Analysis Of Nathaniel Hawthorne 's ' The Scarlet Letter '

You’re free. Calmly sitting in a chair reading a book. One moment later, your tied up. Unable to move, unable to escape the ropes that tie you down. There is a tray of food in arms reach and you seem to be comfortably placed. You seek a way to get get out and run from whoever trapped you, yet part of you wants to stay. The pros and cons of the situation seem to be swirling around clouding your judgement. Equivalently, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the same clouded judgement with Hester’s exile. Throughout the novel Hester’s exile has the reader to believe that she has experiences that both enlighten and alienate her as a character. Even though experience with exile may seem to lead us down only one path, the one of despair and solitude, Hester’s experience with exile taught her that solitude gives strength, proving a rift teaches us more about our character.

In Chapter 3, Hawthorne uses contradicting diction to reflect the Romantics belief concerning the difference between good and evil as they label the “stranger” using words such as “remarkable intelligence” yet he is also described as having a “slight [physical] deformity” (56) being that the ugliness on the outside reflects the ugliness on the inside. This use of diction gives the reader the sense that the stranger is intellectual yet flawed in feelings and personality. The author’s depiction of the stranger’s asymmetrical figure provokes an ominous and sinister outlook. When the man recognizes Hester standing alone on the scaffold, "a writhing horror twisted itself across his features, like a snake gliding swiftly over them . . ." (57). The person who should ease Hester the most at this time, her husband, proves to make her feel uneasy and alone. To further emphasize the character’s contrary demeanor, Hawthorne dresses him in “heterogeneous garb”; He is dressed in “a strange disarray of civilized and savage costume” (56). Ultimately, Hawthorne anticipates that his audience will comprehend how unique and intricate the stranger is and consequently how he can further develop the story later on.

“The happiness of the wicked passes away like a torrent!” This quote from Jean Baptiste Racin summarizes The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne in one sentence. The novel’s main focus is on three main characters and how the sins they commit affect their lives in the strict Puritan town of Boston around the year 1642. Hawthorne was very knowledgeable of his Puritan ancestry and shows it by incorporating some important thoughts and traditions into this story about sin and confession. Throughout the novel, the physical, social, mental and emotional changes that result from sin in the lives of the characters are never positive and the outcome of their spiritual battles are not always good; but the author makes it perfectly clear to us that concealing sin is not wise.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a classic American novel that tells a story of Hester Prynne, a convicted adulterer, and her struggles in community that has condemned her a sinner for life. Hawthorne uses the harsh social conditions of an early American Puritan society to create a backdrop for his new type of progressive woman character, Hester Prynne. Throughout the novel Hawthorne uses Hester as a way to break the societal norms presented by Puritan ideals, as well as emphasize their hypocrisy, strictness, and female inferiority standards. Despite such strict social constructs, Hester Prynne is able to eventually find peace with her sins and herself, despite being an outsider from her community. Hawthorne does this to emphasize the shortcomings of this society, as well as, to create a strong female character that defies everything this society was about.

Hester haters being alone more than anything. She of course has Pearl, but every time she looks at Pearl she sees the sinful thing she did. She loves

Nan Lei in the critical article, “A Brief Study on the Symbolic Meaning of the Main Characters’ Name in The Scarlet Letter” (2015), suggests that Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to greatly enhance the importance of three of the main characters in his novel. Lei supports her suggestion by talking about the different ways in which each character’s name is symbolic, and how that directly correlates with their characteristics and their actions. Lei’s purpose is to elaborate on the depth of the main characters names in order to reveal to the reader how Hawthorne implicitly makes the characters very meaningful to the book as a whole. She establishes a knowledgeable and admiring tone towards readers of The Scarlet Letter. This article proved to be very effective in displaying and supporting the authors claim. I do agree with the author’s critique, and found that there were many strengths within this article that helped to make her paper more effective.

Hawthorne’s wilderness is exactly what its name implies: wild. It does not hold the same rules or laws that Puritan civilization does. Instead it presents a myriad of situations and emotions, which make it one of the most important symbols in The Scarlet Letter. However, there is a twist. It doesn’t just symbolize one thing, but two that are distinctly contrary to one another. The forest can be a place of true nature where a person is shown as who they are supposed to be, not who other people make them out to be. The forest can also be a place of uncovering the sin that lies beneath everyone’s mind. These purposes have one thing in common: the revelation of truths.

A letter can have many meanings. For example, an “X” often represents the location of a long lost treasure. Another example is the “S” on Superman’s which stands for hope. In The Scarlet Letter , by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is shamed, as the result of committing adultery, by wearing the letter “A” on her chest. She is chastised by her community and raises her daughter away from everyone else.

“All the world had frowned on her... and still she bore it all, nor ever once turned away from her firm, sad eyes. Heaven likewise had frowned upon her, and she had not died. But thus frown of this pale, weak, sinful, and sorrow stricken man was what hester could not bear and live!” (Hawthorne 233­234). Love is powerful. It can be all consuming, and even blinding to other aspects of life. People who are deeply in love can often be lead to prioritize their love above all else; they would do anything and everything to protect their love. Such is the case in Nathaniel Hawthorne 's T​he Scarlet Letter​with Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale. Hester is an extremely strong woman who has committed what is considered to be one of the worst sins in Puritan society: adultery. However, public knowledge of her sin only further accentuates her strength and independence. The public sees her support her daughter, give to the poor, offer counsel to the community, and transform her public image. The one thing that the public is not aware of is that their beloved Minister, Reverend Dimmesdale, is the father of her child. Hester is madly and desperately in love with Dimsdale, and subtly but effectively leads Dimsdale to eventually come forward as her lover and as the father of her child. Throughout the novel, and in two scenes in particular, Hester subtly nudges Dimsdale towards professing that he is the father of Pearl by both inflaming his guilt of his secrecy and cowardice as well as

What Hawthorne describes in the first chapter in detail is the prison that was built. Starts of by describing the prisoners inside the prison mixed of women and men wearing sad colored and gray garments, some wearing hoods others beheaded. The door of the prison was described as being in front edifice, being made of oak and having iron spikes and the prison door was described as antique. Where the prison is located now use to be a glass plot which consists of overgrown Burdock, pigweed poisonous apples. The prison had a wild rose- bush which as the prisoners went in the prison they can smell the sweet scent and as prisoners meant there last moments they would come across the rose bush And would think I committed a horrible crime how can nature

American author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, felt guilty about the intolerance of his Puritan ancestors, one of whom judged at the Salem witch trials. He utilized his passionate sentiments regarding Puritanism as an inspiration for his iconic literary work, The Scarlet Letter; in which he does not embrace but rather critiques Puritan ideology. Because Hawthorne has fathomed the Puritan community, he favors to provide a more in depth understanding of their customs. Though born into this extremist civilization, Hawthorne conveys the idea that Puritans are highly unjust and unaware of the damage they inflict on others. Puritanistic customs, such as social regulation and overwhelming judgement, are such traditions that would further justify Hawthorne’s reasons for ridiculing his prior community, as well as religious discrimination and hypocrisy. Hardly ever does Hawthorne befuddle the reader by taking these beliefs into account and he depicts Puritans as a people with irrational standards originally intended for religious and societal reform. Ironically, the morality of the strict community transcends due to the scarlet letter; however, this fictitious take on the transformation of the Puritans differentiates with reality. While Hawthorne seems to occasionally uphold the society throughout the novel, he continues to criticize the Puritan community for its severe hypocrisy, lack of privacy, and religious

In The Scarlet Letter, the perception of sin deviates from person to person. The deviation occurs on the severity of the sin that was committed and who committed the sin. Focusing on Hester and Dimmesdale, it is easy to compare the consequences of coping with the perception of their sins, on a private and a public level. The outcome of dealing with their sin is extremely different. The theme of morality affects Hester and Dimmesdale also. They have varying levels of morality and this changes during the course of the novel.

The first chapter of the scarlet letter is pretty descriptive but contains little to no action. However, it does set the pace for the things to come later in the letter. For now, a crowd of grey pilgrims stand outside one of the first things built in their Boston settlement. Their gaze is focused on a large wooden prison door. It looks like something straight out of medieval Europe’s dungeon system. Spikes and all, it was created to hold dangerous criminals. No matter how the founders of new colonies may feel, they will end up building a prison and a cemetery immediately. This is true because the Boston residents did it. Other than this drab scene, is the rose bush that grows next to the prison door. This is nature having pity on the

In life people tend to compare their actions to others going through the same thing. Doing this can give people a temporary sense of comfort knowing that they are not alone in their sin or wrongdoings. This action of comparing separates successful people and unsuccessful people. Those who achieve success don 't need to make excuses as they know it will get them nowhere, as people who don 't reach success make up reasons why they are this way. If people live out this lie they are becoming a victim, this mentality that they are average and no worse than others can actually make them bitter and unsuccessful. In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne a puritan society is plagued by hypocrisy and sin. The three main characters Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, and Arthur Dimmesdale are all endowed with a deep underlying sin. Out of the three Dimmesdale is the worst sinner in the town because he is a coward for not admitting his sin. Dimmesdale is not only the most complex character in the book but his way of self pity and guilt give a sense of confusion among the other characters.

“So, in the course of the novel, the ‘A’ seems to encompass the entire range of human beingness, from the earthly and passionate ‘adulteress’ to the pure and spiritual ‘angel,’ taking into account everything in between,” begins Claudia Durst Johnson (128). Many believe the A in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter possesses only one meaning - adulterer; however, Hawthorne imbues the symbolic letter with diverse definitions. In the novel, Hawthorne plainly details three significant changes in the connotation of the A. At first sight, it represents the sin of adultery and ostracizes Hester from society. After the outcast builds a reputation of charity and labor, the A transforms into ‘able’ and highlights the favorable qualities of Hester. Finally, the A appears in the night sky after the death of Governor Winthrop and becomes ‘angel’ to signify his passing. Though the surface text shows a change in the implication of the A, the letter primarily revolves around Hester. Some critics believe other characters develop the interpretation of the A as they come under its influence. In many accounts of semiotic criticism, experts may support this claim unknowingly or actively pursue proof of the characters’ abilities to don their own A’s - either literal or metaphorical - and support the meaning of the classic work. The prime example, Hester Prynne, models the ornate A of ‘adultery’ and ‘able’. In contrast, Arthur Dimmesdale conceals