Scarlet Letter Character Analysis

Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the ideology of Puritan society in the novel the Scarlet Letter; however reader also get to witness his characters being an illustration of hypocrisy and victims to their own guilt. In the Scarlet Letter, as in many of Hawthorne’s shorter works, he makes profuse use of the Puritan past: its odd exclusionary belief, its harsh code of ruling, its concern with sex and witchcraft. The Scarlet Letter is a story that is embellished but yet simple. Many readers may view this novel as a soap opera due to the way Hawthorne conveys this Puritan society’s sense of strictness and inability to express true emotion along with the secrecy and how deceiving the characters are being. As the story unfolds the main character Hester Prynne is bounded in marriage at an early age. She engages in an adulterous affair with an unknown member of their small village. Hester soon becomes pregnant and with her husband’s absence the chances of this child belonging to her husband are slim. The towns’ people know that she has committed a sin and imprisons her for her crime.

Many books revolve around one main symbol. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main symbol is the title of the book, the scarlet letter.  This symbol is focused on throughout the book and as the plot progresses, the meaning of the scarlet letter changes. The scarlet letter is not viewed the same by all the characters in the book, however. The view of this symbol by the villagers, Hester, Pearl, and the author are all different, and change throughout the book.

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

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a great piece of literature. It explores problems in society that still occur today. It is fascinating to see how the Puritans punished adultery then and the lack of punishment of adultery in our society now. It shows how all the characters affect Hester and what everyone does in the community. It shows that no one is exempt from any type of crime in that town. In Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, he analyzes the characters of Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale and Pearl.

The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne consist of many hidden literary aspects and devices to help convey a multitude of themes. Hawthorne introduces the lives of Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, and Arthur Dimmesdale as they find themselves in difficult situations full of right and wrong decisions. Hester, an adulterous forever marked with the scarlet letter ‘A’, is married to Chillingworth who makes it his duty to find and torture the man responsible for his wife’s infidelity, while Dimmesdale, the town's minister, has trouble revealing his own sin. Through the use of the literary devices diction and tone, Hawthorne presents the theme that the choices you make today, shape your life tomorrow in only either a positive or negative angle.

The spark flickers, then dies out, borne on lofty winds to extinction. The rocks strike again, and a flame leaps into the craggy logs, illuminating the faces of humanity’s ancestors. Humans have always changed, through the evolution of species, thoughts, and ideas. A significant change was wrought by the new immigrants to America, and as they settled in the budding New World. In many pieces of literature from this period, the change in American culture was reflected through the words of authors, often leaving clandestine clues to the nature of American society. Throughout the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the emergence of a new American belief system was represented by three of the main characters. Pearl, who was capricious and tempestuous, was synonymous with the flighty nature of immigrants to the new land. Dimmesdale, who demonstrated the trials of salvaging purity, showed the changing nature of religion, and Hester, the ever prideful, represented the struggles of governance within America. Hester’s little Pearl, born of sin and temptation, is representative of the hopeful immigrants into America. Though none of them knew it, their spirit and opportunities would lead them to defy authority and mark their own destinies, just as the young, impish child would grow to walk her own path towards choice. Hester, the mother of Pearl, is the ever watchful sentry. Her assimilation to the government and authority is blatant, as she tries to rein in a fleeting daughter, and

“ They have doomed Mistress Prynne to stand only a space of three hours on the platform of pillory, and then thereafter, for the remainder of her natural life, to wear a mark of shame upon her bosom.” (56)

In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Pearl Prynne embraces characteristics influenced by her adulterous mother, Hester. In the Puritan belief system, they enforced strict rules and commended harsh punishments. Pearl’s qualities are sparked by her mother’s reputation in the town due to her forbidden love affair. Pearl Prynne has encompassed the traits of being an outcast, causing mischief and rebellion while expressing curiosity and intelligence.

Nathaniel Hawthorne generates a female principle figure who acquires determination, bravery, and courage throughout The Scarlet Letter. Although some critics of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic piece consider the protagonist to be a heroine, others differ in their opinions. Nonetheless, Nathaniel Hawthorne clearly produced a dauntless, female icon through his character, Hester Prynne. Due to her choice to take full responsibility for the sin of adultery, as well as her decision to live a self-reliant lifestyle with her newborn, Pearl, Hester Prynne, in fact, possesses heroic traits.

Nathaniel Hawthorne published The Scarlet Letter in 1850, and it’s considered his most influential work. The gothic romance explores the themes of sin, Puritan legalism, and guilt, and incorporates a heavy use of symbolism. One of the most important symbols in the book, along with Pearl and the Black Man, is the scarlet letter donned by the story’s protagonist, Hester Prynne. In the very beginning of the book, the scarlet letter means that she is “Animal”, an inhuman creature to marvel at and ridicule as it stands upon the scaffold. In the early stages of the plot, the scarlet letter meant simply “Adulteress”, a cold reminder of her sin. As the story progresses, the letter she wears upon her bosom develops a second meaning equally central to Hester’s pain and development: “Alone.” Hester works diligently over the course of years to repent for her sin and improve her reputation, and her hard work and improved reputation gain her the title of “Able”, even though she’s still considered an impure sinner. At the end of the book, when Hester returns to Boston and becomes a trusted advisor and helper to the women of the

In the movie Easy A a cinematic film directed by Will Gluck is a comedy about a girl in high school whose social life completely changes because of a small lie that dominates her image. This rumor connects to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s the scarlet letter due to the fact that themes are drawn such as sin and redemption.

The scarlet letter draws in the townspeople. They approach it with a mixture of hatred and fascination. Similarly, they hate Pearl for being born out of sin, but they want to know more about her and how she acts. Hawthorne uses this comparison to convey that Pearl is the living representation of the scarlet letter. While they both exemplify Hester’s immorality, they are also both beautiful and captivating.

In chapter nineteen of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses a shift images with melancholic undertones in the beginning to multiple hope-filled images of Hester's life with Dimmesdale and Pearl. Hawthorne uses the tone shift to draw attention to the progression of not only the relationship between Hester and Dimmesdale and Hester's overall perception of herself and her past actions. Hawthorne employs the shift of diction and imagery to further illustrate how complex Hester's character is and supports his overall message to his readers that women are complex and therefore should not be susceptible to hasty generalizations and condemnation. As chapter nineteen progresses the scenery surrounding the family, becomes an indication of the acts proceeding

In D. H. Lawrence’s critical analysis “On The Scarlet Letter,” Lawrence critiques the portrayal of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s protagonist, Hester Prynne. Though many believe that Hester acts as a heroine in Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter,” Lawrence does not believe that Hester’s actions qualify her to receive the amount praise she is given. Lawrence uses literary techniques to effectively reason with his audience that the character Hester Prynne should not be highly regarded. The three literary devices most substantiate Lawrence’s analysis are his use of biblical allusions, a patronizing tone, and succinct syntax.

The end of the scarlet letter left us with some unanswered questions. Were they all forgiven? Were they reunited in heaven? Did they even get into heaven? Nobody knows except Hawthorne, the author, but that will never stop people from making theories and coming up with their own endings for the rest of the book. So let’s think about that first question more and come to a decision.