Chapter 1: The Prison Door Setting: Boston, Ma 1600’s Puritan Society- Harsh punishing, simple lifestyle, repressiveness. Plot: A crowd of people gather around the town prison and watch the door…
The three works by Nathaniel Hawthorne all have overlapping themes, characters, settings, symbols, and plots. To begin, the major theme behind the stories is sin. This is evident in The Scarlet Letter through Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne's adultery. In "The Minister's Black Veil" by the minister hiding his face to represent that the entire world in hiding behind their own black veils, or sins. In "Young Goodman Brown", does not trust anyone because of their hiding sins.…
In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne there are many concepts that show throughout the book. Some of the concepts are judgment and isolation, these two concepts show up the most throughout the book mostly with Hester. It is either that Hester is being judged about her crime and sin she had committed. Also Hester sometimes feels that she has to isolate herself from the rest of the colony because she is sort of an outcast. Hester Prynne is not the only character in the book that shows these concepts so does Pearl, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth.…
Making scarifies is a hard thing for anyone to do. Even so there are many examples of character forfeiting something in the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. No one though sacrificed more than Hester Prynne. Hester deals with many trials and tribulations throughout the book; she sacrifices her freedom, continues to do charity work, and most of all she gives up her own happiness; and all of these things greatly reflects her character.…
Character development shows how a character changes negatively or positively. Also, how they can respond to helpful or harmful comments or actions. Hester is a very strong and respectful person. She is very thoughtful, because she donated food and clothes to people who were in need. Even though she committed a crime of adultery, and was humiliated.…
There are many reoccurring themes in literature and one of those themes is the war between passion and responsibility. For example, A character’s personal cause, love, desire for revenge, determination to redress a wrong, or some other emotion may conflict with their moral duty. In the novel, The Scarlet letter, Hester Prynne, Reverend Author Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth are used to portray this theme. They all have their own duties and responsibilities yet they let their passions come between what is right. Hester Prynne is the main character of The Scarlet Letter and her story starts in Boston where she was suppose to be waiting for her arranged husband, Roger Chillingworth.…
Most of the novel is full of hidden secrecy, and it is first seen before the first scaffold scene when Hester spots Roger Chillingworth at the edge of the crowd. His character darkens “like a snake gliding swiftly over them,” (58) and finally “subsided into the depths of his nature.” (58). Hawthorne uses simile when comparing Chillingworth to the snake, because snakes are both in nature and historically seen as wicked and secretive creatures. The fact that Chillingworth is described like a snake shows how he has a hidden secret that recedes into the “depths of his nature,” just as quickly it came.…
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the 1850s, takes place in the Massachusetts in the seventeenth century. During this time, the land is dominated by a Puritan society and ruled by their strict beliefs. Hester Prynne, a woman originally from England, travels to Boston alone. Her husband, Roger Chillingworth, is expected to follow, but manages to be captured on the sea by Indians. He comes back after two years to find his wife on display before the town.…
Why are some sins put on a pedestal in our society while others are ignored? In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, protagonist Hester Prynne is shunned by a condemnatory Puritan society when her sin is discovered. Dimmesdale is protected by Hester and when he finally revealed that he was her lover, the town was far more forgiving than he had anticipated. In modern society, adulterers are not forced to display the letter A on their chest or stand on a scaffold to be publicly shamed, but the underlying concept is still prevalent. An example of this that possesses many parallels to The Scarlet Letter is the "Lewinsky Scandal” that emerged in 1998.…
Every society has certain standards and social norms which are acceptable and those which are not. As a result, people often will conform to comply with the standards which are socially acceptable. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, conformity is a central theme demonstrated by several characters. One character in particular who is plagued with guilt and tries to conform is Arthur Dimmesdale. This character experiences tension between conforming outwardly while questioning inwardly.…
The Scarlet Letter Draft “All greatness of character is dependent on individuality. The man who has no other existence than that which he partakes in common with all around him, will never have any other than an existence of mediocrity”-James Fenimore Cooper. Throughout the Romantic novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne establishes the idea individuality and conformity and how it defines one’s identity. By utilizing a cast of characters such as the young adultress, Hester Prynne and her secret lover, and young minister Arthur Dimmesdale, Hawthornes illustrates the internal struggle concerning one’s identity and position in society.…
Though thought of a rigid and austere, in the case of the Scarlet Letter, a development is evident. The “A” is initially thought of a symbol of sin, it’s intended purpose. However, with Hester’s transformation into a better person, the Puritan community gradually shift their belief: “ … the scarlet letter cease[s] to be a stigma … and [becomes] looked upon with awe, yet with reverence, too” (234). The heroine uses the lessons the scarlet letter teaches her and bestows them on the rest of the community. By improving herself, Hester also improves her community and can positively alter how society perceives the…
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was written in a time when conformity was necessary for survival, while individuality was condemned. Hester Prynne is conflicted with the need to conform to the Puritan society and the desire to be an individual. These opposing factors illuminate Hawthorne’s meaning that one must eventually look past the conformity and find, as well as embrace their individual identity. Within the Puritan society, it is vital to conform in order to survive. The community sets a high level of conformity of the principles that make life possible among individuals with competing desires and contrary views of the world, such as those of Hester Prynne.…
Symbolism has been in human history since the very beginning, especially in books and poems. It is a way to teach and reach a better understanding of our world or an idea. Nathaniel Hawthorne provides many examples of symbolism in his novel, The Scarlet Letter. Every character provides a different idea, but they are all related and share the topic of sin. You might ask what the scarlet letter, the central symbol of the book, could mean.…
Universal Truths of the Human Condition The Scarlet Letter, although written in the 1850’s, continues to speak truly about many universal truths of the human condition. The Novel displays all-consuming effects of guilt on a sinner and how it can be worse than the punishment itself, although religion can guide a person, it can not guide a government, and that no person is without sin. As displayed by Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, guilt can affect a person worse than the punishment for the crime. After committing adultery, Dimmesdale attempts to keep it hidden from the community for fear of execution.…