Ambiguity In The Scarlet Letter

In Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the deceptive Roger Chillingworth could most certainly be considered a morally ambiguous character. Throughout the novel, Roger Chillingworth everlastingly remains misleading as to whether he lies on the side of good or evil. Even at the end of The Scarlet Letter, the knowledge of Roger Chillingworth is extremely nebulous. The mysterious Roger Chillingworth, although ultimately emanating to be evil, attests to be a challenge when determining his morality. Roger Chillingworth attempts to beguile us by enacting the role of a physician, and ensconces his relationship with Hester Prynne. He lives with Arthur Dimmesdale, vindicating that he is serving Arthur Dimmesdale a helpful medicine, while

Language has both the power and ability to create a dramatic, realistic scene. It can create emotions, effects, and even an overall theme. By the use of specific syntax and diction, writers are able to give literary life to any words emotionally. Without thinking of deep contextualization, complex construction of sentences, and scholarly syntax, the anatomy of a paragraph would have no further meaning. It would be lifeless, and hold little value. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s intellect in The Scarlet Letter creates meaning through effectively using language, rhetoric, diction, and syntax with character development, ultimately creating a deeper theme of corruption and innate evil throughout the novel.

“Reality is easy. Deception that's the hard the hard work” -Lauryn Hill. In the novel the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses literary elements such as symbolism, irony and conflict to show deception and secrecy can lead to self-destruction. This relates to the Scarlet Letter because in the book the protagonist character commits an act of sin that was more than just frowned upon. Not only does the community gossip and turn their cheek to the sinner but a sickness comes along from keeping a secret from the community.

The very scarlet letter from which the novel’s name is derived from is a symbol of sinning; the scarlet letter represents how Puritan society views sinning as unforgivable and something for public speculation. Hester is punished by wearing hers out for the world to see. The letter is “so fantastically embroidered” that one townswoman argues that its intricacy and design defeat the entire purpose of wearing it. The scarlet letter serves as an

The rose bush is directly stated by Hawthorne that it might represent a sweet moral blossom. It can also be shown as “To

In a novel that revolves almost solely around sin, the consequences of said sin, and redemption, there is no greater sin than that of revenge. No character in The Scarlet Letter is free of sin, but all gain some sort of redemption, save one Roger Chillingworth, who is arguably the greatest sinner of them all. Hester Prynne may have committed adultery, and Arthur Dimmesdale may have also committed adultery with Hester (as a priest, no less), but sins of passion are not the same as sins of vengeance and anger. These sins of revenge and madness are what Chillingworth is guilty of, ultimately making him the worst sinner in the entire book.

In the corners of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, stand two fascinating characters—Pearl and Roger Chillingsworth. In the story, Pearl is the illegitimate child of the protagonist, Hester Prynne, and the minister, Arthur Dimmesdale, while Chillingsworth is Hester’s estranged husband who everyone thought was dead. Both of these two supporting characters have a surreal presences and each are deeply involved in Hester’s life, particularly her life after the discovery of her adultry. With as many similarities as they have, the reader may question what the respective rolls of these two characters are. Much has been said about the characters individually, but in this paper I will explore how the characters relate to each other in the telling of the story. Based on the similarities, differences, and roles that the characters play in the story; I will explain how they many in fact be read as foils of one another.

As Sacvan Bercovitch notes in his essay “Ambiguities in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter,” “A crime pertains to externals… A sin pertains to the spiritual and internal, to an act of will. It depends on the inner cause, the motive” (Bercovitch 585). Furthermore, sin can be classified as putting oneself above others, and doing so with hubris or excessive pride.

Moral ambiguity states that it is not clear that things are always wrong and always right. Moral ambiguity means there is gray area. The purpose of Hawthorne’s ambiguity is to ask the reader to question parts of life around them, established rules of society. He may be asking the reader to question the values of his/her own society because morality is not so easily decided. He makes the readers and the Puritan society see Hester as a sinner and yet, she doesn't always seem guilty.

In the novel "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne symbolism is used to represent the evolution of the characters primarily that of Hester Prynne. Two of these symbols as they are used repeatedly create underlying truths telling their own story of growth and understanding as sunshine and the letter "A" bring to light who Hester Prynne truly is.

Though Hester has repented for her sins and has worn the scarlet letter for nearly a decade, she is still an outcast in her society. Even when she has become a force of good around her town, "Hester's nature showed itself warm and rich; a wellspring of human tenderness, unfailing to every real demand" (158), it seems there is nothing she can do to disprove the harsh judgement that arrived when she took up the scarlet letter. Technically, she has done everything in her power to make up for her long-past sin. In reality, the people around her treat her as if she were the only sinner in the town and had done nothing to correct her past wrong.

Without any prior knowledge to the meaning or label of a “scarlet letter” , readers can assume it has a dark connotation. Scarlet, being a dark red color, more specially the color of blood, represents to readers that within the pages will be a dark and intense story. Upon reading the novel in its entirety, the scarlet letter itself becomes the most significant and important use of symbolism in the novel. It transforms from a simple “A” into a metaphor for the mortification of committing a sin. Initially standing for “adultery”, its meaning transforms many times throughout the book.

In the stories of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the antagonist characters display parallel story lines through their searches for the enemy. Roger Chillingworth, the former husband of Hester Prynne and the antagonist of The Scarlet Letter, works against his wife in order to find her untold second lover. Frankenstein is a contrasting story in which an unnamed monster is the antagonist towards his human creator, Dr. Frankenstein. Yet despite quite different story lines, the two characters possess traits that exibit parallels between them. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth displays the startling passionate characteristics of an unwavering drive to seek out his foe, madness as his focus on his search takes over his entire being, and terrible anguish when his task is unexpectedly over, all of which are reflected in the daemon created at the hand of Dr. Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley 's novel Frankenstein.

In the Puritan society the outlandish mindset of the leaders caused more harm than good with the witch trials in Salem to the events mentioned in The Scarlet Letter. Sin and evil the new world cloud the vision of the citizens, yet they are two separate actions and have different definitions. Hawthorne explains the difference between the two in the novel and also shows off his famous skill of questioning a society’s rules, regulations, and social structure. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses his writing style of ambiguity, and ornate word choice to relay his opinion of the puritan society. Characters, quotes, and symbols give us a snapshot of the time and thoughts on events and ideas during the era. Hawthorne’s characters are a

The passage in which it is revealed to Chillingworth that Dimmesdale is the father to Hester's child presents a sudden rise of action, the solution to a long term ambition, and the point of no return, serving as the story's climax. The scene opens with a somber description of the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale at peace in a deep sleep. As the scene continues the wistful tone of the passage begins to morph with more energy, bringing more action and excitement to the plot of the novel. The reader is introduced to the "deep, deep slumber" of Dimmesdale and is suddenly surprised by Chillingworth as he "thrust[s] aside the vestment" that makes Dimmesdale shudder and Chillingworth look with "wonder, joy, and horror." Most of the novel resembles