An Analysis Of ' The Scarlet Letter '

In his book, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells of a story where a young woman has had an adulterous relationship with a respected priest in a Puritan community. Typical of Hawthorne's writings is the use of imagery and symbolism. In Chapter 12, The Minister's Vigil, there are several uses of imagery when Dimmesdale, the priest, is battling with confessing his sin, which has plagued him for seven years. Three evident techniques used to personify symbolism in this chapter are the use of darkness versus light, the use of inner guilt versus confession, and lastly the use of colors (black versus white).

In the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, the letter is understood as a label of punishment and sin being publicized. Hester Prynne bears the label of “A” signifining adulterer upon her chest. Because of this scorching red color label she becomes

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne often demonstrates the frailty of humans. Nature is often described as beautiful, while the Puritan society and human nature are viewed in a harsh light. Hawthorne illustrates that human nature is flawed and judgmental through use of figurative language, critical diction, and symbolism.

First of all, the scarlet letter stands for Hester's sin. By forcing Hester to wear the letter A on her bosom, the Puritan community not only punishes this weak young woman for her adultery but labels her identity as an adulteress and immoral human being as well. "Thus the young and the pure would be taught to look at her, with the letter flaming on her chest", also "as the figure, the body and the reality of sin." And the day Hester began to wear the scarlet A on her bosom is the opening of her darkness. From that moment, people, who look at her, must notice the letter A manifest itself in the red color covering not only her bosom, but her own character. The Puritans now only see the letter A, the representation of sin, scorn and hate

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.

For Hester the “A” “modelled much after her own fancy”(56) and “seemed to express the attitude of her spirit”(56). It showed the “recklessness of her mood, by its wild and picturesque peculiarity”(56). Hester made the “A” her own to show the community she can’t be held down even though she’s forced to wear her sin. In the movie, Olive was reading The Scarlet Letter in class. After the rumors of her “sleeping around” went through the school she thought to make her own “A”. Olive takes it to a different level though and changes her entire wardrobe, in which she also designed specially made “A”’s for her outfits. Somedays she has it placed on her breast and others she made different accessories to wear like a necklace. For both Olive and Hester, they designed their A’s to show the wrongdoing or sin they feel they have

The first form of punishment Hester faces is standing on scaffold. As she stands atop this wooden structure, Hester absorbs the harsh criticism and remarks made by the men, women, and children of her community. Her second form of punishment is the branding of the letter “A”. The “A”, which represents adultery, is a brand that she is required to wear if she chooses to stay in their community. The logic behind the “A” is that Hester and the members of the Puritan community will always

Hester Prynne’s scarlet ‘A’ has marked her forever and is meant to torture, but no one saw it that way. Hester committed adultery unknowing that her husband was alive still. Because of this, the town has forced her to bear the letter on her chest. The ‘A’ is meant to stand for

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, main character Hester Prynne was disgraced and condemned for having a child with a man other than her husband. In the beginning of the novel, Hawthorne uses the letter “A” to symbolize shame; Hester was forced to wear the letter on her chest for the rest of her life to label her as an adulterer. Hawthorne also uses this symbol to reveal Puritan beliefs and ideas. In the novel’s Puritan society, any woman who committed adultery was viewed as a criminal, as demonstrated by Hester.

Perhaps you should embroider a red A on your wardrobe, abominable tramp. This is where the first references to The Scarlet Letter is made, then continuing as a theme. Olive, was aware of her connection to Hester, and even sought advice from her, I actually reread The Scarlet Letter to see how Hester dealt with it… And it turns out she bore her punishment in humble silence which are two concepts I am not comfortable with. Which led to Olive deciding to reveal her side of the story and come clean by webcam.

This letter immediately creates a negative distinction against her and everyone else in the town. To explain the quote, due to the fact that she wandered into sin, she is singled out for criticism by those and women of the Puritan society leaving her to feel alienated from everyone. Alienation can aswell be seen in Easy A through the letter A when Nina Howell references The Scarlet Letter and tells Olive "Perhaps you should embroider a red A on your wardrobe, you abominable tramp." She says this to Olive after she has heard about the dirty rumors about Olives so called sins, amongst the high school society.

Hester possesses the skill of needlework, her clothing worn by many in town. Although many wear her designed clothing, she is still an outcast, her scarlet A burning like a brand on her breast when others look at her, causing her to lose her mental strength. In time, she learns to accept her shame, and allows herself to look beyond the staring glances and live her life through the shame.

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.

Scarlet Letter a novel of contemporary time where the principles, culture and reputation of women are very strong. Hester Prynne become pregnant without her husband being present and is criticized and condemned to prison. Hester never mentioned who was the father of the child she carried in her womb. His reputation is stained and society branded with the letter A, which puts herself on her shirt. Hester never said who the father despite strong accusations era. Olive the other side of the film Easy A, is a teenager who lies to her friend saying she lost her virginity. It is heard by a very religious student and this is the one who tells others about the reputation of Olive. This religious is responsible for tarnishing the reputation of Olive

The Scarlet Letter Critical Analysis Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, the direct descendant of John Hawthorne, and a judge at the infamous Salemwitchcraft trials. The guilt that Hawthorne felt over the actions of his ancestor had an enormous impact on his writings. In his introduction of "The Scarlet Letter", Hawthorne accepts the guilt from his forefathers and offers to repent for their crimes (Waggoner, 5). This unusual way of viewing guilt and sin is one driving factor in Hawthorne's writing. The other, which is closely related to the first, is the relationship between men, and of man to humanity as a whole.