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 The Scarlet Letter Hypocrisy is evident everywhere. The characters of Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and the very society that the characters lived in, were steeped in hypocrisy. Hawthorne was not subtle in his portrayal of the terrible sin of hypocrisy; he made sure it was easy to see the sin at work , at the same time however, parallels can be drawn between the characters of The Scarlet Letter and of today’s society.

Hester Prynne is kind of a role model, almost. I admire her ability to admit to sin and be willing to take the consequences. Surely she was not the only one during Puritan times who had an affair, or even sinned. Everyone sins every day, and so technically everyone should have a scarlet letter of some sort. In my opinion, this makes Hester above everyone else.

The settings in The Scarlet Letter are very important in displaying the themes of the novel. The settings in this novel are almost characters, for they are an important part in developing the story. The scaffold, the forest, the prison, and Hester’s cottage are settings that show sin and its consequences result in shame and suffering.

Contrarily, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale chooses to conceals his sin which leads to the deterioration of his physical and spiritual health, and ultimately leads to his death. Dimmesdale is given several opportunities to confess his sin but refrains from doing so, looking for penitence - fasting and whipping himself - but finds no solace. After years of bearing such guilt, Dimmesdale tells the townspeople that he is Hester’s secret lover and Pearl’s father before his death. Confessing his sin allows Dimmesdale to find peace before death however, the overwhelming guilt was too much to bear. One wonders, would admitting to adultery in the beginning have prevented Dimmesdale’s demise?

The Scarlet Letter Introduction The Scarlet Letter is a classic tale of sin, punishment, and revenge. It was written in 1850 by the famous American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. It documents the lives of three tragic characters, each of whom suffer greatly because of his or her sins. Shot Plot The story begins with Hester Prynne, a resident of a small Puritan community, being led from the town jailhouse to a public scaffold where she must stand for three hours as punishment for adultery. She must also wear a scarlet A on her dress for the rest of her life as part of her punishment. As she is led to the scaffold, many of the women in the crowd complain that

A common theme throughout literature is religion and how the author feels about his or her faith. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses rhetorical devices to draw comparisons between characters and events in The Scarlet Letter and Biblical figures and accounts. A few of the devices found in this novel that connect it to the Bible are symbolism, paradox, allusions, and characterization. It is important to first look at the characters and how they are described through characterization.

In my opinion , the sin that is the most significant committed by Roger Chillingworth is the sin of wrath. Wrath is described by Webster Dictionary as “strong, vengeful anger, or indignation, retributory punishment for an offense or a crime”. In seeking revenge against Arthur Dimmesdale for committing adultery with his wife and getting her pregnant, he deliberately and methodically tried to destroy Arthur. When Chillingworth meets with his wife, Hester in jail, where she was taken of the scaffold for adultery, he takes the position of the village physician and is determined on finding Pearl’s

16) When Pearl is grown, she thinks she will develop a scarlet letter like her mother.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's bold novel, The Scarlet Letter, revolves around sin and punishment.  The main characters of the novel sharply contrast each other in the way they react to the sin that has been committed

William Shakespeare once said, “Some rise by sin and some by virtue fall.” One may learn from the sins he commits and one may suffer when doing what he believes is right. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter three main adult characters committed sins; such as, adultery and vengeance. These sins develop the respective of Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne makes it clear that sin always has an affect on the sinner and those around as well.

The setting of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet letter” is crucial to the understanding of the event that takes place in the story. The setting of the story is in Salem, Massachusetts during the Puritan era. During the Puritan era, adultery was taken as a very serious sin, and this is what Hester and Dimmesdale committ with each other. Because of the sin, their lives change, Hester has to walk around in public with a Scarlet Letter “A” which stands for adultery, and she is constantly being tortured and is thought of as less than a person. Dimmesdale walks around with his sin kept as secret, because he never admits his sin, his mental state is changing, and the sin degrades his well-being. Chillingworth

Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale appear very similar in how they act, how their actions influence them, and how they respond to these actions. They both untruthfully seem like honorable men to the townspeople, and act as if they truly do conduct themselves in this way. By behaving like this, they delve further into sin and suffering; however, instead of divulging who they really are, they both continue making these mistakes of dishonesty. For example, when Chillingworth comprehends that Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl, he decides to take revenge, but this choice causes “a terrible fascination, a kind of fierce, though still calm, necessity [to seize] the old man” (Hawthorne, 120). Dimmesdale, too, suffers from deteriorating health

Forms and Symbolism of “The Scarlet Letter” The crime of adultery goes as far back as the time of Abraham, who was the first recorded adulterer in the Bible. Throughout the years, there were various different forms of punishment for adultery, many of them being death. Punishment also came in the form of public humiliation, which is demonstrated in Nathaniel Hawthorne's book, “The Scarlet Letter” in which a young woman, her name being Hester Prynne, was accused of adultery whilst her husband was away.

Roger Chillingworth presents a fierce will focused on finding the man who participated in an unlawful relationship with his wife. Under the guise of a physician he learns of his wife’s guilt and immediately promises to “...seek this man, as [he has] sought the truth” (Hawthorne 81). This attitude begins as soon as he first finds out about the situation, and only grows stronger through time, until he has completely “devoted himself” to his task of gaining revenge