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Characters And Symbolism In The Scarlett Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Introduction The Scarlett Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850. The story is set in the 17th century Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony. It follows the hard circumstances of a young woman named Hester Prynne and her dealings with her own sin. She commits adultery while her husband is away and becomes pregnant with her daughter, Pearl. She is tried and is given the cruel punishment of wearing a scarlet letter “A” on her chest as a sign that she is an adulterer. Hester is the protagonist in the story. The antagonist happens to be her aliased husband, Roger Chillingworth, whom she has committed adultery against. The other crucial characters in the story include Pearl, Hester Prynne’s illegitimate daughter, and Reverend Dimmesdale, the man whom she committed adultery with. Each of these characters have symbolic value. Hester symbolizes the sinner who has a desire to change their own life. Roger Chillingworth represents the uncompassionate people of the town and the overall theme of revenge in the story. Pearl represents sin, but more specifically, the product of sin. Reverend Dimmesdale is symbolize the sinner who lives in concealed guilt. He acknowledges what he has done wrong, like Hester, but he cannot bear to reveal his iniquity. Another character, who acts as a sort of foil to the story’s plot is Governor Bellingham. Bellingham represents the law, and judgement of sin.
The Plot Hester Prynne commits adultery with the town’s reverend, Arthur Dimmesdale. When

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