The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter is a well known novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The novel is composed and written in Salem and Concord, as well as Boston, Massachusetts in the late 1840's. The narrator of the novel is in an omniscent state, meaning he knows more about the characters than the characters know about themselves. Although the narrartor is omniscent, he also makes sure to include his ideas and opinions on situations, making him also greatly subjective. Being subjective, as well as omniscent, historical fiction along with a story displaying constant symbolism is evident.

At first the scarlet letter is a burden for Hester but it eventually leads to her redemption and independence. After so many years Hester is able to wear the scarlet letter proudly and dies with honor instead of disgrace.

In The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is more than a literary figure in a classic novel, she is known by some people to be one of the earliest American Hero’s. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Hester commits adultery and has a child that she must care for all alone. She is forced to wear a powerful, attention grabbing “Scarlet A” on her chest while she must try to make a living to support her and her child, Pearl. Even though she must face all the harsh judgment and stares she does not allow her sin to stop her from living a successful life. She looks past the Letter as a symbol of sin and turns it into a sign of approval. Hester

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

Society has unintentionally been guided by the same themes since the beginning of time. The recurring themes that are present in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic The Scarlet Letter are still relevant in today’s society. When high school students and teachers claim that Hawthorne’s novel is archaic and should be removed from the curriculum, they are absolutely wrong. Hester Prynne, the main character of the novel, commits adultery and as punishment, has to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her chest for everyone to see. Throughout the novel, Hester is faced with obstacles such as the struggle between self and society and the burden of publicly suffering for her sins. Despite a substantial amount of time having passed since Puritan times, the themes that Hester Prynne had to experience are still pertinent. Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, is driven mad by his incessant need for revenge and in society today there are many occasions where people are plagued with the desire to seek vengeance. There are some instances in life where human nature takes over without people even realizing and revenge is one of them. Also, people are right when they say “history repeats itself” because some of these themes never go away. The Scarlet Letter takes place in the strict religious time of the 1600’s and although the book seems outdated and obsolete, the ideas inside are still relevant and therefore high school students should continue to read this work

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.

A pearl, even though it has piercing beauty, is created by a less beautiful process. Pearls form as an oyster reacts to a parasitic invasion inside the creature by coating it with a fluid to neutralize any threat. New layers of this fluid are constantly covering the old ones until a beautiful Pearl is created. The creation of the pearl relates Nathaniel Hawthorne’s character, Pearl, in the novel The Scarlet Letter. Pearl, being created as a product, exemplifies this message as she still goes on to be successful and happy. Although she was made from sin and looked down upon, she still wants to continue her life normally, and in the end succeeds valiantly. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, Pearl, although a complicated character,

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written in 1849. This novel won him much fame and a good reputation as a writer. In writing The Scarlet Letter, Hawethorne was creating a form of fiction he called the psychological romance. A psychological romance is a story that contains all of the conventional trappings of a typical romance, but deeply portrays humans in conflict with themselves. The Scarlet Letter won Hawthorne great critical acclaim, and even today the book remains on the best seller list. The Scarlet Letter is so popular maybe because generations of readers can interpret it and see subtle meanings that somewhat reflect their own lives. Each of us, has

Hester’s scarlet letter is a piece of clothing, the “SCARLET LETTER, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom” (Hawthorn 51). Her interpretation of the extremity of her sins is one of self composure and calm. She views her sins solely as a "violation in the natural order" of the environment and therefore cannot even perceive her sin as being evil except through outside influence. Dimmesdale on the other hand, has a scarlet letter carved in his chest. This is revealed when Dimmesdale was giving his revelation, in which “he tore away the ministerial band from before his breast. It was revealed!” (Hawthorn 232). Dimmesdale 's personal interpretation as to the extremity of his own sins is a "violation of God 's law," which is the law that he is totally dedicated to and supported by. Dimmesdale 's interpretation of his sin is much more severe than Hester 's, it is a violation and direct contradiction of his own self consciousness and physical existence. Therefore the appearance of his A, even though it is never directly described in the novel, must be powerful, broken, and brutally dishonest (...a ghastly rapture; Hawthorne pg.95). Since the Scarlet Letter on Hester is visible to the public, she was criticized and looked down on. “This women has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die” (Hawthorn 49) is said by a female in the marketplace talking about Hester. She becomes a stronger person through living this hard life.

In the stories of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the antagonist characters display parallel story lines through their searches for the enemy. Roger Chillingworth, the former husband of Hester Prynne and the antagonist of The Scarlet Letter, works against his wife in order to find her untold second lover. Frankenstein is a contrasting story in which an unnamed monster is the antagonist towards his human creator, Dr. Frankenstein. Yet despite quite different story lines, the two characters possess traits that exibit parallels between them. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth displays the startling passionate characteristics of an unwavering drive to seek out his foe, madness as his focus on his search takes over his entire being, and terrible anguish when his task is unexpectedly over, all of which are reflected in the daemon created at the hand of Dr. Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley 's novel Frankenstein.

“Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted for too long a series of generations in the same worn-out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth.” (23)-Nameless narrator’s narration

Hester Prynne, the eponymous character in The Scarlet Letter, bears her scarlet cross on a path—though distant from our Savior’s righteousness—blemished only by a singular, yet substantial blot of sin. Her cross, a lifelong sentence of shame, is a bloodied A—eclipsing her beauty with a mark of degraded morals. However, she accepted her transgression and its retribution with absolute remorse and willingness to repay. Moreover, she was far more at peace than her co-conspirator, who lived in the shadows of hypocrisy and overwhelming guilt. Nonetheless, her punishment, to be publicly, and as long as life should allow, deigned in shame, or yet to be banished from her home, although reduced from the standards of that time, exceeds today’s customs.

When comparing two classic pieces of literature such as The Scarlet Letter and A Lesson Before Dying, readers should not just take each book at face value and analyze plots and characters, but rather give a more in depth look into what the author writes between the lines. In both of these selected novels parallels can be seen during a cross-text analysis. Example will include, the role of woman, the influence and expectation of the community, and the intention and perceived ‘success’ of the penal system. These topics force the reader to dig deeper into each text and get that better understanding of what the author is trying to portray in “between the lines” so to speak.

Why do so many people judge others that they don't even know? Why must we be harsh towards each other and criticize them and bring them down? We as a whole are just a bunch of people who bring others down because we are just afraid of change. As to what type of change we are afraid of is that it doesn't matter we are just so set in our ways. we refuse to change our self instead of embrace the differences that we may hold within our self. In the end ask yourself why are you afraid to change and be different from the rest? What does the government have again everything changing and the rules being so set in stone. The government steps in when things start to get very bad to correct things and make an example so that people won’t do anything like that again. So Why does society really hate change what makes them so afraid to be different from the rest and stand out?

Hester Prynne, one of the main characters in The Scarlet Letter, was a shy, self-conscious and guilty women of committing an awful sin. The sin that she had committed was adultery. The town of Boston found out about her sin and they punished her in a bad way. At first, she thought that the punishment was unfair and cruel. After a while, Hester realizes that her punishment will not go away so instead of dreading over it, she just deals with it and keeps living her life. Many people in the town would call her names and make fun of her for committing adultery; she wants to yell at them and call them out but instead she lets them go and walks away. Throughout the novel, Hester Prynne has changed, grew and solved her problems in many ways.