Scarlet Letter Response

Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his bold novel, The Scarlet Letter tackles a variety of themes that include: sin, guilt, redemption, postfeminism, and organized religion's abuse of power. Hawthorne spoke in a somber and grim tone, designed to arouse a sense of suspense for his readers. The audience in which he was addressing would have been conservative Christians and women suffragettes, all of whom reflected the ideologies during this time period. By instilling clever diction, Hawthorne exposes hypocrisy in Puritanism and objects against the religion's superfluous punishments; which force individuals to endure unnecessary and extreme suffering.

The first form of racism that is analyzed by the writer is discrimination. black people often experience several forms of discrimination. Discrimination is negative treatment toward inferior races which is given irrationally and causes a harm full impact for them. Through this statement, Hester indirectly shows us the form of discrimination toward African-American as follows:

The Scarlet Letter is a well known novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The novel is composed and written in Salem and Concord, as well as Boston, Massachusetts in the late 1840's. The narrator of the novel is in an omniscent state, meaning he knows more about the characters than the characters know about themselves. Although the narrartor is omniscent, he also makes sure to include his ideas and opinions on situations, making him also greatly subjective. Being subjective, as well as omniscent, historical fiction along with a story displaying constant symbolism is evident.

The doctrine of Primitivism, which declares people closer to nature as more noble and pure, can be used to analyze chapter 18 of The Scarlet Letter in a manner that paints a reborn Hester and Dimmesdale, being in the forest, as more noble and pure than that of their society of developed Puritans. Hester Prynne, being in the wilderness, throws off the stigmatic letter sewn upon her by her peers: “So speaking, she undid the clasp that fastened the scarlet letter, and, taking it from her bosom, threw it to a distance among the withered leaves”. The scarlet letter symbolizes her place in Puritan society, being an adulterer. The Puritans, being firm believers in predestination, never allowed Hester to truly flourish and live, and instead,

The Scarlet Letter Introduction The Scarlet Letter is a classic tale of sin, punishment, and revenge. It was written in 1850 by the famous American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. It documents the lives of three tragic characters, each of whom suffer greatly because of his or her sins. Shot Plot The story begins with Hester Prynne, a resident of a small Puritan community, being led from the town jailhouse to a public scaffold where she must stand for three hours as punishment for adultery. She must also wear a scarlet A on her dress for the rest of her life as part of her punishment. As she is led to the scaffold, many of the women in the crowd complain that

Making choices that feel good in the moment that you’ll regret later is a huge part of the human experience. How we deal with aftermath is the ultimate test of our character. In the story The Scarlet Letter, By Nathaniel Hawthorne, the protagonist makes an important decision that affects her life greatly. The word “choice” suggests that one has the ability to decide on what their next action might be. Hester Prynne married a man who she knew was financially secure but not attractive physically. While he was away, Hester had an affair which resulted in her becoming pregnant. The puritans hold very strict beliefs and follow the word of God quite literally from the bible. Since its very hard to conceal a pregnancy the puritans were able to do

During the 17th century, a Puritan commonwealth presided over Boston and was known for its strict adherence to religious, moral and social codes. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes rhetorical strategies in order to denounce the Puritan system of beliefs and bring to light the hypocrisy of the Puritan community as he tells the agonizing story of a young woman who was condemned by society.

Ch 5 1) Hester’s life is going as well as can possibly be while being the town’s pariah. The community treats her horribly, making her a symbol of sinful passion and frailty, while also scorning her whenever she comes in town. 2) On Page 82, Hawthorne writes: “She was patient-a martyr, indeed- but she forbore to pray for her enemies, lest, in spite of her forgiving aspirations, the words of the blessing should stubbornly twist themselves into a curse.” This shows that despite being a forgiving person, Hester does not trust herself to pray for the people in town due to her resentfulness towards them may end up ruining the prayer.

This strictly focuses on the author, instead of a crowd or a room. An experience that is especially notable is the discovery of the scarlet letter. We witness an unbiased man who is unaware of the situation taking note of the letter and it has a strange effect on the reader in that the reader hasn't thought of it without bias. The author explains in regards to the letter " it had been wrought with wonderful skill of needlework and the stitch gives evidence of a forgotten art" (Hawthorne, 296). Starting this book with little background other than the letter means adultery and sex and seeing it described out of context as beautiful and skillful creates a new tone to the rest of the story; it causes the reader to be more open to true symbolism of what the letter actually means. The author's main attitude towards the Puritans are they are hearty God fearing people. He describes them as ruddy, broad, and well developed unlike Hester whom he describes as elegant, ladylike, and feminine (Hawthorne, 4 and 7). This immediately creates a divide between Hester and the Puritan women and also casts Hester as an outsider. This is because she doesn't fit within the majority of women

Hawthorne’s work takes America’s Puritan past as its subject, but The Scarlet Letter uses the material to the greatest effect. The Puritans were

Written in 1850, The Scarlet Letter stood as a very progressive book. With new ideas about women, main characters’ stories intertwined, and many different themes, The Scarlet Letter remains today as a extremely popular novel about 17th century Boston, Massachusetts. Not only was the 19th century a time for the abolition of slavery movement but it was also the beginning of the first wave of feminism. Women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucretia Mott catalyzed the women’s rights movement. These prominent women believed that a woman’s role was no longer in the house and that women should be afforded the same opportunity as men. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s sympathy for women is evident in a feminist reading of his novel

In the stories of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the antagonist characters display parallel story lines through their searches for the enemy. Roger Chillingworth, the former husband of Hester Prynne and the antagonist of The Scarlet Letter, works against his wife in order to find her untold second lover. Frankenstein is a contrasting story in which an unnamed monster is the antagonist towards his human creator, Dr. Frankenstein. Yet despite quite different story lines, the two characters possess traits that exibit parallels between them. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth displays the startling passionate characteristics of an unwavering drive to seek out his foe, madness as his focus on his search takes over his entire being, and terrible anguish when his task is unexpectedly over, all of which are reflected in the daemon created at the hand of Dr. Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley 's novel Frankenstein.

The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850 which is based on the time frame of the Puritans, a religious group who arrived in Massachusetts in the 1630’s. The Puritans were in a religious period that was known for the strict social norms in which lead to the intolerance of different lifestyles. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the puritan’s strict lifestyles to relate to the universal issues among us. The time frame of the puritans resulted in Hawthorne eventually thinking that the puritans lifestyle as too extreme. Transcendentalism was a philosophical way of thinking for oneself, and not letting the belief of society alter the personal opinion. Transcendentalism correlates with The Scarlet Letter and its characters as they battle society’s set values of what is socially right or wrong. Adultery and which craft are just two of the topics that would not be exceptional to the puritans. Hawthorne came to realization that everyone is human and as humans we make mistakes, we should not punish each mistake to the extreme. Using the original work of Nathaniel Hawthorne and the literary criticism of three critics, I analyze the different interpretations of the scarlet letter in terms of individualism, conformity, and homoerotic dynamics. While researching the scarlet letter I found many different perceptions of the novel, The Scarlet letter is a story that changes interpretation

In The Scarlet letter, Nathaniel hawthorne uses his novel as social commentary by depicting the puritan society as a group of hypocritical people who believe in conformity, which ultimately, turns them into a mindless horde. Nathaniel Hawthorne had deep bonds with his Puritan ancestors and created a story that highlighted both their weaknesses and their strengths. His knowledge of their beliefs and his admiration for their strengths were balanced by his concerns for their rigid and cruel rules.The Scarlet Letter shows his attitude toward these Puritans of Boston in his portrayal of characters, his plot, and the themes of his story. It is through symbolism and imagery that Hawthorne tells his tale of Hester Prynne's sin and her punishment.

Hawthorne had introduced Chillingworth as the victim, not the villain. After all, Hester and Dimmesdale both violated him by engaging in the act of adultery. This causes many readers to sympathize for Chillingworth until he plainly confesses that it was originally himself that sinned: "Mine was the first wrong, when I betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation with my decay."(66) Chillingworth knew that Hester didn't love him before they were married, but he was looking for what he