but both to deal with in her life. Besides the fact that she...

Andrew Martinez AP English III Mrs.Jones October 8, 2014 The scarlet letter the story of a young woman which committed what was considered to be one of the most vile sins of her time. That sin was adultery and for committing such a sin her punishment was public humiliation in the form of a scarlet letter a worn upon her bosom. Hester Pryne the wife of Roger Pryne (aka Chillingworth) was left waiting alone for two years for the arrival of her husband in the new world for two long lonesome...

Amy Sheehan Mr. Frye English 11 Honors 3 February 2012 Clever Title The physical and emotional strain resulting from sex out of wedlock seems to be an almost unbearable burden. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne, and her daughter Pearl deal with the emotional abuse from her townspeople because of an affair with Dimmesdale. All of the harassment takes place in a small town in Boston, Massachusetts. In Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the reoccurring image of a...

Scarlet Letter: Guilt Will Destroy “Be true to yourself, and everyone else” This is the main point that the author of the “Scarlet Letter,” Nathaniel Hawthorne is trying to convey when he says “Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred! (200).” One can come back and learn from their mistakes, and their sin. In the novel, Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale both commit the same crime. The difference is that,...

carlet LtThe Scarlet Letter Study Guide Questions Chapter 1 “The Prison Door” 1. What colony is the setting for the novel? 2. Where in the colony does the opening chapter take place? 3. For what 2 “practical necessities” did the new colony set aside land? 4. Who is Anne Hutchinson? How does Hawthorne feel about her? 5. What 2 possible symbols does the rose have for the reader? Chapter 2 “The Market-Place” 1. Name 3 crimes and the punishments that the Puritans might witness. 2. What is the...

 The Sins of the Scarlet Letter Those who have a spiritual background would argue that all sin is equal, and that no sin is greater than any other. However, others would argue that committing adultery is greater than gossiping, or telling a lie. The novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne emphasizes the difference in sins. Although each of the characters commits their own sin, each of them could be argued as the one with the greatest. Through Dimmesdale’s hypocrisy, deception,...

Tajbik Sheikh The Scarlet Letter Intro In the 16th century, Puritans immigrated to America from Great Britain in order to escape religious persecution, and by the mid 17th century they had erected a well established society based on their theological beliefs. The Puritan religion was one of austerity and geared towards spiritual devotion rather than worldly possessions. Puritans followed rigid laws which rarely changed with time. They also had little tolerance for anyone who broke these...

Scarlet Letter Hawthorne’s roots in romanticism are evident throughout The Scarlet Letter. He uses fanciful language and a very particular writing style. Hawthorne infuses imagery, metaphors and diction in The Scarlet Letter in order to convey the effects of the scarlet letter on both the sinner, Hester Prynne, and the town in which she lives. Through the use of these rhetorical devices, Hawthorne reveals to the reader how this “red-hot brand”(line 47) impacts everyday puritan life....

Kristin Moseley Professor Hooks English 101 20 July 2009 The Scarlet Letter: Literary Criticism Published in 1850, The Scarlet Letter is considered Nathaniel Hawthorne's most famous work, and the first quintessentially American novel in style, theme, and language. Set in seventeenth-century Puritan Massachusetts, the novel centers around the travails of Hester Prynne, who gives birth to daughter Pearl after an adulterous affair. Hawthorne's novel concerns the consequences of the...

The Scarlet Letter The scarlet letter is a tragedy. The puritan society is responsible for Dimmesdale's downfall because its members expect him to be perfect, and he is not. His inability to give the people what they require from him ultimately leads to his downfall. Dimmesdale has an affair with Hester Prynne, a married Puritan woman. Hester gives birth to their daughter, Pearl. "Children have always a sympathy in the agitations of those connected with them; always, especially, a sense of...

Cloudy Judgment Love is a very powerful emotion and the experience can create and extreme feelings, causing one to become extremely passionate. Whether one feels love towards a person, food, job, etc, love will take them into its grasp and make them fanatical. Hester Prynne experienced a deep sense of love in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter is a story, of forbidden love, about a woman named Hester Prynne who has been punished by the society for committing a grave...

Question # 1 | Textual References/Observations | Reactions and Reflections (Commentary on the textual references) | Reference the word “ignominy” in Ch. 2, Ch. 3, and Ch. 7. Comment on why Hawthorne repeatedly uses the word, in terms of purpose. | “Those who had before known her, and had expected to behold her dimmed and obscured by a disastrous cloud, were astonished, and even startled, to perceive how her beauty shone out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was...

Kayla Lang 1/21/14 Sin Victimizes the Innocent In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne explores the idea of sin and how it affected those in the Puritan era. Hester Prynne, with her baby in her arms, is ridiculed in front of the entire town. Hester and her daughter are shunned to a house on the outskirts of town, isolating them from the Puritan community. Pearl and Hester grow up in the town alone as social outcasts, but they do have each other. Pearl is raised by her single...

AP Comp and Literature Ben Drexler The Scarlet Letter chapters 1-5 AP style questions 1.) Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter has many allusions in the first five chapters. Some of them are listed below: Utopia - allusion to a perfect world described by Thomas Moore in the 16th century. Anne Hutchinson - allusion to one of the first settlers of Massachusetts to be banished for speaking heresy Mistress Hibbins - allusion to a woman who was accused of being a witch in Salem,...

Marta Azarpour August, 30th 2011 English Hester’s Public Suffering vs. Dimmesdale’s Lie The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a novel set in the mid-seventeenth century, which tells the story of Hester Prynne, a woman who commits a sin in her home in Boston. With a child in her arms from another man who is not her husband, Hester is obligated to wear a scarlet ‘A’ (which stands for adultery) on her chest. As part of her sentence, she is locked up in prison with her daughter...

In Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, there are two characters that have many sinister or evil qualities, but if one looks closer, he or she can see that one character is far more evil than the other. “To make himself the one trusted friend, to whom should be confided all the fear, the remorse, the agony, the ineffectual repentance, the backward rush of sinful thoughts, expelled in vain!” (Hawthorne 107). Dimmesdale may be a cowardly adulterer, but Chillingworth is a two-faced, evil, liar. Actions...

The Scarlet Letter—by Nathaniel Hawthorne Short Response Questions: Respond to the following questions in 100-150 words each. Limit your answers, but do use text support where necessary. You may type on this document, save it as your own, and upload it with answers to turnitin.com. Use an appropriate MLA heading in the upper right. Do this by inserting a header. Use MLA parenthetical citation for all quotes. 1. Which character of The Scarlet Letter is innocent? In The Scarlet Letter,...

In The Scarlet Letter, the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, uses many symbols throughout the novel. The most obvious and well known symbol, is the scarlet letter Hester is forced to wear. The infamous scarlet letter can be considered the most important and influential symbol. The symbolism behind the scarlet letter changes throughout this novel. Initially, the letter A was intended to mark Hester as an adulterer. During the first years of her punishment, the letter was a daily reminder of shame and...

Section I: Significance of Title: The Scarlet Letter. In the story, Hester Prime Committed Adultry, and her punishment was that she had to go through out her life for 7 years wearing a shinny scarlet red A. The book could be considered a Metaphor because the scarlet letter was Hester's symbol of punishment. It was a way for the townspeople to judge Hester literally and figuratively as a woman, when it is clearly shown that the townspeople were no better (if not much worse) than Hester. You...

 Chapter 21: Scarlet Letter (3) 1 Quote: “Children have always a sympathy in the agitations of those connected with them; always, especially, a sense of any trouble or impending revolution, of whatever kind, in domestic circumstances; and therefore Pearl, who was the gem on her mother's unquiet bosom, betrayed, by the very dance of her spirits, the emotions which none could detect in the marble passiveness of Hester's brow.”(Chapter 21) Summary: Pearl knows that something is going on that...

“The Scarlet Letter” | | | Nathanial Hawthorne Joe MacDonald Martelli American Literature 3/15/2013 Joe MacDonald Martelli 2/25/2012 American Literature Set in Puritan New England, The Scarlet Letter is by Nathaniel Hawthorne could be seen as potentially his most renowned work of literature. It is a love story about a preacher named Arthur and a girl, Hester, whose husband is deemed deceased. The main...

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Literature Classified as Anti-Transcendentalist Nathaniel Hawthorne an American romantic writer, whose literature is known for its Anti-Transcendentalism, wrote Young Goodman Brown and The Scarlet Letter. Nathaniel Hawthorne is a writer during the American Romantics, where the majority of writing is focused on nature, supernatural elements; one’s psychology and the criticism of society’s “norm”. Nathaniel is Hawthorne known for his notorious Anti-Transcendentalist...

” A Parasitic Worm-Leech The uses of blood-sucking leeches as medical tools are prevalent, but a lot of people still detest “leeches” and in The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne used both characteristics of a leech to epitomize Roger Chillingworth, the husband of Hester, the protagonist. In the story, to find the man who gave birth to Hester’s child, Chillingworth entered the Puritan town, where Hester and Dimmesdale lived in. In the town, people considered doctors as “leeches” and Chillingworth...

Brittany King 10/12/12 AP English 11 Hester Prynne: a beauty in an ugly place “Mother,” said [Pearl], “was that the same minister that kissed me by the brook?” “Hold thy peace, dear little Pearl!” whispered her mother. “We must not always talk in the market-place of what happens to us in the forest.” (Hawthorne, 2000) Throughout the course of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, Hawthorne paints the image of a strong woman crafted through trials and tribulations bestowed upon her because of a...

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter the story takes place in Puritanical America where the young Hester Prynne, after committing adultery is punished on the basis of what the town thinks is right. She is simultaneously a part of the town and is also pushed away from it. Hawthorne explores the theme of liminality between society and nature through the motif of setting to convey the isolation that comes with sin. The scaffold (where Hester stands to face her consequences), Hester and...

In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne not only is the scaffold scene, chapter twenty-three, climatic and dramatic, but it is also the beginning of the resolution for our four main characters. In this chapter, we witness Dimmesdale, the “innocent” minister of the Puritan town, regain his soul through his empowering confession, Hester lose dream as he confesses, Pearl gain a sense of humanity as her father dies, and Chillingworth lose his will to live after the secret is exposed. As...

“…I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer! Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life.” (Hawthorne, 20) Arthur Dimmesdale speaks to the Miss Hester Prynne after she is convicted of the sin of adultery and is standing on a pedestal in town square being the...

Amelia B. Professor Gao English 430 Spring 2012 “Scarlet Letter” Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter is a story full of themes of guilt, pride, hypocrisy, retribution, and isolation. Taking place during the seventeenth century, the story of Hester Prynne and her famed scarlet letter depicts a story of unconceivable proportions. Guilt, Sin and Judgment Perhaps the foremost purpose of The Scarlet Letter is to illustrate the difference between shaming someone in public and...

Jessica Thompson Heller Honors English 10 3 January 13 Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter “He that falls into sin is a man; that grieves at it, is a saint; that boasteth of it, is a devil” (Thomas Fuller). In modern times, society doesn’t sentence a man to jail time for committing the crime of adultery. We have grown to accept adultery more in our society today than people did in the 17th century. Back then, committing the sin of adultery was as bad as murder, and an adulterer could be...

The Scarlet Letter,Chapter 1, "The Prison Door" Answer all the questions and drop the document in the Chapter 1 – The Scarlet Letter Dropbox. 1.Hawthorne's historical references are deliberately imprecise, but the decade of the 1640s is the approximate period when The Scarlet Letter takes place. The characters he describes in the first paragraph are early Massachusetts settlers, Puritan dissenters. What does Hawthorne's description of their clothing convey about their characters? They were...

Essay ------------------------ The scarlet letter tells the story of sin, guilt and repentance. The scarlet letter was given to Hester and Dimmesdale to constantly remind them of their sins. Guilt ate away at characters, such as Dimmesdale, when trying to conceal his sins. Repentance was also felt by characters throughout The Scarlet Letter. A sin is defined as any reprehensible or regrettable action, behavior, lapse etc. Sinning plays a huge role in the story of The Scarlet Letter. The...

Dimmesdale, on the other hand, is the secret sinner whose public and private faces are opposites. Even as the beadle — an obvious symbol of the righteous Colony of Massachusetts — proclaims that the settlement is a place where "iniquity is dragged out into the sunshine," the colony, along with the Reverend Mr. Wilson, is in awe of Dimmesdale's goodness and sanctity. Inside the good minister, however, is a storm raging between holiness and self-torture. He is unable to reveal his sin. At...

In this passage, that narrator considers Hester and women in general as items to men, only to be loved if they are beautiful”...there seemed to be no longer anything in Hesters face for love to dwell upon…”. Throughout the rest of The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne uses several devices to describe Hester and women in general. The first device that seems to be the most prominent throughout the book is symbolism. One of the symbols was the scarlet letter itself. Due to...

Idealism, Logic, and Puritanism in the Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, is about the struggle three people face while trying to live their lives and find happiness in a Puritan society. In the early 1640s, Hester comes to the small town of Boston, Massachusetts, while her husband, Roger Chillingworth, settles business in Great Britain. Hester and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, the town's priest, engage in the act of adultery and produce a baby girl named Pearl;...

The Scarlet Letter Essay The novel, The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, took place in the seventeenth century in Boston, Massachusetts. This novel explains the impact three sins have on three people’s lives, all living in the same town. It is easy to relate in some way to each of the characters. Hester, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale all committed a sin that had a profound impact on their lives. Hester’s sin is that she slept with Reverend Dimmesdale while she was married to...

Chillingworth visits Hester during her brief incarceration, where he berates her for having crushed his dreams of finding acceptance and love ("My heart was a great mansion with room for many souls, but cold and empty and without a parlor fire; I longed to light one!"). While he makes it obvious he will not take revenge upon her or the baby, he demands to know the name of Hester's lover. She refuses to tell him, but Chillingworth promises that he will find the man and destroy his soul....

The Scarlet Letter Think of how you would feel when your community judges you and looks down on you for months at a time. Soon you would get used to it, right? Well when you commit adultery back in the 17th Century, you usually would be banned and punished harshly. In the modern day how would it be handled now? You wouldn’t think adultery is still a crime, now that it is the 21st century but in many states and areas around the world, this action is taken very seriously and usually the criminal...

The puritan era was a time of strife for many early American settlers. They felt the world was at war between the forces of good and the forces of evil. This contention was made evident in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter as the author combines the physical, moral and mental state of Roger Chillingworth to highlight the theme of revenge and the evil obsession that takes over Chillingworth’s soul. Hawthorne’s use of figurative language connects Chillingworth’s misshapen form with...

Nathaniel Hawthorne is a passionate, romantic writer. Although on an unconscious level, he uses his own feelings to bring depth into his works. He uses writing as his own defense mechanism; escapism. Escapism is a defense mechanism that uses cultural arts to deal with difficult emotional problems in a safe, but imaginary world. In this way, it is the ego satisfying both the id and the superego. His book, The Scarlet Letter, is a piece that allows closure for a confusing phase in his life. The...

Symbols in The Scarlet Letter Symbolism plays an important role in many novels. Held with the distinction of implying important themes, symbols add depth to a story. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter takes place in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 1640’s. Embellished with symbols and hidden themes, the novel tells “a tale of human frailty and sorrow” (Hawthorne 46). In addition to human flaw and sadness, the novel reveals inhumane punishment and torture from the government and...

Topic 2 Throughout the novel, The Scarlett letter, the theme that “the punishment imposed on us by others may not be as destructive as the guilt we impose on ourselves” is shown a lot through some characters, especially Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. As the book goes along, we find out that Reverend Dimmesdale is Hester’s lover. Although the town people are not aware of this, the guilt he has inside him is much bigger than any punishment and so he begins to torture himself physically. As the...

Sin in The Scarlet Letter Since the dawn of time people have read, studied and enjoyed books in which the hero or heroes fall from grace. No matter who those heroes are- the human race in The Bible,the demon prince Lestat in Anne Rice's "Vampire Chronicles"or a certain Thane of Cawdor in "Macbeth"- sin plays a greatpart in all of their downfalls and subsequent ressurections.And the three main characters in Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter"-Dimmesdale,...

The Scarlet Letter Essay – Amy Campbell - November 2011 Topic A: How are Hester, Dimmesdale, Pearl & Chillingworth redeemed by the end of the novel? (Or, how are they not?) In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel – ‘The Scarlet Letter’, the four main characters, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth, Hester Prynne and her daughter Pearl, are all involved in and affected by each other’s wrongdoings. Sin and redemption are two central themes in Hawthorne’s work. The sin that initiates this...

Have you ever had something that brings you both joy and torture? In the book the Scarlet letter the main character Pearl punishes her mother by constantly reminding her of the horrible deed that she has done, yet Pearl also brings Hester joy. The author-Nathaniel Hawthorn-uses Pearl as a symbol of punishment and a gift. The author uses symbols and diction to convey the theme that even the most brutal of punishments can be confernting. Hawthorne uses diction to showhow Hester’s precious...

There comes a point in time when each citizen of the world should ask themselves: Have I ever lied to my parents? Have I ever cheated on a test? Have I ever stolen, coveted, or perhaps committed adultery? All supernatural and religious beliefs and preferences aside. No mortal man can claim to have lived a life free of mistakes. So, no one person can rightfully point their finger in judgement, when he too has fallen short of perfection. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne contrasts between...

In the world of literature, there are many ways to indirectly convey or foreshadow events, settings, and situations. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter uses a great deal of literary devices and techniques in order to effectively lead the reader towards his viewpoint and, finally, towards his purpose. The sin of adultery, which acts as the base and impetus for much of the plot in The Scarlet Letter, affects Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth the most; however, each of...

The Scarlet Letter Thematic Analysis Essay The Scarlet Letter was written in the late 1840s in Salem and Concord, Massachusetts. Nathaniel Hawthorne, an American novelist and short story writer born in Salem, writes The Scarlet Letter to show the importance of the Puritan religion, a group of people that believed that the Bible was God's true law, and their beliefs on society and sinning in the mid seventeenth century. Hawthorne focuses on four main characters and their epigrammatic...

THE SCARLET LETTER: A UNIT PLAN Second Edition Based on the book by Nathaniel Hawthorne Written by Mary B. Collins Teacher's Pet Publications, Inc. 11504 Hammock Point Berlin, Maryland 21811 Copyright Teacher's Pet Publications, Inc. 1997, 1999 This Lit Plan for Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter has been brought to you by Teacher’s Pet Publications, Inc. Copyright Teacher’s Pet Publications 1999 11504 Hammock Point Berlin MD 21811 Only the student materials in this unit plan such as...

The passage selected for me to analyze is from The Scarlet Letter, “The Pastor and His Parishioner.” I believe Hawthorne has written this passage to show the instant connection between Hester and Dimmesdale. After reading the brief passage, one can make the assumption of how Chillingworth and Hester are secluded from the world, but so close to each other. This is shown through many literary devices such as, extended metaphors, imagery, and diction. You may be saying to yourself, “What is an...

Name Teacher English 1, block 3 12 October 2013 The Power of Guilt Almost all people have felt some type of guilt. Whether it be from cheating on a test, lying to your parents, or forgetting your best friend’s birthday, guilt can be very powerful, it gives us a contrite awareness that we have acted in a way that some would considered to be wrong. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale have committed a great sin, and because of this sin, it causes...

How Hester Changes Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter is a story of love, sin, and self-realization. Hester Prynne is a beautiful young woman who commits adultery, and as punishment she has to wear a scarlet “A” on her shirt everywhere she goes. Her society shuns her and she can no longer have normal relations. Hester Prynne is defined by the scarlet letter and goes through many changes throughout the novel. The letter isolates her...

The Scarlet Letter The Puritan Society is an important part of American history, it outlines America’s brief moment of theocracy and extreme social order. The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, depicts Boston, Massachusetts during the time of puritanism and follows a young woman, Hester Prynne, through her trials and tribulations under her sin. The Scarlet Letter is repetitive of its time period through Dimmesdale’s state of religious anxiety and self-punishment, the...

 In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne displays many examples of love and hatred throughout the story. Though Hawthorne shows that love and hatred both have the potential to harm, hatred has a greater tendency to cause pain. This is clearly seen in Hester’s love for Pearl and Chillingworth’s hatred for Dimmesdale. Pearl is not the easiest child to love, but the attributes Hester has attained over the years have allowed her to show motherly love regardless. One aspect of Hester’s...

The Scarlet Letter: Reading Assignment As we are reading The Scarlet Letter, we will analyze the author’s narrative devices, thematic developments, and language devices. 1. With each reading assignment, you will compose two thoughtful, opened questions to bring to the class discussion. These questions should address either the author’s use of narrative technique and/or his development of theme. Narrative: How does the author use narrative technique in this section?...

Reading Report The Scarlet Letter Abstract The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne explores several aspects in the Puritan community of 17th century Boston. Such as the relationship, religion, community, discipline and punishment and so on. Relationship between men and women are very constrained and that are what made adultery such a bad sin in the eyes of everyone in the community. Religion seems to govern over all. Reverends own high status in the...

The Scarlet Letter Questions 1. Nathaniel Hawthorne, a dark American Romantic writer, was born on July 4th, 1804, in the town of Salem Massachusetts. Hawthorne wrote many works of literature, his first one was The Scarlet Letter. With this novel, came enough success for Hawthorne to completely devote himself to his writings. In 1851, he left Salem to draft and complete his second book, which he called The House of the Seven Gables. His other novels were, The Blithedale Romance and The Marble...

The Scale Hangs Fairly Balanced An affair can change a person’s life. That is exactly what happens to Hester Prynne in the novel, The Scarlet Letter. The novel was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. He was a dark romantic writer who wrote about 17-century Puritan life. Puritans came from England to America in search of religious freedom. The life of a Puritan revolved around their religion. They spend their entire life avoiding sin and living...

Jasmine Glass Mrs. Harris American literature 01 May 2013 Roger Chillingworth the true villain In the Scarlet Letter, the role of the villain is vague and not truly defined; it seems to be left up to the reader to make their own decision. In the first three chapters we are lead to believe that the villain will be an abstract one, the prejudice of Hester Prynne’s pregnancy. Hester Prynne could also be considered the villain. A married woman goes to a new world to make a home for her...

One of the most complex and elaborate characters in The Scarlet Letter is Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. Pearl, throughout the story, develops into a dynamic individual, as well as an extremely important symbol. Pearl is shunned because of her mother's sin. Pearl is a living representation of the scarlet letter - acting as a constant reminder of Hester's sin. Hawthorne uses vivid descriptions to characterize Pearl. She is first described as the infant;...

Sin is the main theme in The Scarlet Letter. All of the characters in the book were somehow affected by the main sin, which was adultery. The three main characters were the most widely affected, and their whole lives were molded by the way they dealt with the sin. The sin surrounds, encloses, and strangles them. There was no escaping from its cruel consequences. Hester Prynne's sin was labeled an adulteress, and the result of this was that she had to wear the scarlet letter "A." She feels...

Read the following passage from Nathaniel Hawthorn's The Scarlet Letter. In a well-organized response, analyze how the author's use of language influences both mood and tone. The scene was not without a mixture of awe, such as must always invest the spectacle of guilt and shame in a fellow-creature, before society shall have grown corrupt enough to smile, instead of shuddering, at it. The witnesses of Hester Prynne's disgrace had not yet passed beyond their simplicity. They were stern enough to...

 The Puritan and Romanticist Ideas of The Scarlet Letter The standards that the Puritan ideal set are virtually impossible for any human to attain. Part of the ideal was that they believed that man only existed for the Glory of God and to do only His will in effort to obtain future happiness. Religion governed the community and all aspects of life in these communities. Since the ideal was almost impossible to attain, society was fraught with sin. Hawthorne addresses sin and transformation...

The outcome of the punishment and how well it worked or didn’t work depends on the person dealing with the consequences. Towards the beginning of the book, The Scarlet Letter, I think Nathaniel Hawthorne is making the scarlet letter seem so terrible and cruel for Hester. But as the book comes to a close, you realize that it has done some good things for Hester. Though this punishment of wearing a red “A” on your chest to show adultery seems cold, there were some positive outcomes and it was...

8-18-13 AP English The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter is a story that characters have to live and deal with the effects of sin in different ways. Of all the characters in the book, the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is the character represented as the most weak. He is a much stronger guy than he is given credit for. The amount of control he has over handling and dealing with burdens is out of this world. The first time we see Dimmesdale, he is represented as a very nervous and...

Hester Prynne wears the scarlet letter in the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne because it is what she is forced to do as punishment for her iniquity. The letter, be it so simple as a symbol of the alphabet, is symbolic of the shame Hester carries within herself and the judgment that others place upon her after she sins. Hester is just a small representation of all sinners who each carry their own ineludible A. In Boston, Hester was forced to wear the A just 17 years old....

Bryce Hernandez March 16, 2013 Ms. Leonard English 11 Redeeming the Sins of the Scarlet Letter Sin is as much a part of life as anything else, and most are not simply forgiven over time for their sins. They must redeem themselves, through actions and words, for their sins. Sin and redemption is not only a theme of life, it is also a major theme in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter takes place in New England, during the Puritan Era. The novel takes place around a...

The effect of the symbol--or, rather, of the position in respect of society that was indicated by it-- on the mind of Hester Prynne herself, was powerful and peculiar. All the light and graceful foliage of her character had been withered up by this red-hot brand, and had long ago fallen away, leaving a bare and harsh outline, which might have been repulsive, had she possessed friends or companions to be...

Carolyn Cheon Mrs. Thomas English HH/ Period 7 November 9 Two Lives: That of a Saint and That of a Sinner The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, takes place in a Puritan strict society, where the nature of evil and sin is a criticism of Puritan rigidity and intolerance. Dimmesdale is a Puritan minister who is devoted to God and passionate in his religion. Dimmesdale is portrayed as a hypocrite who can only be released from his internal struggle when he confesses his sin. ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne uses well written language to reinforce the sad outlook that Hester Prynne has on her own existence as well as women in general. He uses certain aspects of writing to explain to the reader about how Hester is feeling that are imagery, parallelism and mood. Hawthorne wants to portray to the reader how Hester is feeling about not having the same rights as men, so he uses imagery which paints a picture for the reader. When he says, “wandered without a clew in the dark labyrinth...

114315 English 11 AP Mrs. Ingersoll February 25, 2014 Scarlet’s Change In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the scarlet letter portrays the image and a story of a young woman who has committed adultery and is forced to wear the scarlet letter “A” on the center of her chest. Hawthorne tells about her life and how she goes through life with the excruciating burden like that of sin. When Hester Prynne is first accused of committing adultery, the puritan society refuses to acknowledge...

"Mother," said little Pearl, "the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. . . . It will not flee from me, for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!" "Nor ever will, my child, I hope," said Hester. "And why not, mother?" asked Pearl, stopping short. . . . "Will it not come of its own accord, when I am a woman grown?" (Pg 141) What theme regarding human nature does Pearl portray through this conversion with her mother? Pearl's...

In this book all the good stuff goes down in the woods. Nature is almost like a character in the world of The Scarlet Letter. It is often personified as listening, commenting on, and interacting with other characters. The society itself (Puritan Boston society) is like an island surrounded by nature. The town is bordered on one side by a huge expanse of woods, home to Native Americans (the Wampanoag tribes). On the other side lies the big blue Atlantic Ocean. From the beginning of this story,...

THE SCARLET LETTER: AN EXPLORATION OF THE THEME OF SIN CONTENTS * about VICTORIAN ENGLAND * about NATHANIEL HAWTHorNE * A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE SCARLET LETTER * THE SCARLET LETTER: AN EXPLORATION OF THE THEME OF SIN * Conclusion * bibliography the Victorian era The 17th century was the century which lasted in England from January 1, 1601 to December 31, 1700 in the Gregorian calendar. The 17th century falls into the Early Modern period of Europe and in...

English 3AP The Scarlet Letter Test 1. In the passage beginning at the bottom of page 37 (It was a circumstance…) and ending on page 39 (here comes Mistress Prynne herself), the narrator seems to feel that the women of the era A) are harsher in their judgments than are the ruling menB) are overly submissive to menC) are without exception bitter-tempered D) are more refined than the narrator’s contemporariesE) are explicitly to blame for Hester’s sin 2. The conversation...

The Scarlet Letter: Syntax Essay In this excerpt of The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne brilliantly combines punctuation, sentence formation, and sentence length to describe the peculiar Roger Chillingworth and his business in the isolated town of Salem as a mystery that the townsfolk have been hypothesizing about since arrival. To start off, Hawthorne cleverly uses punctuation to question Roger Chillingworth’s arrival. Over the course of the excerpt, Hawthorne used question marks to...

Scarlet Letter Essay The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrates the social outcast of a sinned member of the puritan society accused of adultery. The story follows the life of Hester Prynne and how she contends with difficulties with her public shaming. Although, the Scarlet Letter is the true symbol that grows in meaning throughout the story. Text-to-Itself: Nathaniel Hawthorne makes the novel seem as if its not fiction by starting it with a preamble called the Custom House....

Nicole Zieba AP English III Ms. O’Malley 22 October 2013 The Scarlet Letter: Hawthorne Asks Why Written by Nathanial Hawthorne, The Scarlett Letter focuses on revealing a thematic subject of confession. Hester struggles to confide in others and herself. Hawthorne writes “From this intense consciousness of being the object of severe and universal observation, the wearer of the scarlet letter was at length relieved by discerning, on the outskirts of the crowd, a figure which irresistibly...

1. “In a word, old Roger Chillingworth was a striking evident of a man's faculty of transforming himself into a devil, if he will only, for a reasonable space of time, undertake a devil's office. This unhappy person had effected such a transformation by devoting himself, for seven years, to the constant analysis of a heart full of fuel to those fiery tortures which he analyzed and gloated over." Chapter 14 2. “As the last touch to her mermaid's garb, Pearl took some eelgrass, and imitated, as...

 Common Concepts Between The Scarlet and The Crucible The scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The crucible by Arthur miller are very similar books. Both have similar concepts, themes, time period, setting and plot. The scarlet letter is about Hester Payne who commits adultery with a reverend and is sentence to wearing the letter “A “on her clothing to show her sin to the world. The crucible is about a group of girls who dance in the forest, but claim...

The Scarlet Letter Chapter One Character List: Mistress Hibbins: a witch, who was bitter-tempered Group of women: harshly discuss and criticize Hester Prynne and her sin Hester Prynne: wears a fantastically flourished gold and red letter “A” (the ScarletLetter); tall with dark hair, very pretty and lady-like, prideful and strong; has a baby Reverend Master Dimmesdale: a godly pastor Magistrate: contains governor, counselors, a judge, a general, and ministers; decided Hester’s punishment...

2. The scarlet letter is clearly a symbol throughout the text, but its meaning grows and changes continually from its first appearance in chapter two, to its last at the end of the story. Explain how it changes. Support your explanations with specific references to the text. In the Scarlet Letter, Hester was marked with a red ‘A’ on her dress. At first, this meant that she had committed adultery. This ‘A’ separated her from the rest of the community in Boston because they knew what she had...

Lucas 1 Chris F. Lucas Dr. Coleman English 3 Honors 5 October 2012 The Scarlet Letter In The Scarlet Letter, the author Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes the minor characters Pearl Prynne and Roger Chillingworth to provoke the major characters in the novel, as well as to further portray existent themes and ideas developing through other parts of the story. Throughout the course of the novel, Pearl’s persistent fixation on the scarlet letter “A” embroidered on Hester’s chest acts as a...

In 17th century, there was a group of Christians, known as puritans, in Massachusetts. One item that was different about puritans was that they had very strict rules, especially sins. The two famous works, one by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter and second by Arthur Miller, The Crucible, say a lot about puritan lives during this time period. The Scarlet Letter took place in Boston, Massachusetts, and The Crucible took place in Salem, Massachusetts. Both of his works deal with sin, its...

Who’s In Charge Here? In The Scarlet Letter, the majority of the action happens not between characters, but within them. Guilt, passion, love, and hate all play key roles in the development of the novel. “The Sins of the Fathers: Hawthorne’s Psychological Themes,” a critique penned by Frederick C. Crews, explores the inner workings of Hawthorne’s characters. He argues that characters in The Scarlet Letter act not of their own accord, but instead are ruled absolutely by “feelings that [they]...

The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter was written in 1850. This book was written by Nathanial Hawthorne. He wrote the book to apologize because he was embarrassed about his ancestors. This book is about a puritan woman who commits the sin of adultery. The puritans did not want the government controlling them so that’s why they came to America. Hawthorne wrote this book to show that guilt can destroy a person’s body and soul. In this book Hawthorne shows how the character Dimmesdale...

Throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter there are many symbols. One of the biggest symbols of the novel is the scarlet letter A that Hester Prynne is sentenced to wear after she commits adultery. It is a symbol that is sewn onto her clothes for everyone to see. It is a punishment that is meant to humiliate her for the duration of the time that she stays in Puritanical Boston. During the novel, the scarlet letter changes and evolves from meaning adultery to meaning ability and even physically...

The Symbolic meaning of the letter “A” In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, the meaning of the letter "A" stands for “adulterer”, but the symbolic meaning of the “A” changes throughout the book. This change is significant as it indicates the personal growth of the characters as well as the enlightenment of the townspeople. When the novel begins, the letter "A" is a symbol of sin. In the puritan village Hester resides in, a person that commits adultery is to be condemned to...

Joao Raimundo Mr. Booth English 10 (A4) 13/11/2013 A Letter of Influence The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, tells the story of this woman who wore this letter “A” sewn into her dress, as a symbol of adultery. This Letter “A” that is carried by Hester affects every single character in the book. The main character, Hester Prynne, is directly affected by the letter, since she is the one that has to wear it every day. As a result of her wearing this letter, people treat her likes she...