Self Acceptance In Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter submerses the reader in the Puritan’s culture. The story involves the Puritans portrayal of the sins of a young woman. Although a difficult read, the book stirs the reader to obtain a high moral compass. 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.

This quote clearly shows how there was a major change in the meaning of the scarlet letter and how the townspeople or society is seeing a different person now. They saw how genuine Hester was since she was such a helping hand and she helped a lot. Especially, with the poor since she did not really have to help them out, so therefore they believed that the letter “A” has a different significance which is “Able”. This meant having considerable skills and since this represented Hester this new meaning of the scarlet letter became to be the symbol of her

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a study of the effects of sin on the hearts and minds of the main characters, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. Sin strengthens Hester, humanizes Dimmesdale, and turns Chillingworth into a demon.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" is set in the early days of Puritan America. Hester Prynne, a seamstress, comes to the New World before her husband in order to prepare a place for them. During his absence, she develops a relationship with Arthur Dimmesdale, a rising minister in the newly founded Puritan community. Hester becomes pregnant. The novel is widely viewed to be a story about her trials and tribulations; however, critic Randall Steward argues that, "…Hester is not the protagonist, the chief actor, and the tragedy of the novel is not her tragedy but Arthur's. He is the persecuted one, the tempted one. He it was whom the sorrows of death encompassed…His public confession is one of

First of all, the scarlet letter stands for Hester's sin. By forcing Hester to wear the letter A on her bosom, the Puritan community not only punishes this weak young woman for her adultery but labels her identity as an adulteress and immoral human being as well. "Thus the young and the pure would be taught to look at her, with the letter flaming on her chest", also "as the figure, the body and the reality of sin." And the day Hester began to wear the scarlet A on her bosom is the opening of her darkness. From that moment, people, who look at her, must notice the letter A manifest itself in the red color covering not only her bosom, but her own character. The Puritans now only see the letter A, the representation of sin, scorn and hate

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne paints a picture of two equally guilty sinners, Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale, and shows how both characters deal with their different forms of punishment and feelings of remorse for what they have done. Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale are both guilty of adultery, but have altered ways of performing penance for their actions. While Hester must pay for her sins under the watchful eye of the world around her, Reverend Dimmesdale must endure the heavy weight of his guilt in secret. It may seem easier for Reverend Dimmesdale to live his daily life since he is not surrounded by people who shun

They come to see that the scarlet letter symbolizes, “power to do, and power to sympathize, - that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength,” (149). Instead of becoming an outcast or an angry rebel, Hester chooses to make something positive from her shame, ignoring the expectations of society . By showing her big heart and strong ability to care for people Hester is able to actually change her society. By the end of the book, Hester has learned through the public shame of wearing the scarlet letter that everyone is sinful but that most people are too scared to accept it, as she does.

In a time where women are confined, Hester Prynne stands up for her right to be the strong human being she is. She follows her heart and deals with the consequences with her daughter Pearl by her side. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famous melodramatic novel, The Scarlet Letter, depicts Hester’s strength in exposing and accepting her sin. Hawthorne makes use of symbolism, allegory, and irony to bring a tone of gender injustice to the novel.

Hester Prynne is the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. She was a beautiful woman who, because of her adultery, experienced persecution and was ostracized by everyone in her town. Her shame and guilt gave her an understanding of sin and redemption. She serves as an example of someone who is rejected by society and, because of it, grows in both strength and wisdom. Hester’s sin overshadowed her beauty and talent, but her humble and generous deeds gained her respect over many years.

The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a book written about the punishment of bearing the cost of Adultery. This features the leading character, Hester Prynne, letting the reader see her as a symbol of courage and how the effect of a single letter can have on one’s life. Hester Prynne and her lover have too many problems in the result of the letter, with one, of course, being the vengeful pursuit of her husband, Roger Chillingworth. Hester’s betrayal sparks Chillingworth’s nature as the antagonists in the story, with his desire for revenge and his self-inflicted moral deterioration. His keen attributes, combined with his madness, results in the novel's main idea of the consequences of sin.

Hester, being the opposite having natural beauty, is accentuating her individuality as a person even on the surface, not just in her soul where lies her sin. Her beauty made her someone not following the rules of God, and once her more punishable sin of adultery is made known, she is further isolated from society as a punishment for her crime (Adams). The scarlet letter is a bold symbol of individuality even when she dresses more reserved following her penalty. It is used as a symbol to remind Puritans of Hester's bad deed instantly so they can quickly avoid her (Hawthorne 82). Hester’s letter was used to give Her a burden she cannot live down but it helped her instead.

Immediately they began to form a negative judgment towards her and humiliated her in front of the whole town. An analysis of The Scarlet Letter illustrates and demonstrates the letter “A” throughout Hester’s character and how it changes from being a symbol of negatively to a positive connotation. In the beginning of The Scarlet

Although the Puritan religion is a denomination of Christianity, the villagers were so obsessed with abolishing sin that they forgot to align their Christian values with the process. Part of Hester Prynne’s punishment was public humiliation. She was forced to wear a scarlet “A” across her chest to proclaim the adultery she had committed. “Puritan magistrates drew upon the letter’s powers to impose the full force of their moral and juridical judgment upon the body of Hester Prynne” (Pease 56). Hester takes her punishment humbly and without argument, taking responsibility for her actions.

The burden that the scarlet letter places on Hester shows her everlasting battle with sin in the Puritan society. Yet, the Puritans seemed to be more fascinated with on its striking qualities rather than the true representation of the letter. The scarlet letter is supposed to represent shame, but as Hester evolves the symbol of the letter becomes an emblem of strength. One writer criticizes Hester's transformation by saying, “Hester’s rise takes her from low on the line of moral value, a ‘scarlet woman’ guilty of a sin black in the eyes of the Puritans, as she becomes a sister of mercy and light” (Waggoner

The townspeople have begun to regard Hester with a certain amount of respect. She has been pure in heart and deed ever since her public fall from graces, and she is charitable to the poor. Hester earns her money by doing stitch-work for local dignitaries, but she often spends her time helping the poor and sick. In fact, her suffering makes her kinder toward others. She knows how to offer grace, because she had been denied it herself. People begin to suggest that the A stands for Able. Some suggest that the scarlet letter connotes holiness. For Hester, however, the symbol has hardened her against ever feeling passion of affection again. She has ceased, in short, to be a