Misconceptions Of Puritanical Society In The Scarlett Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

““There was witchcraft in little Pearl’s eyes, and her face, as she glanced upward at the minister, wore that naughty smile which made its expression frequently so elvish.” (Hawthorne 145) This, is a misleading description that Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts of Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne, in his classic novel The Scarlet Letter. Pearl is the living product of sin for her mother. Born out of wedlock, Pearl is a unique child that tends to be very moody and unpredictable. However, Pearl, at such a young age, demonstrates outstanding knowledge and exhibits curiosity to her mother’s scarlet letter, and the hypocrisy of Puritan society. Although Pearl portrays devilish characteristics and performs mischievous behaviour, she

Why is sin important? It is believed that sin is important to people because their deity places guilt on their wrongdoings to show that those actions are not to be repeated. In contrary to this belief, there are people with religious views that hold no importance with sin. Depending on the individual’s religious views, sin can be a conflict between oneself and a “higher” being or it can not affect the individual at all. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Arthur Dimmesdale is an ordained Puritan priest that had committed a grave sin in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He had committed adultery with a married woman, Hester, the woman that is married to Roger Chillingworth. After Chillingworth has heard about this news, he seeks

To start the book, we find that a young woman has committed adultery and when standing in front of a mocking crowd, she is ashamed of her actions. Continuing through the book we find that the adulteress, Hester Prynne, displays many examples of positive outcomes arising from negative situations. She becomes more and more aware of the faults of society and becomes wiser as she deals with the consequences of her actions. Even though Hester made a terrible decision that came with many extremely negative effects, she gained personality traits, perceptions, and people that rose from her mistake.

Surveillance can be considered the act of being watched under a close eye and can have either a positive or negative effect on a person. Some individuals feel more at ease knowing that someone is always there watching which is to create a supposedly safe environment. Others feel pressure from society or their peers to live up to their respected positions and morals of the society, much like Dimmesdale, which causes extreme paranoia. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Dimmesdale is an example that demonstrates negative effects that surveillance can have on a person. In the romance, Dimmesdale is faced with both his own surveillance and Chillingworth’s surveillance. However, Dimmesdale’s own scrutiny causes more damage to himself than Chillingworth’s does.

All of the major characters in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne are dynamic and go through some form of character development. Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, who are at the forefront of the central conflict in the plot of the novel, are no exception. While their respective evolutions in character were noticeably different, each was emphasized by the three scaffold scenes. The differences of Hester and Dimmesdale’s respective character developments are highlighted and emphasized by the three scaffold scenes in the novel.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was quite progressive for his time and his novel, The Scarlet Letter, is a wonderful example of this. Before he married his wife, Sophia Peabody, Hawthorne joined Brook Farm, a transcendentalist group (Nathaniel Hawthorne). According to Merriam Webster, transcendentalism is, “a philosophy that emphasizes the a priori conditions of knowledge and experience or the unknowable character of ultimate reality or that emphasizes the transcendent as the fundamental reality” (“Transcendentalism”). Put simply, transcendentalists thought that intuition and knowledge of ourselves is more a more important reality than the scientific, sensual reality. As a group, these people held very progressive views on women’s rights, education,

Short Summary: Hester and Pearl are waiting in the forest for the minister. Hester learns that Dimmesdale is going to be returning from a trip that afternoon and she'll be able cross paths with him in the woods. On the way there, Pearl makes the observation that the sun "does not love" Hester and won't shine on her. Pearl dances around, enjoying the sun. Additionally, while they wait at the forest, Pearl asks Hester to tell her a story about the "Black Man.” since she has heard a story about witches like old Mistress Hibbins meeting with the Black Man in the woods and performing various satanic rituals. However, when Hester seeing Dimmesdale near, she asks the Pearl to

Children have sponge-like mindsets that are full of curiosity and through each negative and positive encounter, they are able to learn from their experiences. Through their experiences, they are able to be more perceptive about their surroundings and are more honest than adults because they do not know what they say is either right or wrong. Children differ from adults in their potential for expressing these perceptions because they are not afraid to say or express anything but the truth. The children in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, are presented as more perceptive and honest than adults due to their actions of perceiving Hester’s scarlet letter, expressing their opinions without knowing if it is right or wrong, and their willingness to ask questions. In the Scarlet Letter, Hester’s daughter, Pearl, has a willingness to ask questions about the scarlet letter on Hesters chest to help her have a better understanding of why her mother wears it. Pearl shows how different a childs mind is from an adults since she does not understand the mark on her mother 's chest is a punishment. Children are able to be more perceptive and honest than adults because they express their ideas out loud without knowing if it is either correct or incorrect; despite how rude it might be. The ideas that children pick up are usually picked up by the action of their parents. Children are shown to be blunt and innocent because they are young and curious about everything leading them

Furthermore, Hawthorne uses Hester’s Cabin to add to the theme of imperfection. Hester’s Cabin represents Hester. It symbolizes how she is on the line between good and evil and society and nature with the physical placement of Hester’s Cabin being on the edge between the town and the forest. Hawthorne uses Hester’s Cabin to show the reader Hester’s state of mind. He describes the Cabin’s location when he says,”On the outskirts of the town … was a small thatched cottage … on the shore … A clump of scrubby trees”(Hawthorne 74). By being on the outskirts of town Hester’s Cabin shows how disconnected Hester is from society. In describing the Cabin as partially hidden by trees, Hawthorne show how close Hester is to evil. Hawthorne displays exactly what mental place Hester is in after leaving the prison. Hester is still good and part of the town, but is surrounded by evil.

Hester Prynne, the mother of Pearl, is guilty of Adultery. She reveals this to the world by embroidering a scarlet letter A on her blouse. While she stood on the scaffold in front of the town the letter seemed to shine so brightly, as to draw all eyes to the letter and nothing else. The light was only part of her repentance for her sin, having revealed it publicly. The light is almost harmful to Hester, as she had began to hallucinate whilst in the presence of the small town wondering if she was in a dream. Hester has then changed her outer appearance to attempt to ease the attention that

The main idea of The Scarlett Letter novel is “sin and its impacts” on both individual and society which is demonstrated through its characters Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth. This main idea hailed from the author’s deep rooted puritanism. Hawthorne illustrated different levels of his main idea through his three characters. Each of the main characters are guilty of one kind of sin such as sin of adultery (Hester Prynne), sin of hypocrisy (Arthur Dimmesdale) and sin of vengeance (Roger Chillingworth).

“Her attire, which, indeed, she had wrought for the occasion, in prison…seemed to express the attitude of her spirit” (Hawthorne 51). The Scarlet Letter explores the strict relationship between religion and law. By the mid 1630’s many Puritans settled in Boston, Massachusetts, from England. The villages where they settled often included houses, a community garden and a meetinghouse where church services were held. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter utilizes the late 1600’s to reflect on how the church would deal with serious issues including adultery. This raises the question: how does Hawthorne develop characters to express the corruption of the 1600s and the relationship between church and government? Through the developing of key

Hawthorne uses Hester as an expression of rebellion of Puritan ways by how she is forced to wear the letter on her chest which gives her the feeling of redemption although it doesn’t spiritually redeem her. Hester felt like she was alone in the book because the letter “Had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and inclosing her in a sphere by herself.” (Hawthorne 37). The letter made her feel alone so by the end of the book she felt like she served her time and when the letter went from meaning “Adulterer” to “Able” and she felt redeemed for it although she wasn’t actually redeemed spiritually. Hester wore the letter on her bosom however “The scarlet letter had not done its office” (114) because it didn’t actually redeem her it just made her feel better about what she had done. In her eyes she didn’t feel like she had done anything wrong although the definition of redeem is compensation for the faults of something or someone. She

The details and setting are important when describing a place in a novel. Nature is extremely useful when conveying emotions of a character without the author having to say it. In The Scarlet Letter, the nature around them plays a large role in showing the characters emotions. The nature that Nathaniel Hawthorne describes in the novel reflects the views and opinions on life and religion of each character. The forest that Hester and Dimmesdale go to is seen as peaceful to some people, but ominous to most of the Puritans.

Nathaniel Hawthorne never fit in anywhere, he moved from Salem, Massachusetts to Maine after his father died at sea. Hawthorne looked for comfort and belonging, he eventually found this in writing. Nathaniel Hawthorne's writing were written with purpose, hard work, and dedication, which eventually led him to become famous.