Responses to situations, power, and people, diversify over all characters, yet it is often overlooked by casual readers. Sensibility is commonly defined as “peculiar or excessive susceptibility to pleasurable or painful impression”, therefore; a character’s level of sensibility will affect their responses to a situation. The concept of sensibility can be used in terms of power and demonstrated through a hierarchy developed in the novel. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the Puritan society has a harsh, “iron fist”-like impact on their people, displaying their power over them. Yet, the Puritans during the 1642 setting in Boston, create an ironic impression in the novel. The Puritan ideals follow a concept of purification of people
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On the way to Governor Bellingham’s mansion, Pearl passes a couple young children who wish to fling mud at her and her mother. Pearl, being the “dauntless” child she is, begins “...stamping her feet, and shaking her little hand with a variety of threatening gestures.” She screamed at a “terrific volume” which caused “the hearts of the fugitives to quake within them” on page 90. After the act, Pearl returns smiling up at her mother. Not only did Pearl perform countless negative, demonic acts to children and others, she feels pride and happiness from it. Once visiting with the governor, Dimmesdale describes Pearl by saying “the little baggage hath witchcraft”. Not only do average citizens view Pearl in such a way, the reverend feels the same. In the novel, Pearl is clearly Hester’s child of sin. Not so clearly, Pearl is Hester’s truth. Hester’s sensibility to Pearl is great, considering the effect Pearl has on her life and reputation. In the novel, sensibility to represented as a power factor. Power is a large attribute to the development of the characters and plot, but sensibility focuses on how power influenced character’s responses. Hester is extremely sensible to “painful …show more content…
Out of the five senses, touch, taste, smell, hear, and see, hearing or seeing is the most important. Although they all play an important part in developing sensibility, taste may be the least important. In the book, instead of literal ‘taste’ there is more symbolic taste. In the Chapter “The Leech and his Patient”, Roger is getting his revenge on DImmesdale. Even with him already suffering, Roger is getting a ‘taste’ of revenge. Guilt also may be symbolic with taste. In the final scaffold scene, Dimmesdale confesses for his “own heavy sin”, because he had been tasting guilt for a long while before. Smell often connects people to a certain place or memory. A character, such as Hester, may be sensible while on the scaffold if it had a distinct smell. Although it is not thoroughly described in the book, smell is a subtle attribute to a character’s response. In the chapter “A Forest Walk”, Hester and Dimmesdale might of been sensible to the pleasurable smell of the woods which caused them to discuss their emotions. Touch is an extraordinary sense that detects danger, please, comfort, and many other sensations. In the first chapter, when Hester clutches Pearl to her chest, Pearl is sensible to her mother while feeling a sense of being trapped or perhaps comfort. Touching also is a sense that’s constantly in action and controls relationships between
On the way to Governor Bellingham’s mansion, Pearl passes a couple young children who wish to fling mud at her and her mother. Pearl, being the “dauntless” child she is, begins “...stamping her feet, and shaking her little hand with a variety of threatening gestures.” She screamed at a “terrific volume” which caused “the hearts of the fugitives to quake within them” on page 90. After the act, Pearl returns smiling up at her mother. Not only did Pearl perform countless negative, demonic acts to children and others, she feels pride and happiness from it. Once visiting with the governor, Dimmesdale describes Pearl by saying “the little baggage hath witchcraft”. Not only do average citizens view Pearl in such a way, the reverend feels the same. In the novel, Pearl is clearly Hester’s child of sin. Not so clearly, Pearl is Hester’s truth. Hester’s sensibility to Pearl is great, considering the effect Pearl has on her life and reputation. In the novel, sensibility to represented as a power factor. Power is a large attribute to the development of the characters and plot, but sensibility focuses on how power influenced character’s responses. Hester is extremely sensible to “painful …show more content…
Out of the five senses, touch, taste, smell, hear, and see, hearing or seeing is the most important. Although they all play an important part in developing sensibility, taste may be the least important. In the book, instead of literal ‘taste’ there is more symbolic taste. In the Chapter “The Leech and his Patient”, Roger is getting his revenge on DImmesdale. Even with him already suffering, Roger is getting a ‘taste’ of revenge. Guilt also may be symbolic with taste. In the final scaffold scene, Dimmesdale confesses for his “own heavy sin”, because he had been tasting guilt for a long while before. Smell often connects people to a certain place or memory. A character, such as Hester, may be sensible while on the scaffold if it had a distinct smell. Although it is not thoroughly described in the book, smell is a subtle attribute to a character’s response. In the chapter “A Forest Walk”, Hester and Dimmesdale might of been sensible to the pleasurable smell of the woods which caused them to discuss their emotions. Touch is an extraordinary sense that detects danger, please, comfort, and many other sensations. In the first chapter, when Hester clutches Pearl to her chest, Pearl is sensible to her mother while feeling a sense of being trapped or perhaps comfort. Touching also is a sense that’s constantly in action and controls relationships between