...Things are not always what they seem. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter uses the central idea of duality to exemplify this. A key symbol of duality Hawthorne presents in The Scarlet Letter is Hester Prynne's embodiment of her sin: the beautifully embroidered scarlet letter. Forcibly placed upon Hester's bosom, the letter punishes her for committing adultery with the town reverend, Arthur Dimmesdale. The badge also intends to outcast her and her daughter, Pearl, from the Puritan society of Boston. Although the "A" originally acted as Hester's punishment, the interpretation of the scarlet letter varies for Dimmesdale and Pearl to juxtapose Hester's unwavering perspective. Besides Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale has the biggest personal...
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...The Scarlet Letter: The Feminist Approach The Scarlet Letter tells the story of a woman labeled by the Puritan society due to her actions and vows of silence to not explain herself.When looking at the feminist approach to literature, the reader must know the three premises and principles. First, language, institutions, social power structures have impacted throughout history reflected particular interest. Second, woman have always resisted or subvert, and at the last but now least, patriarchal dominance and feminine subversion is evident in literary and cultural text. In Bentuck's analysis of The Scarlet Letter, she uses the statement “ Hester Prynne, however, subverts the Puritan- patriarchal laws of meaning in two ways. First, she embroiders and embellishes the community's representational codes, thereby confusing them. Second, Hester refuses to name child's father.(pg.397)”as one of her primary arguments. In addition to Hester's ability to subvert, Benstuck's argument and statement that The Scarlet Letter“focuses attention on representations of womanhood, with special emphasis on Puritan efforts to regulate female sexuality within religious, legal, and economic structures.(pg398)” is her thesis for her analysis. The people of the society Hester Prynne lived in were strictly judgmental on one if they had not chose to take the “proper” and “righteous” way to reproduce. Benstuck speaks on the biology and religious aspects of man and woman to support her idea gender issues...
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...The concept of feminism has always been around throughout the course of human history. Indeed, in Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, the protagonist attempts to subvert the patriarchal society within which she resides. Hawthorne positions Hester Prynne as a proto-feminist, standing for women and their rights in a time where women were looked down upon. To begin, Hawthorne describes the prison and the scene around the scaffold in the center of town. Hester had been imprisoned for having adulterous relations with her Reverend, Arthur Dimmesdale, which led to the creation of a child, Hester's daughter Pearl. The town is waiting to see Hester and watch her as she stands on the scaffold for three hours while the town looks upon her, wearing a scarlet 'A' on her bosom as her punishment. The women of the town discuss the harsher punishments they would have given her, proclaiming that "this woman has brought shame upon us all" and declaring she "ought to die" (Hawthorne 49).When Hester exits the prison and a town beadle offers her help, "she repelled him, by an action marked with natural dignity and own free-will" (49). From the moment she steps out of the prison, Hester displays a free will and determination that will become a large part of her life. Despite the women's hostility towards Hester and the "heavy weight of a thousand unrelenting eyes," (53) Hester stands tall and strong on the scaffold. Her eyes gaze over the town members, and towards the back she notices...
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...Mrs. Edgar The Scarlet Letter October 10, 2014 Pearl: A Gift or a Curse? In The Scarlet Letter, our characters are expressed as detailed and as expressive as they should. The children in the book are by far the most expressed and true. Ever since she was born, The Scarlet Letter defines Pearl as the symbol of Hesther’s crime. In other words, Pearl is considered Hester’s curse. She is the one who was blamed for all the trouble that our main characters came across. Readers tend to put down Pearl’s role in the novel. Actually, as contradicting as it may sound, I was one of those readers. However, now I believe that she deserves more credit than she gets. Though her imagination and her determination offer both as a gift and a curse...
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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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...The Role of Sin in The Scarlet Letter Sin is something society has had to deal with since mankind has known evil. In most circumstances, the sin only becomes a problem when it is kept within and develops itself into something larger than it was in the first place. Keeping secrets is an impairment to one’s life, which in a larger picture affects a whole society. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “secret sin” is a predominant theme, which in this novel leads to changes in both emotional and physical being. In the early days of the Massachusetts colony, they are neither welcoming nor accepting of sin or different ideas and are suspicious of anything that may topple their perfect settlement. Evil should never be kept secret because it always leaves a deep mark. Hester Prynne hides a substantial amount of sin inside of herself, which only adds to sins that have been made an issue of public interest. Committing adultery is Hester’s sin, and all her secret sins are results of this one. Pearl’s father’s sin, which is closely related to Hester’s sin of adultery, is the reason Pearl is alive. She refuses to tell even under extreme pressure, “I will not speak! And my child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly one.” (Hawthorne 47). We later learn that the father is Arthur Dimmesdale, and this lack of communication cause a barrier between them. Her refusal consequently denies any hope of reconciliation between the two for an extensive period. Hester...
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...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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...A heroine is a woman who is admired or idealized for her courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. The novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne centers on the story of a heroine by the name of Hester Prynne. The novel is set in New England, where Hester resides in a strict Puritan community. From the beginning one learns that Hester is condemned to public humiliation for her crime of adultery. All through the novel Hester deals with the pressures from her community, from motherhood and from the men in her life as she attempts to redeem her freedom. Hester Prynne accepts the consequences of her actions by transcending the harsh criticism and shame from the Puritan community; therefore, she proves to be a pertinent heroine...
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...A person can become caught up in their lust. Whether it be fantasy or physical, one can get off-track. However, one can ponder further whether or not this truly illustrates a poor path. Can straying from the normal trail possibly lead to an even greater destination? The film American Beauty and the novel The Scarlet Letter both use the archetypal hero’s journey and supporting images of power to emphasize that finding individuality can lead to fulfillment and rebirth, desires we all share. As readers venture into any story, they will realize that they will find a journey is being told. In the case of American Beauty and The Scarlet Letter, both narratives share the required journey pattern of departure, fulfillment and return in their quests....
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...Lindblade Mrs. Byrne English 11 Honors 1 November 2013 Role of Secret Sin in The Scarlet Letter In many of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novels, secret sin plays a large role throughout the stories. Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter”, contains the theme of secret sin which plays a very important role in the story of the novel. Secret sin in the novel “The Scarlet Letter” plays an important role because it both physically and emotionally damages the characters throughout the story. The character of Roger Chillingworth undergoes a very drastic emotional and physical change throughout the novel due to secret sin. In the beginning of the novel, Hester goes up to the scaffold since she is punished to public humiliation for committing the crime of adultery. Her husband, Roger Chillingworth, comes to the town to see that his wife has cheated on him with another man and now bears a child that is not his. The result of Hester’s partner’s secret sin on Chillingworth changes his inner and outer emotions immediately. Hawthorne writes “ A writing horror twisted itself across his features, like a snake gliding swiftly over them, and making one little pause, with all its wreathed intervolutions in open sight. His face darkened with some powerful emotion” (Hawthorne 45). By using very descriptive imagery and similes, Hawthorne showed that the secret sin was starting to change Roger’s inner and outer emotions. Before Roger saw Hester he was a normal person but once he saw her he started to change...
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...2011 Reactions Negative reactions to inauspicious events can pile up on the situation to make matters worse. Eventually there will be a large web of causes and effects as a result of one poor reaction to a single event. Such a situation occurs in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a book about a Puritan reaction to adultery. In the novel, the adultery of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale causes Roger Chillingworth, who is the betrayed husband, to react negatively to the events outside of his control, showing that Chillingworth has been removed from his role as the important male figure in his marriage to Hester. Dimmesdale, who is the minister, removes Roger from his legal role as a dominant male figure in Hester’s life by first sleeping with Hester and, later, by continuing the relationship despite Chillingworth’s disapproval. The two culprits of the adultery are Hester Prynne, the unfaithful wife, and Arthur Dimmesdale, the Puritan minister of the community. Hester and Roger are married, but that does not mean that they are in love. They are together because it is against the Puritan lifestyle for a man to go unmarried, so Roger takes Hester to be his wife. Since the women of this time have little say in what happened, Hester and Roger marry. Arthur is the man that Hester is in love with, and she shows the proof of that fact through their adultery and having Pearl Prynne. They are so in love, they want to move back to England to be together: “It begins for Dimmesdale...
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...In the Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is the protagonist. She expresses a multitude of qualities in her character that an audience could find admirable or disdainful, depending on how looked at. Within the colonial Puritan period and culture she lived in, it was normal and easy to harshly react to Hester’s situation. She may not have been a heroine in the eyes of her people, but she still embodies a beautiful, strong, and confident woman. Hester Prynne has the capability of being a heroine in The Scarlet Letter by dealing with her circumstances in a mature nature, being remorseful, and still loving the world as a whole. Hester Prynne is a woman that obviously made a mistake that resulted in a public awareness. It is easy for an individual to hide mistakes or sins committed, but it takes a very strong individual to embrace it and learn from it. Hester responsibly confronts her situation in a mature nature. Any other woman could have simply fled from such an unforgiving place. “She is my happiness!, She is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life Pearl punishes me too!” (Hawthorne 101) Hester committed the sin of adultery and in that a living product resulted. It is very admirable to see that while Pearl, Hester’s daughter, reminds her every day of what she did, Hester realizes that she must love her child and take responsibility for her actions. Another remarkable trait that Hester embodies is that she shows an utterly remorseful side to her circumstances...
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...The Puritan community is described as a “utopia of human virtue and happiness” (42) in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter. Being a Christian community, the community prides itself on its virtues and its values. The story revolves around the sin that Hester Prynne committed against her husband, Roger Chillingworth: adultery with a Puritan minister named Arthur Dimmesdale. Hawthorne examines the role of the community in relation to the sin of these characters and the effect the community has on the two sinners. How are the characters influenced by the Puritan community? It is the Puritan community’s twisted view and influence on the characters that negatively impacts the characters and renders them unable to move past their sins. Hawthorne...
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...Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, tells the story of a woman who commits adultery in a puritanical society. As punishment for her sin, Hester Prynne must wear the ignominious scarlet letter ‘A’ for adulteress. As a result, she is the constant target of ridicule and persecution, which in Puritan society was a punishment almost equivalent to death.Throughout the novel, multiple Puritan beliefs are reflected, however; these tenets of Puritanism are used to reveal a further symbolic or Romantic meaning. Hawthorne himself, claimed that the novel was more indicative of Romantic ideals. Even the style in which the novel was written is reflective of the Romantic Era. Puritan writing was simple and facile to interpret, whereas The Scarlet...
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...A Woman’s Example “The Scarlet Letter”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, illustrates the protagonist, Hester Prynne, being released from prison and then being shunned for committing adultery in the 1850s. She is forced to wear a scarlet A on all of her blouses so that the people of her town would be aware of the sin she has committed. Although this letter she is forced to wear is supposed to make her feel shame for what she has done, this character does not seem to express any sorrow for her actions and seems to be happy with the outcome, which is her beautiful daughter Pearl. This novel showcases a woman’s willingness and ability to support herself through Hester’s strong will not to lose hope despite the rest of the world’s views on her and her...
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