In the novel, The Scarlet Letter (1850), Nathaniel Hawthorne presents a story about a woman who committed adultery and had a baby, – in other words, sinned – and was harshly scorned and shunned by her Puritan society. The intended purpose of his book was to reveal the hypocrisy of the Puritan society in that rather than forgiving for people’s sins, they heavily shamed them, despite that sinning is inevitable part of human nature. Moreover, Hawthorne reveals his attitude towards his symbolic characters, Hester Prynne and her daughter, Pearl, as well as towards the seventeenth century Puritan society – which reinforces his criticism of the religious institution. Through the use of compassionate and empathetic phrasing, epilogue, and lexical
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Take the epilogue of the scarlet letter as an example of a device he used; he concludes, “the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world’s scorn and bitterness, and became [something] looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too.” The scarlet letter was a clothing piece that the Puritan civilization forced Prynne to wear due to her immoral action as a lifetime, punishment in which they belittled her, and overtime she became a counselor that people seeked advice from. Given that Hawthorne concludes that Hester served as an adviser, it shows that she had her merits of being admirable for putting up with society’s inhumane cruelness as well as being helpful, therefore the writer depicts her as a person that his readers could empathize with. Furthermore, his word choice is empathetic because he describes her as “that sad and lonely mother”, and he does this to accentuate how the distressing issues had long-lasting impact on her, yet she continued to live her life (in sorrow) and pay her penitence. Once again, this reveals that Hester Prynne is a type of character that is persistent and even willingly faces her consequences, a unique trait that Hawthorne prescribes to her, showing that he has a positive attitude towards …show more content…
In the beginning of the paragraph, the speaker rhetorically questions, “But where was little Pearl?”, and provides an epilogue of what eventually happened to Pearl in which he states, “her wild, rich nature had been softened and subdued and made capable of a woman’s gentle happiness.” Because Hawthorne terminates the story by informing his readers that a child of sin eventually did have a happy, pleasant life and he also incorporates a charming, affectionate lexical connotation to Pearl (e.g. “little Pearl”, “elf-child”). For that reason, it is indisputable that the writer generates sense of appreciation and fondness for Pearl given that he ends the story favorable for her and utilizes positively connotated
Take the epilogue of the scarlet letter as an example of a device he used; he concludes, “the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world’s scorn and bitterness, and became [something] looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too.” The scarlet letter was a clothing piece that the Puritan civilization forced Prynne to wear due to her immoral action as a lifetime, punishment in which they belittled her, and overtime she became a counselor that people seeked advice from. Given that Hawthorne concludes that Hester served as an adviser, it shows that she had her merits of being admirable for putting up with society’s inhumane cruelness as well as being helpful, therefore the writer depicts her as a person that his readers could empathize with. Furthermore, his word choice is empathetic because he describes her as “that sad and lonely mother”, and he does this to accentuate how the distressing issues had long-lasting impact on her, yet she continued to live her life (in sorrow) and pay her penitence. Once again, this reveals that Hester Prynne is a type of character that is persistent and even willingly faces her consequences, a unique trait that Hawthorne prescribes to her, showing that he has a positive attitude towards …show more content…
In the beginning of the paragraph, the speaker rhetorically questions, “But where was little Pearl?”, and provides an epilogue of what eventually happened to Pearl in which he states, “her wild, rich nature had been softened and subdued and made capable of a woman’s gentle happiness.” Because Hawthorne terminates the story by informing his readers that a child of sin eventually did have a happy, pleasant life and he also incorporates a charming, affectionate lexical connotation to Pearl (e.g. “little Pearl”, “elf-child”). For that reason, it is indisputable that the writer generates sense of appreciation and fondness for Pearl given that he ends the story favorable for her and utilizes positively connotated