The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The children In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter play a major role in the Puritan society. With their honest opinions of Hester and Pearl, the children are presented as more perceptive and more honest than adults. Due to their innocence, children are capable of expressing themselves without constraints; there are no laws or regulations that they are bounded by. As an adolescent go through the stages of life and grow older, they begin to be more conscious of the how they act as they are more aware of society and the things that are occurring in the world, creating a filter for their actions. When they remain as the children, on the other hand, are adventurous; they are still exploring the universe that seems to fill with mysteries that are bound to be solved. They tend to attach to the truth and they are not afraid to speak it freely. Children differ from adults in their potential for expressing these perceptions. With their obliviousness to the things that are actually going on around the town, children therefore react differently compared to the adults, who are more knowledgeable. Perceived to be immature, young children are presented as more perceptive and more honest than adults due to their innocence, how they are unaware of the reality and the crimes that are presented in society by the adults enables them to be blithe and not afraid of saying what they feel like. Due to their naivety, when they express what they perceive to be true, they do not get punished,

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne summarizes Hester Prynne’s perspective of the forest in one phrase. Early in the book, as Hester leaves prison, Hawthorne describes the forest as “dark, inscrutable… open to [Hester], where the wilderness of her nature might assimilate itself with a people whose customs and life were alien from the law that had condemned her” (75). Hawthorne explains Hester’s connection to the evil, isolated, and free forest, which serves as the location for her conversations with Pearl, Dimmesdale, and Chillingsworth. In contrast to Puritan society, Hester Prynne not only identifies with the sinful nature of the forest, but also finds its isolation and freedom liberating.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne 's book The Scarlet Letter he exhibits how committing sin can entirely consume a person through the three characters Chillingworth, Dimmesdale, and Hester and how they change from the sin.

Nathaniel Hawthorne constructs the plot of his novel The Scarlet Letter around two sinners and traces their journeys towards acceptance and belonging as they experience the effects of sin and guilt their individual ways, especially Arthur Dimmesdale who becomes increasingly guilt wrought throughout the novel. Dimmesdale’s steep decline under the weight of his sin essentially causes him to become trapped in a prison of guilt, his own “desert places,” that he spends the majority of the novel attempting to escape. As Dimmesdale attempts to gauge the advantages and disadvantages of a full confession he finds himself in the midst of an intense internal battle over between his immense guilt and his crippling cowardice. On one hand, confessing would allow Dimmesdale to be freed from his guilt and be authentic with his actions, but on the other hand, confessing would also destroy his reputation among the strict Puritans. Hawthorne follows Dimmesdale’s path as he attempts battle his guilt and transitions from a stance of passivity, his indecision, to an attitude of action with his final decision to confess. In The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale is trapped between his cowardice and his guilt, his “desert places,” which ultimately leads to his downfall.

"An" is seen uniquely in contrast to some time recently. In this area of the novel,

Hester may seem like an ordinary sinner, but once the symbols are devoured, Hester is much more complex. As seen in the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, symbols provide underlying messages to the reader, to help learn more about characters and plot. In the novel, the three main characters, Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth, are struggling the battle of sin and the consequences that come about. In the Puritan society, there are many religious references and concepts. While Hester is judged by the society for her sin, others in her life are affected by it also. The book opens up with Hester standing on the scaffold, where she is made a shame. Through the book, Hester 's life is dug into deeper, as the reader finds out who she truly is and who the people around her have become. The symbols in the book are necessary to understanding the underlying themes of the text. Throughout the book, the most important symbols to understand are, nature and the black man, Dimmesdale 's mark and scarlet letter, and Pearl.

In Isaiah 30:15 it says, “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” Hester would have none of it. Hester never repented for committing adultery with Dimmesdale, even after Dimmesdale repented for his sins. Therefore, she never had the salvation that was offered by the Lord. The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, who is well known for his other works such as, The House of Seven Gables and, Young Goodman Brown. He was also a Romantic and an Anti-Transcendentalist. The Scarlet Letter is about a woman named Hester Prynne, who is living in Boston during the 1640’s. She is publicly shamed in front

Nothing is more powerful than the feeling one gets when they have committed a wrong doing in their life. Sometimes, guilt can cause a person to suffer so terribly that they end up doing things that they usually would not do. Guilt has an enormous effect on a person, and could change their life forever. Committing a sin causes the feeling of guilt inside a person. The person usually feels as if they deserve to be punished for what they did. The punishment for guilt could be shown either privately or publicly. Nathaniel Hawthorne shows these different punishments and how either private or public punishment affects the characters. Guilt can change a person by making them hate themselves and believe that they are at fault. In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, guilt is illustrated throughout Roger Chillingworth, Hester Prynne, and Arthur Dimmesdale, making these character suffer from guilt, which shows the powerful effect of guilt.

The spark flickers, then dies out, borne on lofty winds to extinction. The rocks strike again, and a flame leaps into the craggy logs, illuminating the faces of humanity’s ancestors. Humans have always changed, through the evolution of species, thoughts, and ideas. A significant change was wrought by the new immigrants to America, and as they settled in the budding New World. In many pieces of literature from this period, the change in American culture was reflected through the words of authors, often leaving clandestine clues to the nature of American society. Throughout the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the emergence of a new American belief system was represented by three of the main characters. Pearl, who was capricious and tempestuous, was synonymous with the flighty nature of immigrants to the new land. Dimmesdale, who demonstrated the trials of salvaging purity, showed the changing nature of religion, and Hester, the ever prideful, represented the struggles of governance within America. Hester’s little Pearl, born of sin and temptation, is representative of the hopeful immigrants into America. Though none of them knew it, their spirit and opportunities would lead them to defy authority and mark their own destinies, just as the young, impish child would grow to walk her own path towards choice. Hester, the mother of Pearl, is the ever watchful sentry. Her assimilation to the government and authority is blatant, as she tries to rein in a fleeting daughter, and

The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, narrates the events of young adulteress Hester Prynne and her secret lover Arthur Dimmesdale – telling a story of lust, guilt, and betrayal. Despite her affair being more passionate than her legal marriage to Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s sinful act ends with a pregnancy which results in disastrous consequences. She is thrown into a crowd of ravenous puritans, vying to save themselves from eternal damnation, and is forced to endure the harsh hypocritical criticism of her peers. Through this emotional pain and suffering Hester raises her child, Pearl, to the best of her abilities, only to be surprised when she ends up as wild and free as the act that conceived her. Pearl’s untamed character is

As far as I am concerned, the society of the 1850 was very religious; many people of that period were believers. Thus, there were many issues happened that influenced Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing style. In that society, the religions was strict, the people were judgmental. The situation was different, thus people’s mind was also thinking in different ways.

Hester’s sin and her recovery from her sin exemplify the morals in The Scarlet Letter. At the beginning of the novel, she commits adultery and is publicly shunned for it. The townspeople, who represent society as a whole in the novel, consider Hester to be a “brazen hussy,” and treat her accordingly (41). They also consider her “fantastically embroidered” letter to be “ignominious” and a symbol of Hester’s “disgrace” (41, 42). By wearing the letter, Hester feels the wrath of the townspeople. During her walk to the scaffold, Hester feels “ an agony from every footstep,” and “as if her heart had been flung into the street for them [the townspeople] all to spurn and trample upon.” (41) The scarlet letter throws Hester into anguish and despair; however, her public suffering eventually leads to her survival. As the novel

Sin and innocence both are found evident in life, with one marking the dark transgression imprinted upon every aching being and the other embellishing the pure, lighter essence every creature has at birth. The two are sharp contrasts that may seem incapable of holding together a single complex being, yet are found in all humans and generally constitute the basis of morals and human nature. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter beautifully weaves a tale of blind revenge, unintentional hypocrisy, and mortal transgressions, presenting the characters’ penitence from said transgressions in the form of a constantly changing Hester Prynne who must face the retribution of her affair with a tormented minister. Through the development of the characters Chillingworth, Dimmesdale, and Hester, Hawthorne illustrates the naturally wicked and flawed, however benevolent and atoning dual nature within man.

In The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthrone looks at three people who all suffer in different ways. Hester Prynne because of her adultery, was driven away by the people of Boston. Roger Chillingworth fueled by his need for revenge rushes into madness. The Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, who is loves by all, is almost pushed into insanity. While it is clear Hester and Chillingworth suffer, Dimmesdale is the one who goes through the worst trial.

Life can be proven to be extremely difficult at many different points; whether people are just finding their place in the world, or they are finally settling down after decades of toil and strain. In the words of American Dramatist Tennessee Williams, “Don’t look forward to the day you stop suffering, because when it comes you’ll know you’re dead.” This quote relates how everyone in the world is constantly suffering in some way, shape, or form and in the Scarlet Letter the situation is no different. The entire novel is based upon simple mistakes made by an array of individuals, and the repercussions of those choices that cause different forms of suffering. Throughout this fictional work, one individual sticks out as one who’s true faith has been tested through suffering, and this individual is Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. His constant suffering throughout the entire book is shown through; the beginning of his practices of vigils, the dilapidation of his health, and Roger Chillingworth’s deep desire for revenge. Along with these aspects, Dimmesdale’s loss of his formal, pious structure have been shown clearly through his complete shift in mindset, making him the character that suffers most throughout this novel.