The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Hester Prynne’s sin was adultery. This sin was regarded very seriously by the Puritans, and was often punished by death. Hester’s punishment was to endure a public shaming on a scaffold for three hours and wear a scarlet letter "A" on her chest for the rest of her life in the town. Although Hawthorne does not pardon Hester’s sin, he considers it

A child stealing candy from the bowl when she knows she isn’t supposed to; a drug addict coming forward to admit he has a terrible plight; a student cheating on their final exam after choosing not to study; a young girl admitting to pushing another child down on the playground; a husband cheating on his wife. Some stories of these subjects are known by all, able to heal and move forward with a clear conscience, while others are sheltered within them, left to fester and grow in destructiveness. All of these examples portray a subject either bound, or given peace by the truth of something depending on whether it is concealed or uncovered. The power and significance of exposed/hidden truth is something utilized in writing all the time when an

The Scarlet Letter genuinely shows the difference between the Puritan’s view of sin versus the Romantics' view of Sin. The Puritan church is deeply adamant that all sins should be punished; sin not easily forgiven and forgiveness is to be earned if possible. The entire scene is very hypocritical. The leaders and ministers hold themselves on a pedestal, as though they have never done wrong. An impeccable example; Arthur Dimmesdale, the man who Hester has an affair with, ironically the one who is questioning her and trying to convince her to tell the leaders who the father was. He knew without a doubt Pearl was his daughter. He was playing clue; keeping himself unblemished. Hester is a symbol of the new Romantic Era that was to come shortly after the uptight Puritan Church. Romantics held the beliefs

As you read through The Scarlet Letter you are able to follow along with the forgiveness each of them slowly, but surely, gains. Hester, over time, was able to accept her adulterous sin she committed seven years prior. She had known she had wrong, but was able to learn from her mistakes and grow past them. She did not run away from the shame of it all and instead owned up to it and accepted that it was a part of her now. Even over time the colonists viewed her not as an outcast of sin,

Hester comforted and counselled them, as best she might. She assured them, too, of her firm belief that, at some brighter period, when the world should have grown ripe for it, in Heaven's own time, a new truth would be revealed, in order to establish the whole relation between man and woman on a surer ground of mutual happiness.” She lives now not for herself, but for other people who have lived what she's lived through. By means of these acts of mercy, Hester’s sense of compassion shines through. Some people may say that Hester didn't receive forgiveness because she ends up with the scarlet letter on her chest once more. Hester puts the scarlet letter back on because she knows that she will never not be guilty of her crime. The scarlet letter shapes her into the woman that she dies as. “But, in the lapse of the toilsome, thoughtful, and self-devoted years that made up Hester's life, the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world's scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too.” As a result of receiving this forgiveness and forgiving herself, she realizes that the scarlet letter does not

In the “Scarlet Letter” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne symbolism plays a major role, especially the letter “A”. The letter “A” or the Scarlet Letter directly stands for adultery, which is committed by the main character, Hester, and the priest, Mr. Dimmesdale. The letter “A” though has a deeper meaning than just adultery because it is a symbol of sin and embarrassment, or at least is meant too. Although the letter “A” is meant to be a symbol of embarrassment it develops throughout the story and transforms into a symbol of normality and understanding.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the harshness of society and its impact on a member of the community who has done wrong. Hester Prynne was a young, beautiful, and married woman whose husband was over seas when she got pregnant. Accused with the crime of adultery, Hester has to deal with being shunned by her Puritan community. Refusing to give up the father’s name, Hester must raise her child alone and live with the guilt of her sins in dishonor. This contributes to the idea that Dimmesdale and Hester were both destroyed by their deception and secrecy.

Nathaniel Hawthorne is the author of the prodigious book entitled The Scarlet Letter. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne commits adultery with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Her husband, Roger Chillingworth, soon finds out about the incident after it becomes clear that she is pregnant. The whole town finds out and Hester is tried and punished. Meanwhile, Roger Chillingworth goes out then on a mission to get revenge by becoming a doctor and misprescribing Dimmesdale. He does this to torture Dimmesdale as a form of revenge. Hester is publicly punished and is contrived to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her bosom. This is how she was punished. This was a way to shame her and seclude her from society. Hester was forced to stand on a scaffolding and stare out over the people that were watching her with her scarlet letter “A” embroidered on her chest. Over time the scarlet letter “A” in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, acquired many meanings including adultery, able, and angel.

Since Hester confessed and accepted her own sin she didn't have to live in Guilt like Dimmesdale. Hester does all she can to be accepted by the community and eventually her hard work pays off. At the beginning of the novel she was looked at very negatively and through the work she did she became accepted by the community. Dimmesdale on the other hand concealed his sin to himself throughout the novel. His guilt build up to the point where it made him mentally and morally ill. Finally he decided to open up with Hester and that revived his energy. Although they may have committed a sin, the confession of their sins helped the Puritans accept them in the community and live lives without guilt and

Through time, personal actions and other’s actions, redemption can be achieved. The protagonist of the Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne, was forgiven. The townspeople in the novel react to Hester’s transgression as if they were disgusted. They heavily judged her, and they used their judgement to hide their own personal sin.

In the novel, “ the scarlet letter”, Hester was being criticized by other women in her town. The people in Hester’s town believed that she had an affair with another man while she was in a relationship with her spouse and she was accused for being unfaithful and committed adultery with that man.

Although times and people change, people’s general thoughts and actions in comparable situations remain timeless. This statement should be considered when determining whether or not The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne should still be including in high school curriculum. Many people argue that it should not be; that the book is outdated and could in no way relate to the lives of the young adults reading the classic novel. In the story, Hester Prynne, a Puritan woman, commits the shameful act of adultery. Since she did in fact commit a sin, Hester is looked down upon by her community and is forced to wear a scarlet letter A on her chest as a constant reminder of her actions. Throughout the story, Hester is forced to live and deal with the repercussions of her sin from the townspeople as well the people relating to the sinful action. Although the plot and setting of seventeenth century Massachusetts do not seem to relate to teenagers reading the book, the themes and ideas presented in the novel have eternal messages. Ideas pertaining to deception to maintain a reputation or for protection and the ongoing struggle of being accepted in society are themes that do not have an expiration date. Although The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne could seem like an outdated work of literature as it took place hundreds of years ago, it is still read and taught in high schools due to its portrayal of undying and universal themes.

The Scarlet letter has many important scenes that happen along the way in the book. But there are some scenes that are more important than others. According to the article, “The Scarlet Letter: A Literary Exercise in Moral Theology”, Hester’s sin being made public must be in the beginning of this novel. The second scene is when Chillingworth goes to the prison to help Hester and her baby get better. The third scene is when the governor and some other authorities are trying to take Pearl, Hester’s child, away from her. The fourth scene is when Hester goes into the forest with Pearl to meet Dimmesdale to tell him the truth about Roger

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

Hester publicly recognizes and repents for her sin, yet she is ostracized from her community for her honesty. Hester, after repenting for her sin has become ostracized from her community, she lives on the outer edge of the town, isolated from the innocence and purity of the Puritan community. Hester, as a part of her punishment for her