Scarlet Letter Passion

As the book opens, Hester is brought forth from the jail and walked to the scaffold. For the first time being seen in public named an adulterer, Hester shies from the public as they mock her. However, "She never battled with the public, but submitted uncomplainingly to its worst usage; she made no claim upon it, in requital for what she suffered; she did not weight upon its sympathies." (Hawthorne 140). Soon, it did not matter what other people thought of Hester because of her sin. She chose not to live with the humiliation, but she did have to live with herself.

In the nineteenth century novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes different origins of allusions and archetypes to emphasize how individuals in order to encourage individuals to forgive sins and work towards redemption.

During the mother’s shameful walk through the marketplace, no one ceased to spit foul remarks or pass their judgment on Hester and her newly born daughter: “’What do we talk of marks and brands, whether on the bodice of her gown, or the flesh of her forehead?’ cried another female, the ugliest as well as the most pitiless of these self-constituted judges. ‘This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die’” (Hawthorne 49). Even when walking amongst women just like herself, Hester cannot escape the vicious torments of others. She is being unrightfully ostracized for having sexual desires, while her husband was gone for a long period of time. The people of this community even go as far as to threaten her with death because they feel no woman should have normal sexual desires, and if a woman does, she should be ruthlessly punished. However, when Dimmesdale reveals himself as the other sinner, people are quick to question this claim or make excuses for the reverend. After the clergyman announces his sin, the community takes several days to process their ignorant judgments, when they were so quick to criticize a woman’s sin. Townspeople even created myths to defend the Reverend’s

Nathaniel Hawthorne's bold novel, The Scarlet Letter, revolves around sin and punishment.  The main characters of the novel sharply contrast each other in the way they react to the sin that has been committed

Religion had a powerful impact on Puritans lives. Many Puritan people had faith in a supreme being, God, and the teachings of his Divine Son, Jesus Christ. They’d assume that if you weren’t a good Christian they would suffer in hell, but if you were one would be saved by god. An example would be in the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” the speaker strongly describes about how being a bad Christian has its consequences and the good things that come of being a good Christian. “Many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.”(152)This explains how they had a strong feeling towards god’s ways. By being concerned about their religious life and being good Christians.

In the world today, themes and symbolisms have played a major role in the development and presentation of past and present novels. These themes and symbolisms within a novel shape the overall story and often work hand in hand to convey its purpose and meaning. One such novel would include The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne; in this story, along with all his others, he has incorporated his three predominant, driving themes: sin, hypocrisy, and corruption. In The Scarlet Letter,

The novel, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne is an intriguing account of a Puritan community that experiences a breakdown in beliefs. The story deals with a woman, Hester, who commits adultery with a Calvinistic minister resulting in the birth of a child (Martin 110). As compensation for her crime of passion and her refusal to name her lover, Hester is sentenced to wear an embroidered scarlet letter on her bosom. It is this letter, or secret sin, that becomes the emphasis of the novel and assumes many different roles (Martin 111). Hawthorne starts the novel by portraying the literary reality associated with the different aspects of the letter

They end up making choices that affect and even take a toll on them later in life. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a gritty representation of humanities battle between good and evil, where evil prevails. One of the hardest battles between the good and bad, of humanity,

Nathaniel Hawthorne, the great romantic novelist of the nineteenth century, is one of the founders of American literature. Influenced by time periods, social background, family origin, and life experiences, his novels reflect a strong flavor of Puritan ideology. In his novel “The Scarlet Letter” for example, is a tragic love story that takes place in a strict Puritan society. Hester Prynne, a woman whose reputation is now forever sullied, is given a punishment to wear a scarlet letter on her chest to constantly remind her of her sin. Her significant other, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, feels constant guilt of his sin throughout the novel as well, due to the fact that Hester is solely punished and becomes an outcast, rather than them both.

In Hawthorne's’, The Scarlet Letter, the main topic is sin. Every character in the novel commits a form of sin. However, the results and effects are different for each character. As William Shakespeare once said, “Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.” Hawthorne shows the meaning of this quote through each character's reaction towards sin.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book, The Scarlet Letter, society is a big influence on the plot and the development of its characters. Society’s view and reaction toward sin greatly affects characters and the plot.

The Scarlet Letter is a dark romance between an adulterer, the minister of her church, and her estranged husband. One character’s heart becomes lost, another’s heart aches to reveal the truth, and the third character’s heart becomes darkened by diabolical intent. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne uses the symbols of light and dark to depict good and evil among the characters Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth.

The situation of Hester and Dimmesdale takes us back to the story of Adam and Eve because in both the cases the sin committed by the characters results in endless suffering. The puritan society viewed sin as a threat to the community that should be punished and overpowered. The puritan’s answer towards Hester’s sin was to exclude and neglect her from the society.. Although Hester is the major character, in the novel we don’t see so much of her characterization but only at the end as a result of the hardships that Hester had to go through, we could see Hester being portrayed as a very strong, independent and a brave person at the end of the story. Hester also becomes a kind of compassionate motherly figure as a result of her experiences. Hester controls her tendency to be impulsive for she knows that such behavior could cause her to lose her daughter, pearl. Hester cares for the poor and helps them as much as she can by giving the food and clothing. We can see her character evolving where she changes the meaning of “Adultery” to “Able”, totally contrasting the word ‘Adultery’. Able is a strong word that has evolved from Adultery that initially meant social stigma and disrespect. However Able describes her to be a woman who is capable, independent and

Looking at Hester’s time spend alone in Boston, we can assume that she acted upon her deepest most-inner longing for passion and sexual desire for another human being; it could be possible that Hester was tempted into the bed of another man, but readers are not given that information. We can look at this act as lust, the first of the deadly sins. Hester lives her life in the puritan religion of simplicity and purification of the human

This is where their role of religious freedom started occurring; they started bring the concept of Calvinism into their practices which basically was the idea of predestination, only god knows the individuals’ destiny. There was “nothing a person did in his or her lifetime could alter god’s choice or provide assurance that the person was predestined for salvation with the elect or damned to hell with the doomed multitude.” (Roark, 81) For example this concept means that no matter how long you walked through the religiously correct pathway, always attended church, and was always a good person, if god decided you were going to hell that is where you went regardless of your efforts. However, if you did walk the right way the Puritans thought that was a sign that “he or she was one of god’s chosen few” (Roark, 81) and you were worthy of a membership with the church, although It was a law to attend church, they limited individual’s memberships. To be accepted, you would have to publicly testify and convince the public and if so, you were accepted and then expected to live holy