The Scarlet Letter : Essay

In his book, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells of a story where a young woman has had an adulterous relationship with a respected priest in a Puritan community. Typical of Hawthorne's writings is the use of imagery and symbolism. In Chapter 12, The Minister's Vigil, there are several uses of imagery when Dimmesdale, the priest, is battling with confessing his sin, which has plagued him for seven years. Three evident techniques used to personify symbolism in this chapter are the use of darkness versus light, the use of inner guilt versus confession, and lastly the use of colors (black versus white).

In Ch.8, Hester’s speech about why Pearl should remain in her care includes a metaphor. Identify the metaphor and describe how its meaning reveals insight into Hester’s character.

Novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, in The Scarlet Letter, recounts the events of an adulteress living in a Puritan community, who is forced to submit to public shaming and the vengeful actions of her husband. Hawthorne elaborates on the underlying idea that Roger Chillingworth is maleficent, which works towards the overall purpose that evil temptation ultimately causes negative outcomes. Through the utilization of Biblical allusions, Hawthorne conveys the similarities between Chillingworth and multiple evil figures. He uses the parallel structure of juxtaposition to show the differing relationship between Chillingworth's desired and actual character. The continuation of his ongoing argument is seen through the ominous language that Hawthorne

Hawthorne’s use of light and dark symbolism portrays the good and evil in Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. Towards the end of the novel Hester is set free from her sin by removing the scarlet letter, Arthur reveals the painful truth by confessing his sin to the public, and Roger withers away since he no longer has a reason to live. The Scarlet Letters’ dark tone keeps readers interested through conflict between emotion and intellect, which is something every reader can depict from this novel filled with sin, passion, and

Ah The Scarlet Letter, whether we like it or not, it is now a book we have all read and have most likely come to hate. Whether it be because of the old setting in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony in Boston that we cannot relate to or the old English language in which it is written, Nathaniel Hawthorne just failed to create a novel that most teenagers of the early twenty-first century can enjoy and appreciate. It must be pointed out that first, it’s doubtful he cares, and more importantly that this just simply should not be the case. We juniors should pay more attention to the novel, especially with the thought that the messages

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story about Hester Prynne a woman in Puritan New England. This novel is about sin in a Puritan society, redemption and freedom. There are four main characters in this book, Hester Prynne, Reverend Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth, and Pearl. In the novel you learn that Hester was married to Chillingworth, but in his absence she has an affair with Dimmesdale and has a daughter she names Pearl. I say that Hester’s affair with Dimmesdale is justifiable since her husband was missing and presumed dead. However if I was a Puritan, I would say no it is not because it would go against my beliefs.

According to Erich Fromm’s article, “The Nature of Symbolic Language,” the definition of a symbol is “‘something that stands for something else’” (121). Laurence Perrine adds his thoughts about symbols in Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, and states that in order to find out what object is a symbol, the reader must be able to “recognize, identify, percept, and tact [them]” (175). And he also includes that it is better not to look for symbols at all rather than “[discover] symbols that are nonexistent”—regardless of the reader (Perrine 175). Going back to Fromm, he mentions three types of symbols that are used in symbols. These three types can be found in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.

At some point in life, everyone makes an unintelligent decision. Oftentimes, these decisions leave people feeling guilty and with nobody to blame but themselves. In the Puritan society presented in The Scarlet Letter, sin is not taken lightly. Sinners are publicly presented on the town scaffold and have to endure embarrassing gossip. Dimmesdale, a church minister, commits adultery with Hester Prynne, and she has a child. Dimmesdale does not confess his sin for several years after Hester is publicly shamed on the scaffold. Dimmesdale gets what he deserves because he chooses to commit the sin and brings the guilt upon himself. Dimmesdale’s guilt deteriorates his mental and physical health as seen by many events,

The Scarlet Letter is a story involving many symbols. The novel is set in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1640s, around the time colonization first took its place in America. The protagonist, known as Hester Prynne is a newcomer to the colony. Hester is a married woman from Europe who commits adultery in the colony gets arrested. Hester keeps the fathers identity a secret. One of her punishments for committing adultery is to stand on the scaffold to be criticized. The other main one is to stitch a scarlet letter on her clothes to publicly identify her as an adulterer. Soon after her child Pearl

From the very first chapter, the Scarlet Letter guides readers on a journey that explores the darkness of the human heart and redemption from sin. It is in the Massachusetts Bay Colony that we introduced to a trio of characters interconnected by their sins: an adulteress, a minister and a physician. The adulteress is a woman named Hester Prynne who, as punishment for her transgressions, must wear a scarlet "A" on chest and is shunned by her community. Yet, Hester 's eventual acceptance of her sin allows her to embrace her new role in society. The only light in her life, and at times the source of her despair, is her daughter Pearl. Born from the act of adultery, Pearl serves as symbol passion and human nature throughout the Scarlet Letter. Minister Arnold Dimmesdale, a spineless and cowardly man, is seen by the general population as a holy saint. Unbeknownst to the town, Dimmesdale was Hester 's lover and Pearl 's father. It is only though Hester 's encouragement and his imminent death that Dimmesdale finally finds the courage to publicly claim his sin. Seething with a desire for revenge, we have the physician and Hester 's absent husband known to the reader as Roger Chillingworth. After traveling in search for knowledge, Chillingworth returns to the colony to discover his wife 's unfaithfulness. His dream of a family soiled by adultery, Chillingworth 's quest for revenge fuels his search for Hester 's lover and his deteriorating appearance. As readers progresses

D.H. Lawrence suggests in On The Scarlet Letter that the book only portrays her as a heroine, when she really is not. He claims that the whole affair between Hester and Dimmesdale and the events that follows are a farce. Hester still committed a sin, and that sin is considered one of the worst acts of evil. Lawrence’s allusions to other writings, his restatements of purity and sin, and his satiric tone all help him portray his ideas the audience clearly and effectively.

“So, in the course of the novel, the ‘A’ seems to encompass the entire range of human beingness, from the earthly and passionate ‘adulteress’ to the pure and spiritual ‘angel,’ taking into account everything in between,” begins Claudia Durst Johnson (128). Many believe the A in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter possesses only one meaning - adulterer; however, Hawthorne imbues the symbolic letter with diverse definitions. In the novel, Hawthorne plainly details three significant changes in the connotation of the A. At first sight, it represents the sin of adultery and ostracizes Hester from society. After the outcast builds a reputation of charity and labor, the A transforms into ‘able’ and highlights the favorable qualities of Hester. Finally, the A appears in the night sky after the death of Governor Winthrop and becomes ‘angel’ to signify his passing. Though the surface text shows a change in the implication of the A, the letter primarily revolves around Hester. Some critics believe other characters develop the interpretation of the A as they come under its influence. In many accounts of semiotic criticism, experts may support this claim unknowingly or actively pursue proof of the characters’ abilities to don their own A’s - either literal or metaphorical - and support the meaning of the classic work. The prime example, Hester Prynne, models the ornate A of ‘adultery’ and ‘able’. In contrast, Arthur Dimmesdale conceals

Women or Men, is there really a double standard? The inequality between men and women was even more prominent and obvious during the antebellum era. In The Scarlet Letter By Nathanial Hawthorne there was Hester Prynne and in The Two Offers By Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, there was Janette Alston. Both of these women, rose above the rest, through adversity, hardship, and against all odds still came out on top, even during a time period that didn’t appreciate a strong woman. In “The Scarlet Letter”, Hester Prynne, was thrown in jail and forced to wear a symbol of her sin and lived on the outskirts of society for most of her life after, but even through all that she did not break or run away she became stronger and it became a part of her identity. In The Two Offers, Janette Alston is not necessarily the main focus of the story but was a wonderful symbol during that time period. She becomes very famous for her spirit, where as her sister does the opposite and gets married and tries to have children but passes away and instead of Janette, breaking down because of this, she becomes stronger in the face of adversity and inevitably becomes an Old Maid. These are just a few of the many examples of what our characters go through and how harshly our society judge’s women versus men, it is as if they are held to higher standards, and Hawthorne and Harper create a vivid picture of what many women experienced during the beginning of the 19th century.

Pearl is among the characters that are complex and elaborate in the novel scarlet letter. Pearl is the daughter illegitimate daughter of Author Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne. As one reads through the novel they realize that she is a very dynamic individual who keeps on changing depending on the prevailing circumstances in order to survive and to also help in bringing out clearly the massage that the writer wanted to pass when he was writing the book (Mary, 99). The other members of the society keep on shunning and avoiding Pearl because of her mother 's sin and she remains a constant reminder of to both the members of the society and also the reader of Hester 's sin. They live in a bad house in the outskirts of Boston where they tend to

As I began my summer reading assignment I wasn’t too amused at the beginning chapters