Argument Against The Scarlett Letter

The Scarlet Letter Introduction The Scarlet Letter is a classic tale of sin, punishment, and revenge. It was written in 1850 by the famous American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. It documents the lives of three tragic characters, each of whom suffer greatly because of his or her sins. Shot Plot The story begins with Hester Prynne, a resident of a small Puritan community, being led from the town jailhouse to a public scaffold where she must stand for three hours as punishment for adultery. She must also wear a scarlet A on her dress for the rest of her life as part of her punishment. As she is led to the scaffold, many of the women in the crowd complain that

Society has unintentionally been guided by the same themes since the beginning of time. The recurring themes that are present in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic The Scarlet Letter are still relevant in today’s society. When high school students and teachers claim that Hawthorne’s novel is archaic and should be removed from the curriculum, they are absolutely wrong. Hester Prynne, the main character of the novel, commits adultery and as punishment, has to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her chest for everyone to see. Throughout the novel, Hester is faced with obstacles such as the struggle between self and society and the burden of publicly suffering for her sins. Despite a substantial amount of time having passed since Puritan times, the themes that Hester Prynne had to experience are still pertinent. Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, is driven mad by his incessant need for revenge and in society today there are many occasions where people are plagued with the desire to seek vengeance. There are some instances in life where human nature takes over without people even realizing and revenge is one of them. Also, people are right when they say “history repeats itself” because some of these themes never go away. The Scarlet Letter takes place in the strict religious time of the 1600’s and although the book seems outdated and obsolete, the ideas inside are still relevant and therefore high school students should continue to read this work

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.

Now that we see what happens when you don’t fit the mold of what society wants you to be and what rights you get striped away from you we go into the over kill and abuse they end up going through while being picked out of a group. For Hester it was more of an emotional abuse knowing every single turn she made she was being looked at and talked about. People would go around her to make sure they didn’t touch her, Hester's child was left out at school and shunned as the outcast because her mom loved someone else and couldn’t divorce her husband that was pure evil. Her mistress was also abused with the guilt that he felt for not having the courage to stand up and show he loved her and the child. He was to scared to show himself to his people,

Comparing Catherine Maria Sedgwick’s Hope Leslie or Early Times in Massachusetts and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlett Letter is interesting because at first glance both novels don’t appear to have much in common. However, despite obvious differences between both novels such as the character presentation of the female protagonists in Hope Leslie, who range from the free-spirited Hope Leslie, obedient Puritan Esther, and Magawisca as a noble but proud Native American contrasts with Hester Prynne’s presentation as a shamed but deeply contemplative woman in The Scarlett Letter. The different purposes all these characters each serve in their respective stories begins to show commonality in that Hope Leslie’s Hope, Esther, and Magawisca and The Scarlett Letter’s Hester Prynne all have to overcome the adversity and social expectations within their Puritan society so that they can do what they feel is right by relying on their feelings, intelligence, and inner strength. By examining how characters such as Hope Leslie and Hester Prynne overcome the challenges they face in their respective Puritan societies, it will be easier to discover how both novels presentations of their female protagonist illustrates the gender politics of each text.

The Scarlett letter has many themes throughout the story. One of the most important themes in the story that was emphasized greatly was sin. Sin is defined in Webster’s new world dictionary as, “any offense, fault, or the willful breaking of religious or moral law.” As human beings we are very likely to commit some type of sin. It is an obstacle that is very rarely avoided. In the story the townspeople didn’t discriminate, no sin was greater than the other. All sin was equal and with each sin there was a consequence.

men of altogether different qualities, and never murmur at the change. Literature, its exertions and objects, were now of little moment in my regard. I cared not at this period for books; they were apart from me. Nature—except it were human nature—the nature that is developed in earth and sky, was, in one sense, hidden from me; and all the imaginative delight wherewith it had been spiritualized passed away out of my mind. A gift, a faculty, if it had not been departed, was suspended and inanimate within me.

In the Scarlet Letter, Hester was punished for her sin, she had to wear the letter A on her chest. The A on her chest stood for Adultery, Hester had to stand in front of the town’s people where she was constantly judged by them. James 4:12 reads “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you--who are you to judge your neighbor”? The bible also states that whoever is without sin throw the first stone meaning that everyone sins. If the world had to wear their sin, people would be judgmental, compare or help others through their sin, asked for forgiveness yet still have to wear your sin lastly, if everyone had to wear their sin, the world would be a less secretive place.

Ashley’s mother explained to Billy that they’ve grow up in the same way with rules for everything and that’s why they all are very successful. Billy thinks she is very harsh with Ashley.

The Scarlett Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850. This novel holds the genre of a romantic piece portrayed through fiction, in a historical setting. It takes place in Boston Massachusetts in the middle of the 17th century. This book contains a numerous amount of symbolism, imagery, allegories, and allusions. Hawthorne introduces us to the prison first because he does not want us to get the idea that this book is going to be cheerful, someone is going to get shamed. Hester Prynne (main character) gets shamed in front of the whole town while displaying her scarlet letter “A” for adultery. During her conviction her husband (Robert Chillingworth) returns home after two years, and they have a tense meeting at the prison. Hester and

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in a strict Puritan family in Salem, Massachusetts in the year of 1804 on July 4th. His childhood was calm and isolated. A leg injury left him immobile for a time. After the death of his father, A SC captain, Hawthorne attended college at Bowdain College with the help of a wealthy uncle. His Puritan background and witness to religious persecution greatly affected his writings. Haunted by the Salem Witch Trials and the executions carried out with his uncles acting as judges, Hawthorne placed a w in his name to distance himself from the family.

The phrase, inherent contradictions, is some characteristically given traits that happen to contradict with others. In the case that Seabrook mentions, an example of this is that God created Hester to be a gorgeous woman, even though she is a terrible sinner. In fact, she is the most beautiful girl in the town, and yet she commits one of the most terrible crimes of that time. She was also supposed to wear the scarlet letter on her breast to be a symbol of shame and guilt, but instead, she makes it intricate and “ornate.” Evan Carton mentions that in almost every chapter, we see a different side of Hester. She has multiple sides that contradict with each other, and this has inspired so many writers after Hawthorne

On "The Scarlet Letter” theme, different scholars have a very different understanding of the conflict inside. Among the many comments, the most intriguing was undoubtedly the American critic professor Nina Baym’s view that “The Scarlet Letter” is a natural and social person depicted bifurcation novel. Nina Baym noted: ““The market “appears in this scene between the individual and society of individuals originally appeared consistent with an imagined differences, a fissure." [ 1 ] In fact, the whole novel, more or less reflects the contradictory nature of the individual between the individual and society. This conflict try to reach some kind of agreement within human nature during the development of the book, but finally ended in a blending state. The major conflict was presented by two different representative from the nature and society. Hester and her daughter Pearl represent on behalf of the nature, while Chillingworth and Dimondale despite their love rivalry represent the interests of a community which is the society.

Sin is present in everyone’s life and no human can escape its reach. In The Scarlett letter the main conflict is rooted in one sin between a man and a woman in colonial Massachusetts. The sin was adultery and there are several vital themes and symbols that stem from it. Sin controls and characterizes lives in so many ways that people do not realize. This is highlighted throughout The Scarlett Letter. Sin and revenge are symbolized by Pearl and nature in many instances throughout several different chapters.

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.