1. The Scarlet Letter is a fictional historical romance novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
2. In The Scarlet Letter, the protagonist, Hester Prynne has been accused of adultery in her Puritan society, in Boston, Massachusetts. The novel opens with the narrator discussing the Custom House and his discovery of the story of Hester Prynne. Following this introduction, the story flashes back to the time of Hester Prynne. She is going from the prison to the town scaffold with onlookers watching her journey. One of these onlookers is an elderly man, who is later found out to be Hester Prynne’s ex-husband, who was thought to be lost. After Hester refuses to divulge the name of her secret lover, she is led back to prison, where she meets her …show more content…
The main themes of The Scarlet Letter are Night versus Day and sexism against females. The idea that the clergy can do no wrong is satirized in the novel as well. The theme of night versus day is shown when Mr. Dimmesdale, Hester Pryne, and Pearl meet on the scaffold. The dark night allows them to meet without fear of incrimination from the other townsfolk, whereas during the day, they would have been caught and gotten in trouble. Sexism against females is shown in the novel when after Dimmesdale has returned from the forest, he encounters several females, who tempt him to do wrong. It is also shown when after Dimmesdale has died and the town knows his sin, they still believe he is a hero, even though when Hester was convicted of the same crime, she was ostracized. The clergy who are always right and pure is satirized in the novel through the town’s perception of Mr. Dimmesdale. Even after his black glove is discovered on the scaffold, the town does not believe that he was there. Instead, they believe that Satan took the glove to frame Dimmesdale. This view is also satirized after Dimmesdale’s Election Day sermon when they still idolize him even though he was a sinner. These themes and criticisms are found throughout the
2. In The Scarlet Letter, the protagonist, Hester Prynne has been accused of adultery in her Puritan society, in Boston, Massachusetts. The novel opens with the narrator discussing the Custom House and his discovery of the story of Hester Prynne. Following this introduction, the story flashes back to the time of Hester Prynne. She is going from the prison to the town scaffold with onlookers watching her journey. One of these onlookers is an elderly man, who is later found out to be Hester Prynne’s ex-husband, who was thought to be lost. After Hester refuses to divulge the name of her secret lover, she is led back to prison, where she meets her …show more content…
The main themes of The Scarlet Letter are Night versus Day and sexism against females. The idea that the clergy can do no wrong is satirized in the novel as well. The theme of night versus day is shown when Mr. Dimmesdale, Hester Pryne, and Pearl meet on the scaffold. The dark night allows them to meet without fear of incrimination from the other townsfolk, whereas during the day, they would have been caught and gotten in trouble. Sexism against females is shown in the novel when after Dimmesdale has returned from the forest, he encounters several females, who tempt him to do wrong. It is also shown when after Dimmesdale has died and the town knows his sin, they still believe he is a hero, even though when Hester was convicted of the same crime, she was ostracized. The clergy who are always right and pure is satirized in the novel through the town’s perception of Mr. Dimmesdale. Even after his black glove is discovered on the scaffold, the town does not believe that he was there. Instead, they believe that Satan took the glove to frame Dimmesdale. This view is also satirized after Dimmesdale’s Election Day sermon when they still idolize him even though he was a sinner. These themes and criticisms are found throughout the