Scarlet Letter Rhetorical Analysis

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.

In his essay, “On The Scarlet Letter,” D.H. Lawrence provokes Nathaniel Hawthorne’s portrayal of Hester Prynne as a miraculous hero. Throughout the whole essay, he implies that Hester Prynne is a shameless transgressor, who only cares for herself. Hester Prynne is shamed by Lawrence for her atrocious actions. Lawrence provides several writing techniques in his essay including biblical allusion, degrading diction, and hyperbole, to prove that Hester Prynne is a wicked sinner.

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.

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

Having unseemly high expectations in her community, Hester began to realize that no matter what she did, she will always be publicly criticized any place she went. Hawthorne sets the theme of public ridicule and expectations by using the literary devices of diction and tone, the same as Moore used in The Other Wes Moore. The townspeople were aware of Hester’s beauty. In doubt, they noticed her persona “Was so artistically done; and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that is had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore; and which was of splendor in accordance with the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony” (Hawthorne 37). This caused the townspeople to denounce Hester more. They became jealous of Hester because of the beauty she gave off, even after she had committed adultery. The jealousy they presented towards Hester is captured by Hawthorne using the literary device of tone. Hawthorne describes all of the beauty Hester presumes inside and outside of her, but elaborates that her beauty has been terminated by the townspeople because of the “regulations” they placed on her. The public shame eventually caught up to her and her beauty began to fade in people’s eyes. Similar to the writing of Moore, Hawthorne added how the misery that was consumed by Hester was shared among others at

“I was chained between two nations” Throughout the novel, chains was mention variously. Figuratively of course. Chains, in the novel, is suppose to represent her inability to choose her own opinion, whether it’s being a loyalist or a patriot. She is stuck between her two choices to choose because they both promise something that she desires; freedom. It was unclear as to which side she will choose, as her opinions changes throughout the novel. In the beginning, she was a patriot. her friend, Curzon, promised her that if she becomes a spy for them against the Locktons, (who were loyalists), then she and her sister will receive freedom. She does what she was told, and acted as a spy, and gave many important information to Patriots. But the patriots didn’t keep their own end of the deal. Isabel soon believes that even if the colonies become independent from Britain, slaves will

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.

In D. H. Lawrence’s essay “On The Scarlet Letter,” Lawrence analyzes Nathaniel Hawthorne’s portrayal of the adulteress Hester Prynne. He argues that Hester’s character is not worthy of the praise she receives in The Scarlet Letter because of the severity of the sin she commits in the novel. Instead of focusing on Hester’s character after the sin, he bases his argument on the sin itself. Lawrence uses terse syntax, an accusatory tone, and biblical allusions to depict Hester as the sinner of the story.

One simile I found in this passage is " But methinks, dear Sir, you look pale; as if the ravel through the wilderness had been too sore for you."

In Hawthorne's description of Hester on the pedestal he paints this shameful picture of Hester. He describes her in a guilty manner and emphasizes the pain Hester is feeling from this shame. Hawthorne expresses all of this guilt and pain in his first set of parallel phrases. For instance he repeats "a fixed gaze" twice in order to show the reader the intenseness of this part and then goes on to say the sun is "lighting up her shame" and making her "sin" clear to everyone watching her. He also refers to the "midday sun" as lighting up her shame and therefore making it more visible to the "whole people." He even goes as far as to describe her child as "sin-born" when she makes eye contact with the stranger, who is found out to be her husband. This adds to her feeling of guilt as Hawthorne makes it clear the baby in her arms is not her husband's child. Yet when he gets to the second set of parallel phrases he has this complete rhetorical shift and this whole guilty look of Hester disintegrates into one of almost sympathy. He goes from shaming and making Hester look guilty to describing how her privacy has kind of been torn away from her because of this whole situation. For example, he makes note of private affairs and compares them to the event taking place, he says things such as "features that should have been seen only in the quiet gleam of the fireside."

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, the author uses melodramatic diction in order the emphasize Hester Prynne’s unusual comfort with the crowd’s attention. Prynne’s insecurity with confrontation causes her to isolate herself above a crowd rather than face confrontation. The narrator refers to the platform on which Prynne stands as a “pedestal”, connoting that she gains attraction from the audience in a certain sense of admiration. Prynne’s lionization of standing higher than everyone else in the audience portrays the amount of attraction she gains and how Prynne holds herself to some degree of worthiness because of her raised place. Amidst the audience, Prynne spots a “fixed gaze” from a stranger which draws her attention and causes her

The characterization of helplessness of Puritan children conveys how they are unable to choose what they believe is right and wrong, and the reduction of Hester allows the Puritan magistrates to use her as an example in order to scare their subjects into obeying the Puritan law. In addition, when Pearl pushes Hester to stand in front of Governor Bellingham’s armour, which causes “the scarlet letter (to be) represented in exaggerated and grand proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her existence. In truth, she seemed absolutely hidden behind it” (95). The inflated diction such as “exaggerated,” “grand proportions,” and “greatly” takes the emphasis off of Hester as a person, and puts it on the constant reminder of her sin, the scarlet letter. The scarlet

D.H Lawrence a British writer critiques the novel’s Scarlet Letters heroine and gives his opinions on her in a persuasive, argumentative manner in his critical essay called On The Scarlet Letter. He believes that the heroine of the novel is not the beloved character readers believe she is. Using literary techniques like an ironclad tone, abrupt syntax and biblical allusions Lawrence convince’s people that the beloved American heroine Hester Prynne is truly a conniving adulteress who thrives off of stealing a man's purity and possibly his soul.

In On the Scarlet Letter, D.H. Lawrence comments on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s controversial character, Hester Prynne. What makes Lawrence unique from other critics is that he criticizes Hester and Dimmesdale's’ sinful act, and he asserts negative opinions about the way Hester Prynne is conventionally perceived. D.H. Lawrence presents a well written analysis that effectively castigates Hester Prynne’s characterization in the novel through biblical and literary allusions, harsh syntax, and a satirical tone. The biblical and literary allusions D.H. Lawrence includes in his critical analysis allow him to execute his criticism towards Hester Prynne.

In his essay On The Scarlet Letter, D.H. Lawrence contradicts Hawthorne’s portrayal of Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne respects Hester and portrays her as a victim, whereas Lawrence argues that she is one of the main sinners in the novel. D.H. Lawrence establishes and supports his claim that Hester Prynne is unworthy of Hawthorne’s praise by effectively utilizing concise syntax, frequent repetition, and strong biblical allusions.