Literary Analysis Of ' Scarlet O ' Hara

When we think of women writers today we see successful, gifted and talented women. Although these women writers have been established for sometime their status of contributions to society has only been recognized way too late. During the late romantic/early realism period numerous women found success in writing despite the fact that they may have encountered numerous obstacles in their path. The characters these women wrote about almost have a kinship with themselves bringing out certain personality traits not seen written about women before. From these traits a voice emerges in literature that has been hidden from the public view. This new true voice of female self-discovery finally comes out for the public to see in

In a novel that revolves almost solely around sin, the consequences of said sin, and redemption, there is no greater sin than that of revenge. No character in The Scarlet Letter is free of sin, but all gain some sort of redemption, save one Roger Chillingworth, who is arguably the greatest sinner of them all. Hester Prynne may have committed adultery, and Arthur Dimmesdale may have also committed adultery with Hester (as a priest, no less), but sins of passion are not the same as sins of vengeance and anger. These sins of revenge and madness are what Chillingworth is guilty of, ultimately making him the worst sinner in the entire book.

The 1960’s were an era in the United States where new ideas were developing, and more specifically ideas pertaining to the civil rights movement and its expansion. Protests, parades, and riots were occurring in an attempt to spread freedom for all people, and as some of these events became relevant in the news, the tensions of the country rose. Violence was occurring in many parts of the country due to the ideas of these who were not receiving the freedom that they believed were entitled to them. In the book Little Scarlet by Walter Mosley, Easy Rawlins returns to solve a mystery set amid the devastating Los Angeles riots. I will carefully analyze 3 characters from

In chapter 16, how does Pearl show that she is different from the rest of the citizens of the community?

What Does the construction and furnishing of Governor Bellingham’s Mansion reveal about the Governor and Puritan culture?

Fictional women written by men seem to possess the extraordinary ability of not existing in the real world. As Virginia Woolf pointed out, "Indeed, if woman had no existence save in the fiction written by men, one would imagine her a person of the utmost importance; very various; heroic and mean; splendid and sordid; infinitely beautiful and hideous in the extreme; as great as a man, some think even greater." This phenomenon has been occurring ever since men could write about anything. The representation of women in literature has certainly been skewed towards a man's fantasy, but recently that has changed. More and more female characters have started to model real strong woman with real life problems. No longer are they Wonder Woman but people just like us.

For the most part, society’s conception of women in the 19th century influenced the portrayal of female characters in writing generated during that time. The Cult of Domesticity claimed that true womanhood was marked by a natural inclination to domesticity and submissiveness. All women were thought to be weak, and writers often wrote off their female characters succumbing to their “natural” weakness by death or suicide, a result of their inability to handle life’s trials and tribulations.

Her book states these issues clearly and, as women’s appearances are often a core aspect of their portrayals in popular culture, such discussions are incredibly relevant to both real women and fictional characters. In many situations, women are perceived based on their worth in motherhood, domesticity, and passivity. Although the women’s movement have made much progress, Wolf states that “after the success of the women’s movement’s second wave, the beauty myth was perfected to checkmate power at every level in individual women’s lives” (125). The beauty myth, or the idea that women should conform to typical ideas of beauty to achieve their own self-worth, turned women into “…a dark vein of self-hatred, physical obsessions, terror of aging, and dread of lost control” (Wolf 120). With all of these pressures to conform and the associated issues that are placed on women to identify with these standards, even with all the other benefits of the women’s movement, women still had to “…remain vulnerable to outside approval…” (122). The problem has grown so widespread that it did not just hold up the powers

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.

Over the last thirty decades, women have come secondary to the male population. American women have since sought to challenge and change this standard. We are tired of the oppression and mistreatment! Slowly but surely, women have strived to take a stand against prejudice and embrace the values of American freedom and equality. Even though women’s rights have progressed, we have yet to be treated as equal to the American male, especially in literature.

From the very first chapter, the Scarlet Letter guides readers on a journey that explores the darkness of the human heart and redemption from sin. It is in the Massachusetts Bay Colony that we introduced to a trio of characters interconnected by their sins: an adulteress, a minister and a physician. The adulteress is a woman named Hester Prynne who, as punishment for her transgressions, must wear a scarlet "A" on chest and is shunned by her community. Yet, Hester 's eventual acceptance of her sin allows her to embrace her new role in society. The only light in her life, and at times the source of her despair, is her daughter Pearl. Born from the act of adultery, Pearl serves as symbol passion and human nature throughout the Scarlet Letter. Minister Arnold Dimmesdale, a spineless and cowardly man, is seen by the general population as a holy saint. Unbeknownst to the town, Dimmesdale was Hester 's lover and Pearl 's father. It is only though Hester 's encouragement and his imminent death that Dimmesdale finally finds the courage to publicly claim his sin. Seething with a desire for revenge, we have the physician and Hester 's absent husband known to the reader as Roger Chillingworth. After traveling in search for knowledge, Chillingworth returns to the colony to discover his wife 's unfaithfulness. His dream of a family soiled by adultery, Chillingworth 's quest for revenge fuels his search for Hester 's lover and his deteriorating appearance. As readers progresses

I empathize most with Reverend Dimmesdale. He had to live with the secret of his sin

Martin Luther King Junior, the American pastor, humanitarian, activist and leader in the African- American Civil Rights Movements, once said, “Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, "Love your enemies." It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals.” This memorable statement that has echoed throughout history expresses the idea that facing problems and loving those who are the source of them is the way to redemption. In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a Puritan woman named Hester Prynne commits the crime of adultery with the reverend of the town and bears a child from this unlawful union. Hester faces punishment in the form of a large scarlet letter “A” that she must wear upon her bosom so that all may know the sin of infidelity she has committed. In The Scarlet Letter, the evolvement and fate of the character of Hester Prynne demonstrates that redemption can be gained for those who face their wrongdoings. In making the decision to accept her punishment instead of running away from it and loving those who persecuted and made an outcast out of her, Hester was able to gain the admiration of the community and overcome the shame that she held in her heart.

Whilst it would seem at face value that the portrayal of a strong female heroine is empowering for all women in a society of unequal gendered stereotypes, the explanations as to why the female heroine is so strong, seems only to be justified through motivation instead of ‘natural’ strength. To many theorists this motivation can only be explained through a woman’s maternal instincts, or a female link to the power and dominance projected by men which is portrayed through a female’s identification with herself and the ‘lack’, leading to a sense of heightened power through the phallic. In this essay I will be analysing whether a heroine is personally empowered through self-determination as a strong women, or instead motivated by external situations such as maternal instincts, or problems associated with gender differences.

The Scarlet Letter is a book complete of secrets and deceptions. The book teaches you about the difference about telling the truth or keeping it a secret. It shows you the challenges of both telling the truth and keeping a secret from everyone. There are many vital scenes throughout the book. With many of the scenes, if they weren’t in the book it would have had a completely different ending. The Scarlet Letter is a book full of eventful scenes that keep the book both exciting and interesting.