Analysis Of ' The ' From The Scarlet Letter '

In chapters 9-15 of The Scarlet Letter, the author decides to dedicate an entire chapter to each character. For example, on chapter 9, the chapter is dedicated to what happens with Roger. Roger becomes friends with Arthur Dimmesdale in chapter 9. Dimmesdale is sick, and he thinks Roger is kind and suspects nothing. But Roger, who is Arthur's personal physician, begins to suspect that Dimmesdale is hiding something from him. At this part of the book, we don't know what the author plans for Dimmesdale to hide, if he even is hiding anything at all.

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 Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne makes use of an abundance of symbols and correlating themes to reinforce and communicate his message. Chillingworth has his own symbols and can be connected to others as well. Chillingsworth’s name and physical description both

Unlike Hester’s sin of adultery, which she redeemed through charitable and amicable behavior, Chillingworth’s misdeed is one of malice and remains largely unredeemed at the end of The Scarlet Letter. At the beginning of the novel, Chillingworth makes a point of befriending Dimmesdale only so that he may gradually siphon away the minister’s liveliness and vigor, a phenomenon that Hawthorne alludes to by comparing Chillingworth to a blood-sucking leech. As his hatred develops further, Chillingworth “[grows] emaciated, his voice… [becoming] a certain melancholy prophecy of decay” (9). This consequence of Chillingworth’s spite, which haunts him physically so that he becomes a gaunter, more harrowed and wretched version of himself, becomes increasingly

        Chillingworth and his connection to the scarlet letter may be the worst of all in the Puritan community. He, in some way, is always identified as the devil’s missionary or the devil himself, this trait shown from the moment he finds the wound on Dimmesdale’s bosom. “But what distinguished the physician’s ecstasy from Satan’s was the trait of wonder in it” (126). Pearl sees him first as a devilish figure; then, before him and Hester’s last confrontation before her confessing to Dimmesdale who he is, she sees him in the form of a satanic figure, a bat. “Chillingworth’s character displays the evilness of heart, if there is heart in him” (Ryskamp). His deformity of body finally represents a deformity of character which heart and soul play little part. His “A” could also stand for alchemist or artist, since he is both. His art, contrasting much from Hester’s creative art, is black art or black magic. In the end, though, bent over on the ground, he looks more along the lines of a snake than he does a human.

However, as the story continues, Chillingworth experiences a substantial transformation as his bright minded and non-violent character began shifting to a darker spirit. After it was so clear to Chillingworth about Hester’s unfaithfulness, he began to develop the feeling towards vengeance against Dimmesdale, the man Hester had the affair with. The theme revenge in the novel is when the character Chillingworth truly depicted an obscure persona with his violent actions of attempting to murder reverend Dimmesdale several times. The ultimate desire of damaging Dimmesdale’s reputation became Chillingworth’s main focus and it completely changed his respect for others and his ability to make rational choices. His change from representing a morally intelligent man internally to developing a depraved personality was effectively demonstrated when Chillingworth used medical expertise and practices for attempting to poison Dimmesdale and manipulate him to confess the crime he felt guilty about. Hawthorne also manages to use imagery to portray Chillingworth’s transformation to an evil

However, it is true that he plays a role in the sufferings of Hester and Dimmesdale. But what or who made Chillingworth transform from a man “thoughtful of others, craving little for himself” into the devilish he is known to be (156)? That of course is no other than Dimmesdale. After all, Dimmesdale was the man that slept with his wife during his absence. And the fact that Dimmesdale made Hester promise to conceal his identity only further provoked Chillingworth. He lived by the vow: Dimmesdale “shall be mine” (68). It was this newfound obsession on revenge that made his “dark complexion” grow duskier and “his figure more misshapen” (101). Furthermore, when Hester asks him why he does not torture her, he responds, “I have left thee to the scarlet letter” (156). Chillingworth acknowledges the pain the scarlet letter inflicts to Hester. Dimmesdale, however, constantly believes that his own suffering is greater than the pain associated with the letter, making him both stubborn and heartless. Although Chillingworth aches for the misery of others, Dimmesdale’s self-obsession, selfishness, and self-pity causes more damage to others than all of the manipulative plans of Chillingworth combined. Without a doubt, Arthur Dimmesdale is the biggest schmuck in 19th century

What influences an author to write a novel? Many authors have used their personal experiences and ancestral backgrounds to influence the plot and events in their novel, to develop themes and relationships. The events in an author’s life affect the style and content of their literary works, which is expressed throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Pearl being an outcast from the rigid Puritan morals, and Hester's being independent and strong-willed challenges traditional society. These aspects all mirror the author's emotions and hardships of his early life through the literary element of characterization. Through the analysis of the main characters Hester and Pearl, we see how The Scarlet Letter is a reflection of Hawthorne's

The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a novel that takes place in the town of Boston, Massachusetts in 1642. Hester Prynne, the main character of the story, commits the sin of adultery. Because of this sin, she is "blessed" with a child named Pearl. Her punishment is to wear a scarlet letter “A" on her chest for the rest of her life, which affects the way the townspeople look and act around her. Also, she must stand on the scaffold in the town for three hours for the whole town to recognize her grave sins. The man who should be standing upon the scaffold along with her and Pearl is the town minister, Dimmesdale. He is presented as a weak character because of his fear of losing his beloved reputation as such a holy

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

After Hester is released from prison Hawthorne leaves us wondering if her choice to stay in Boston was even a choice she could make. Chapter five opens with Hester coming into the light and leaving the cell in which she had been punished in for so long. However, once she is out, she decides to stay in Massachusetts, in the same community which has shamed her for so long. Hawthorne describes the decision when he writes, “it may seem marvelous, that this woman should still call that place her home… But there is a fatality… which almost invariably compels human beings to linger … the spot where some great and marked event has given the color to their lifetime” (71). In this quote Hawthorne is not only speaking of Hester, he is speaking of

“Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted for too long a series of generations in the same worn-out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth.” (23)-Nameless narrator’s narration

“Women belong in the kitchen.” “All women should be barefoot and pregnant.” “Women are strictly homemakers.” These are a few of the commonly used phrases regarding the female role in society that date back to the mid-seventeenth century. However, ardent supporters of gender equality have surfaced in almost every culture where this ideology is practiced. Nathaniel Hawthorne explores this inveterate societal conflict through his story The Scarlet Letter. The main character, Hester Prynne, is punished for committing adultery by being forced to wear a scarlet letter upon her bosom; Hawthorne created a story sympathetic to the female cause and demonstrated, through Hester, qualities of early feminism that later establish themselves during his

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.