The Custom House

Hawthorne's Hester Prynne is the underdog protagonist that the reader cannot help but want to succeed. She is flawed but her flaws are outshone by her good heart and spirit. This shamed and humiliated woman is the one the reader, with the help of Hawthorne’s descriptions, wants to support. This sinful woman, with a child from wedlock, a diabolical “husband”, and a secretive lover is the motivating force that drives the reader to continue on with The Scarlet Letter. The language, descriptions, and plot of The Scarlet Letter show that Hawthorne believes the reader should look past gender stereotypes because not everything is what is

  "What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us," stated Oliver Wendell Holmes. This eventually proves to be especially true for Hester Prynne, the main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynne, a fair young maiden whose husband had disappeared two years prior to the opening of the novel, has an affair with the pastor of her Puritan church, resulting in the birth of her child Pearl. Because of this act of adultery, Hester Prynne is branded by the scarlet letter "A," which she is forced to forever wear upon her attire. The plot thickens as Hester's former husband returns to New England and becomes

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.

The Scarlet Letter is a novel that took place in the 17th century, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The heartbreaking story of the main character, Hester Prynne dispersed the reader's’ thoughts. Hester Prynne suffered from adultery, where she had a child without father’s presence and support. Hester also suffered from bullying, where she was conjectured by superior people in the Puritan Legacy. The Scarlet Letter illustrated many bullying examples throughout certain chapters of the book.

Anne Hutchinson, a Puritan settler, gets exiled from the Puritan Settlement because of her actions. Similarly, Hester Prynne’s sinful action results in her confinement in prison, away from the town people. In the 1850’s, Nathaniel Hawthorne publishes The Scarlet Letter. Set in a Puritanical Society, The Scarlet Letter tells the story of how one simple act of passion upsets the very basic thread of society. In the novel, Hester Prynne personally transcends the judgments of society through her discoveries in nature, while she lives a simplistic life and becomes more self-reliant.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter supports Emerson’s claim through the development of his characters. After Hester is released from prison, she resides in a house secluded from the rest of the town. However, even though her house is technically in solitude, she does not reveal her "true self" until she is in nature. Even though Hester's house is away from society, she never lets her grief and guilt overcome her. She still bottles it in. In Chapter 16, Hester and Pearl take a walk in nature. And during their walk, they encounter Dimmesdale who asks Hester if she has found peace. Though Hester never appears to be in despair and always holds her head up high when she is in the public eye, Hester responds by looking drearily down at her bosom. By performing this action,

Nathaniel Hawthorne rights “The Custom House: Introductory” as almost as if it were an autobiography. Within the introduction, He uses pathos to set the mood and setting for The Scarlet Letter. It is actually a little dismal the way he describes Salem as a dying seaport. “Life in Salem proved anything but pleasant. A dying seaport, Salem hosted a customhouse filled with appointees with little or nothing to do. They idled their time away, as Hawthorne humorously revealed in an essay on the customhouse published as an introduction to The Scarlet Letter.”(American Studies @ Virginia, paragraph 20) According to my other source, Hawthorne’s job occupation gave him plenty of time to work on his research and literary works. “Work at the Custom House occupied his mornings, but he did find time to assemble twenty-one uncollected stories and present them as Mosses from an Old Manse” (American Studies @ Virginia paragraph 19)

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is often renowned as his best work. The novel tells about the rigid ideas of 19th century Puritan New England through the story of Hester Prynne, Minister Dimmesdale, and Pearl. Hawthorne points out that the Puritans are often more ready to judge, punish, and damn someone than to forgive them. He is very critical of this idea, and goes against it by ending the novel with Hester Prynne becoming a respected individual that other women often look to for advice, and by changing the perception many people have of the Scarlet Letter from, “Adultery” to “Able”. Throughout the novel Hawthorne refutes the harsh ideals of the Puritans through the

Hester Prynne of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter disregards the Puritan Society's standards of women through her rebellious nature and confidence. Hester Prynne of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter disregards the Puritan Society's standards of women through her rebellious nature. In Hawthorne’s novel, Hester Prynne bares the scarlet letter “A” to emphasize her sin of adultery against her husband who has been missing for 2 years, with a reverend named Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester Prynne defied the Puritan’s standards and bore a child out of adultery, a girl named Pearl. The leaders of the town wish for her to reveal the name of her mister but she chooses to keep this a secret. The town’s people harass her to give up the name of

Hester Prynne, Pearl, the townspeople, and Nathaniel Hawthorne each have different views of the “Scarlet Letter” that change throughout the story. Hester begins to feel proud of her letter but then soon humbles herself when she wears it and ends up feeling the guilt of her sin towards the conclusion of the story. The letter for Hester begins to shape her life along with pearl for it is an everyday thing for her. Pearl, as a young child, is aware of her mother’s letter but doesn’t fully understand its meaning. Pearl later on begins to only see and recognize her mother with the letter on. The townspeople, in the beginning of the story, hate Hester and her letter believing her punishment should have been more harsh, but later on they find a new meaning for it. Nathaniel Hawthorne varies with his opinions and view of the letter just as each character does. Each view represents a different side to the story.

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

In the Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne discusses the hurdles Hester Prynne, the protagonist, goes through due to her sinful nature with her child, the mocking Puritans, and the past always creeping up on her. Often these obstacles appear when she is in the forest, making it a very critical locality in the book. Nathaniel Hawthorne brilliantly uses symbolism to convey how the three main aspects of the forest—the stream, the logs, and the sunshine— all correlate to the Scarlet A that Hester wears on her chest.

Mark Van Doren’s “Hester Prynne” explains how the Scarlet Letter addresses Hawthorne’s opinion and view of Hester. Van Doren’s “Hester Prynne” article explains how Hawthorne praises Hester in his novel. Mark Van Doren goes in depth and provides literary devices to explain his point of Hawthorne’s reference to Hester. The author uses mythological allusion, praising tone, and specific diction.

Hawthorne's critical diction helps determine his didactic tone over the course of the novel. We see the Hawthorne believes that happiness can be harnessed through one's perseverance. Even though Hester disheartening sin of adultery constructs a beautifully crafted scarlet letter they she must wear for the remainder of the time she stays in town. The letter, as elaborate and powefuklas is it presents her apparel to her town along wither newborn fearlessly.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a novel about guilt and innocence in Boston, Massachusetts during the 1640s. Hester Prynne, the protagonist of the novel, is a beautiful married woman who has committed adultery and had a child while her husband was lost at sea. She is now forced to bear the scarlet letter on her chest to let the public know what sin she has committed. Roger Chillingworth is Hesters lost husband who has returned back from seas to learn that his wife has been unfaithful to him. He has devoted himself to finding who Hesters lover is and seek revenge on him, even if it wreaks him. Arthur Dimmesdale is the town’s reverend and Hesters secret lover. He is in continuous conflict against himself since he is supposed to be