...The Scarlet Letter In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, A young woman named Hester Prynne in Boston is prosecuted for adultery. To symbolize her crime, she has an “A” imprinted on her bosom. As a result of her committing adultery, she and Reverend Dimmesdale (his identity is not identified until later in the book) have a child. She is a very curious child, and her name is Pearl. Roger Chillingworth, comes to see Hester on the scaffold and he doesn’t want his identity revealed either but it does get revealed in later chapters. In the Scarlet letter, the author uses different symbols, literary devices, and themes that help Nathaniel’s purpose of writing. Symbolism A symbol in the Scarlet Letter is literally the Scarlet Letter...
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...Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter are no exception. These wrongdoings contribute to an overall theme of the novel. This theme is sin. There are many symbols in the novel that draw attention to this theme, such as color and the scarlet letter. There is more symbols that are present in the novel and have high importance, however these two stand out significantly. Through instances involving Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth, color and the mark of the scarlet letter drive the theme of sin within the novel. Hester’s relationship with her scarlet letter is a distinct example of how the symbol of the...
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...The Scarlet Letter Study Guide Published in 1850, The Scarlet Letter is considered Nathaniel Hawthorne's most famous novel--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 a daughter Pearl after an adulterous affair. Hawthorne's novel is concerned with the effects of the affair rather than the affair itself, using Hester's public shaming as a springboard to explore the lingering taboos of Puritan New England in contemporary society. The Scarlet Letter was an immediate success for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the United States was still a relatively new society, less than one hundred years old at the time of the novel’s publication. Indeed, still tied to Britain in its cultural formation, Hawthorne's novel offered a uniquely American style, language, set of characters, and--most importantly--a uniquely American central dilemma. Besides entertainment, then, Hawthorne's novel had the possibility of goading change, since it addressed a topic that was still relatively controversial, even taboo. Certainly Puritan values had eased somewhat by 1850, but not enough to make the novel completely welcome. It was to some degree a career-threatening decision to center his novel around an adulterous affair (but compare the plot of Fielding's Tom Jones). But Hawthorne was not concerned with a prurient affair here, though the novel’s...
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...Does sin truly affect the downfall of society? In many ways, sin constantly influences the downfall of society by creating differences in a conformed society and providing pressure to conform to that society. During the Puritan times, sinning was amidst the worst crimes to commit and the punishments were often very harsh, which often led to death. The Scarlet Letter, a romantic fiction novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, tells the story of two lovers, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, that faces temptations, but in the end, deal with immense suffering. The novel validates the theme of “Sin Leading to a Better Understanding of Humanity” clearly through the actions of the main characters. Hester throughout the story experiences judgment from the town of Boston, Massachusetts for committing the sin of adultery and is forced to wear...
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...The Scarlet Letter A: Write an analytical essay (900 - 1200 words) on the excerpt from Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter (1850). Part of your essay must focus on the narrative technique and the theme of Puritanism and slut shaming. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter”, a dark tale of shame and condemnation, centres on a small Puritan society of Boston during the 17th century. Set in Puritan New England, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, a Puritan woman who has a baby out of wedlock. Although written many years ago, Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” covers themes and ideas related to modern readers. The themes of slut-shaming and breaking society’s expectations are ones to which many young people can relate to today. Seen in this context, the novel can be approached as the story of a young woman who let her heart rule her head and suffered the consequences. In a dedicated Puritan town, a young married woman named Hester Prynne conceives a child. There is a glitch, however; her husband, a doctor, has been missing for a long time. The society magistrates imprison her for this sin and commands that she must wear a scarlet “A” on her dress as a sign for adultery, shame and sins. Additionally, she must stand on a scaffold, exposed to public humiliation. The reason why is she had an affair with the local minister, Reverend Dimmesdale. The fact that he is a reverend makes the case much worse and also shows hypocrisy in the community, since the minister...
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...North American Literature 2014-2015. Individual Freedom restricted by Puritans. Analysis of Hester, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. [Nathaniel Hawthorne; The Scarlet Letter] ABSTRACT: The aim of this paper is to analyze how Nathaniel Hawthorne deals with the theme of freedom focusing on the major characters such as Hester, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. I argue that, there is a sign of individual freedom due to the fact that all the characters have the right to act in the way they do it but they will be always suppressed by the decisions of the Puritans. I also argue that, there is no collective freedom in terms of society because Puritanism restricts, punishes and judges individual actions. Key words: major characters, individual freedom, suppressed, no collective freedom. The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850, is constructed by the main themes of isolation and suffering. Moreover, sin and the Puritan law are narrowly connected, making the wish of freedom almost an impossible achievement. Over the course of the novel, Hester is the only one who truly manifests her right of individual freedom. However, she has been punished by the Puritan law, which considers her attitude as a threat to the Puritan community and its religion. Hester’s freedom starts since the moment she decides to carry her punishment in New England and not going back to England, where she could have lived a new life without feeling guilty. Furthermore, her self-determination...
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...The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is related to American society in 2016 in which “sins” of adultery are still committed, and the idea of individuality are still present but the idea of a church or religion surrounding a society is not still present. Adultery is committed on a daily basis in American society, as it wasn’t too common in the nineteenth century. The Scarlet Letter's’ main theme in the story is about sin and how it was frowned upon in the Puritan society. Although, Puritan belief is set as they think that everyone is a sinner as they were born that way. The Puritans maintained strict watch over themselves and their townspeople, and sins were punishable by death. Hester Prynne had committed adultery with Dimmesdale which...
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...concluded that the consequences of sin is the theme of Nathaniel Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne explored this theme by four distinctive levels of sin. Although each level was equally displayed throughout the novel, the communal sin of man's inhumanity to man outranked all else. The primary characters are each guilty of one or more of the following levels of sin; the sin of vengeance, the sin of hypocrisy, and the sin of adultery. In the beginning of the novel, it is revealed that Hester Prynne is guilty of adultery. One of the consequences for her sin is a prison term. Secondly, she had a child, a baby who was conceived from lust rather than love. Hester named this child Pearl, meaning of great value. Thirdly, Hester was condemned to wear the scarlet letter, upon her bosom, for all to recognize her as one who has met with the black man in the forest. Fourth, she was made to stand in public ignominy as the townsmen mocked her.(Bercovitch, S, 1991) Although the magistrates tried to make Hester Prynne reveal her accomplice, she kept his name unknown. As one may have guessed, from the hints given throughout the novel, Arthur Dimmesdale was also guilty of adultery. However, he did not confess his sin until it was too late. Dimmesdale continued his ministry in the church, as a hypocrite, concealing his sin. Nevertheless, his guilty conscience drove him to a manic-depressive state of mind. Dimmesdale became very ill, because the scarlet letter upon Hester's bosom seemingly burned...
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...lives as an effect of their sin. Many people would hide from their mistakes and shame and let others judge and make their own assumptions. However, in The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main character, Hester Prynne does the exact opposite as she openly shows her acceptance of her sin through the scarlet “A”, and Pearl. Pearl symbolizes Hester’s wrong doing. She is a constant and permanent punishment for Hester’s sin. A quote that shows Pearl’s symbolization is on page 74. “A lovely and immortal flower, out of the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion.” This quote basically is saying that Pearl is like a beautiful, eternal flower, from the foul indulgence of her mother’s guilty passion. The scarlet “A” is also a symbol of Hester’s wrong doing. Hester is forced to wear the “A” on her chest for the rest of her life to stand as a reminder to her, and the rest of the community of her sin, adultery, which is what the “A” stands for. “On the breast of her gown, its fine red cloth, surrounded with elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread” (46) describes what the “A” looks like. By wearing the scarlet letter every day, Hester has full and complete control of her sin. Removing the letter would mean society has power over her. Most people would move away after their sentence, if they were allowed so they could have a fresh start and meet new people and start a new life. However Prynne decided to stay in town and wear the scarlet “A” she made while she was...
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...Title of Work: The Scarlet Letter Author’s Name: Nathaniel Hawthorne Date of Publication: Genre: Fiction Setting: The Scarlett Letter is set in the middle of the seventeenth century, in a time where there were strict religious values. Major Characters: Hester Prynne is the main character or this book, and hence the book’s title she wears a scarlet on her clothing which is a large letter “A”. This letter means that she is an adulterer, which means that she cheated on her husband. Her husband, an old man named Chillingworth had sent her to America to start a life for them, but when there she had an affair with a young stud named Dimmesdale, and with him she had a daughter named Pearl. Hester is a strong willed woman as she deals with years of shame from her past actions, and as the continues to live in her community she notices their way of treating women and makes good observations. Pearl is Hester’s daughter that she had with Dimmesdale. She has an unique ability to see things that others do not, for example she finds out the truth about her mother and Dimmesdale, and the townspeople say that’s is devil’s spawn since her father was unknown. She is a smart girl that has a wild imagination. Arthur Dimmesdale is the man friend of Hester Prynne, and the father of Pearl. As a pastor he is tormented by what he has done with Hester, as it goes against what he has been studying and teaching to the masses. To try and overcome this he continuously beats himself mentally...
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...novel The Scarlet Letter. One important influence on the story is money. Hawthorne had never made much money as an author and the birth of his first daughter added to the financial burden ("Biographical Note" VII). He received a job at the Salem Custom House only to lose it three years later and be forced to write again to support his family (IX). Consequently, The Scarlet Letter was published a year later (IX). It was only intended to be a long short story, but the extra money a novel would bring in was needed ("Introduction" XVI). Hawthorne then wrote an introduction section titled "The Custom House" to extend the length of the book and The Scarlet Letter became a full novel (XVI). In addition to financial worries, another influence on the story is Hawthorne's rejection of his ancestors. His forefathers were strict Puritans, and John Hathorne, his great-great-grandfather, was a judge presiding during the Salem witch trials ("Biographical Note" VII). Hawthorne did not condone their acts and actually spent a great deal of his life renouncing the Puritans in general (VII). Similarly, The Scarlet Letter was a literal "soapbox" for Hawthorne to convey to the world that the majority of Puritans were strict and unfeeling. For example, before Hester emerges from the prison she is being scorned by a group of women who feel that she deserves a larger punishment than she actually receives. Instead of only being made to stand on the scaffold and wear the scarlet letter on her chest...
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...In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne employs the theme of vengeance to strengthen the idea of Roger’s search for revenge. Roger becomes a symbol of the devil throughout the story because he becomes obsessed with the idea of getting back at Dimmesdale that he does not care if he hurts or even kills him. The sin that Hester and Dimmesdale committed betrayed Roger in the worst way possible. Roger begins to want to betray them the way he was. The search for revenge begins with Roger wanting to feel complete with himself and not allow Hester and Dimmesdale to feel content with each other. Roger’s search for revenge on Dimmesdale for the amount of betrayal he felt by the sin caused him to become a devil-like symbol in the novel, therefore he...
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...A woman stands in front of her community, judged for her sin and having an object to show it, her only child. Born from an extramarital affair with an unknown man, she is forced to face public scrutiny in a Puritan community. Somewhere in the crowd, the father of the child stands, guilty but not judged. Nathaniel Hawthorne tackles sin and shame in The Scarlet Letter, a story showing guilt and transgression in a society where “religion and law were almost identical” and “the mildest and the severest acts of public discipline were alike made venerable and awful” (Hawthorne 47-48). The heritage of Nathaniel Hawthorne, common beliefs held by the Puritans, as well as Hawthorne’s philosophies on secret sin and public shame affect the style of The...
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...Section #1: The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, starts off by introducing how the book was written. The anonymous narrator stumbled upon some manuscripts labeled with a red “A”, all of which happened some 200 years before his time. He decided to write a fictional story about the facts he found in the manuscripts and thus, The Scarlet Letter was born. The story begins in a Boston Puritan Settlement in the 17th century. Hester Prynne and her young daughter, Pearl, are being led from the town prison, bearing the infamous “scarlet letter”. A man in the crowd said she was being tried for adultery, after her husband left and was supposed to be “lost at sea”, and gave birth to a child. She will not, however, give the identity of her lover, and the red “A”, along with her public shame, is punishment for her sin and secrecy. The man in the crowd turns out to be Hester’s long lost husband, who is now practicing medicine and is going by the name Roger Chillingworth. Several years pass and, being banished by the town, Hester and Pearl live in a small cottage on the outskirts of Boston. The town repeatedly tries to take Pearl away from Hester, but with the help of the young minister, Arthur Dimmesdale, the two manage to stay together. Chillingworth has his suspicions about Dimmesdale’s health and the fact he may be hiding a secret, so he decided to move in with him to give him constant care. One afternoon, while the minister sleeps, Chillingworth discovers a mark on the man’s chest...
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...In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, it is considered by many timeless and universal, which makes his novel a work of classic literature. Determining what makes a classic taken from his novel Why Read the Classics? Italo Calvino defines: “A classic is a book which each rereading offers as much of a sense of discovery as the first reading.” Hester Prynne is first introduced with her infant daughter, Pearl, and she is being displayed by the onlookers of Boston as sinful because she has committed adultery. Later, it is revealed that Hester and the young minister Arthur Dimmesdale had an affair. Although Dimmesdale did not know that he befriended Hester’s once lost husband Roger Chillingworth, Dimmesdale is also punished for his sin. Themes...
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