Examples Of Hyperbole In On The Scarlet Letter

Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale dealt with their sin in different ways due to their personalities, their positions in society, and their ability to hide their crime. Hester and Dimmesdale’s differing personalities were one reason why they dealt with guilt differently. Hester, like her daughter was rather passionate, bold, and prideful. Hawthorne characterizes Hester through her daughter (6-83). This quote portrays Hester to have a gloom and temper.

In his essay “On the Scarlet Letter,” D.H. Lawrence criticizes Hester’s immoral behavior for her adulterous actions. Lawrence views her as a shameful member of Puritan society and centers his argument on her sin and its effects on the story’s plot. D.H. Lawrence’s use of different literary techniques strengthens his claim that Hester is not the heroine through his sarcastic tone, abrupt syntax, and biblical allusions.

To begin with, Hester’s sin drove the story, but after the community established her as a sinner, she overcame her sins but she still struggled through other characters. Instead of depicting Hester’s inner turmoil directly to Hester, Hawthorne portrays her tumult through other characters in her life such as Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and the community. Dimmesdale proclaimed to Hester, “If thou feelest it to be for thy soul’s peace, and that thy earthly punishment will thereby be made more effectual to salvation, I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and

In his work “On the Scarlet Letter,” D.H. Lawrence addresses the controversial character of Hester Prynne. He is just one of many critics who have analyzed Nathaniel Hawthorne’s fictional character, where some look to her as a hero and others blatantly shame her for her sin. Lawrence makes up the latter of this crowd, and is able to prove his case in a very meaningful manner. The critic believes that Hawthorne sugarcoats Hester’s image, and tries to make it look as if she is the victim of the tale. Disregarding this sympathy, he addresses the root cause of her sin rather than its consequences. As he writes, he uses a multitude of literary techniques to help convince readers of Hester’s seemingly evil character, using descriptive diction, a

D.H. Lawrence, an English novelist and playwright, criticizes Nathaniel Hawthorne’s characterization of his protagonist, Hester Prynne, in his novel Scarlet Letter. Lawrence uses direct syntax, a critical tone and relative allusions to convince his readers that Nathaniel Hawthorne was wrong in idolizing his character, Hester Prynne.

Him saying that the judgement of god on him expresses that he is dealing with a lot of pressure and that anything he does can affect his persona. Also in chapter 17 Dimmesdale divulges a statement about Hester “Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret! Thou little knowest what a relief it is, after the torment of a seven years’ cheat, to look into an eye that recognizes me for what I am!”. (p. 133 CH 17) Stage 5.

Hester Prynne, protagonist made by Nathaniel Hawthorne in his novel The Scarlet Letter, is a female seductress. Not only does she seduce the town, but even the reader into pitying her situation as it unfolds. In D.H. Lawrence’s article “On the Scarlet Letter,” he proves this most effectively through praising diction, repetition, and biblical allusions.

1. Hester Prynne is portrayed as a Christ figure in The Scarlet Letter. She displays self-sacrifice, saintlike features, and exemplifies some biblical teachings throughout the book. The first, which is self-sacrifice, is shown when Hester is standing on the scaffold in front of the whole town and will not uncover the other participant in the adultery. Reverend Wilson questions her of this man that helped commit this crime, “Speak out thy name! That, and thy repentance, may avail to take the scarlet letter off thy breast” (60), with the attempt to bribe her by promising the possible removal of the scarlet A. She refuses to sell out her secret lover with the responses “Never” and “I will not speak!” (60) but the young clergyman keeps questioning Hester. She is willing to take the fall for the both of them and stand up there with the humiliation of their actions. “It is too deeply branded. Ye cannot take it off. And would that I might endure his agony, as well as mine!” (60). This reinforces her firmness in protecting Dimmesdale and from completely razing his name as a minister by telling the public. She is willing to endure the ignominy from the public without exposing him, which is an example of self-sacrifice. With saying that, Hester is like Jesus Christ because he was crucified for our sins as a form of self-sacrifice so we could have eternal life and go to Heaven. Hester's actions for Dimmesdale caused her much more agony and humiliation by the public because of the

While Hester is scrutinized by the public for her role in the affair and haunted with a scarlet letter to adorn her breast, Dimmesdale is not punished at all since he does not reveal his part in the affair. This plunges Dimmesdale into a spiral of guilt and suffering that confirms that he is less faithful than his own lover Hester, although he is a religious figure in the community and she is seen as a repulsive sinner. The first time that the reader can see that Hester is more faithful than Arthur Dimmesdale occurs towards the beginning of the text, when she selflessly bears the whole weight of the affair while Dimmesdale selfishly owns up to none of the consequences. At this point in the plot, Hester is penalized for contradicting one of the the ten commandments and forced to wear a flaming scarlet letter to represent her status as an adulteress. Hester dons this letter while standing on tall scaffolding; confronting the glares of her repulsed peers who viewed her with extreme contempt.

Hester had even acquired a great reverence with the community later on and the letter that laid on her breast had changed meaning from ‘adultery’ to ‘able’. With Dimmesdale having kept his sins secret he feared and tortured himself daily about what he had done and wasn’t really able to make up for this. Dimmesdale also believed that there is no way that they could forgive him for having kept quiet about what he had done for so long. Hester struggles with Dimmesdale and tries to get him to realize that it hurts so much more to keep crimes buried with a calm

Hester Prynne from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a character who garners praise and criticism alike, but literary critic D.H. Lawrence, in particular, denounces Hawthorne’s portrayal of this character in his critique, “On the Scarlet Letter.” Contrasting with Hawthorne’s positive take on Hester as a heroine, Lawrence contends that she is a character of sin and is deserving of condemnation. In his essay, “On The Scarlet Letter,” Lawrence critiques the way Hester Prynne is depicted through terse syntax, scriptural allusions, and satirical tone.

Although ironically it is her own partner in crime, the Reverend Dimmesdale, questioning her to admit her fellow sinner’s identity, she refuses to do so. Hester does this as Dimmesdale alone will not go up on the scaffold and stand by her and Pearl without being forced to; she does not want to submit to the Puritan men who she sees as hypocritical. Hawthorne continues to identify Hester with distinct feminist characteristics throughout the novel.  Second, in The Scarlet Letter,” Hester possesses female qualities of a feminist because she goes out of her way to warn Dimmesdale about Chillingworth’s true identity while in the forest and uses the setting to take off the scarlet letter. After revealing the physician’s identity and intentions the couple reconciles and plan to run away. Hester not wanting “look back” at their troubled past takes down the scarlet letter from her bosom.

Rahul A. Paul Mrs. Williams AP English III 19 September 2015 Rhetorical Analysis of The Scarlet Letter In chapter three (“The Recognition”) of The Scarlet Letter, Hester is punished publicly for committing adultery. Dimmesdale, a revered minister, tried to convince Hester to reveal who has committed the crime with her through the use of rhetorical strategies such as ethos, logos, pathos, and concessions. In the story, Dimmesdale’s claim was that Hester should disclose the name of her fellow- sinner so that she will have less spiritual burden.

By revealing this small, hidden regret, he exposes Hester’s tortured state of mind. Unable to reach salvation in the town she desired to live in, she regretfully decided to leave and abandon her sorrows. The burden society placed on her with the scarlet letter was too demanding for her to handle any longer. Similarly, Arthur Dimmesdale was distressed from his ignominy. Afraid of societal repercussions, Dimmesdale had been “overcome with a great horror of mind, as if the universe were gazing at a scarlet token on his naked breast” (102). Society’s extensive honor toward him exacerbated his pain, thus causing society to trap Dimmesdale; this prevented him from revealing his dark secret and reaching salvation. Additionally, he began to picture his surroundings as an obstacle designed to hinder his path to redemption. His shortcoming to reach salvation agonized Dimmesdale to the point where he was incapable of recalling “[any] text of Scripture, nor aught else, except a brief, pithy, and, as it then appeared to him, unanswerable argument against the immorality of

While Hester is a feminist, not only does she share the ideals but shows superiority to the town while being fearless. " It may seem marvelous, that this woman should still call that place her home, where, and where only, she must needs be the type of shame.” (chapter 5, paragraph 2) Hester does not let the shame and remorse of the sin keep her away from the town like most would do. Hawthorne even states that Dimmesdale is weaker than Hester by punishing himself and holding his heart while Hester embraces the sin and is strong while carrying the letter on her chest. She leads a self-righteous life, although she could keep what she earns, she gives most away. Even the townsfolk say Hester is "so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicted."(chapter 13, paragraph 5) Hester can be seen over the townspeople helping them although they shamed her. Hawthorne presents that Hester’s “tendency of her fate and fortunes had been to set her free.” (chapter 18, paragraph 2) With this Hester has a “radiant and tender smile, that seemed gushing from the very heart of womanhood. (chapter 18, paragraph 12) These quotes from Hawthorne show that Hester’s kindness helps her overcome her sin on her own. With Hester’s contribution to the town, “Her handiwork became what would now be termed the fashion.” (chapter 5, paragraph 6) In his research, Sacvan Bercovitch remarks that “Hester Prynne ‘builds upon the tradition of the biblical Esther -