The Scarlet Letter Essay

Hawthorne utilizes the gloomy and unfortunate scenarios and settings of The Scarlet Letter to establish the sin oriented and hypocritical themes of his bleak novel. Hawthorne first establishes the sensitive theme of sin within the beginning scenes of The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne employs Hester’s public humiliation to illustrate her sin. Hawthorne describes Hester as wearing the luminous and scarlet letter “A”, and how the letter takes “her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and…

Self Destruction in The Scarlet Letter In the book The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne the theme of self destruction is extremely prevalent. Even though, some say that punishment imposed by others is worse, guilt that is imposed on oneself is more destructive. Reverend Dimmesdale is epitome for self destruction. Dimmesdale committed a sin and was too much of a coward to admit to it so in return he was literally killing himself because he couldn't handle the immense guilt. Whereas Hester…

The Scarlet Letter was written in 1850 by Nathaniel Hawthorne, almost one hundred years earlier (Britannica). Both can compare and contrast in many different aspects. The Crucible and The Scarlet letter can be compared in three ways and contrasted in three ways: by strong female prescence and influence, male struggle over adultery and sin, death with honesty, symbolism throughout the text, female personalities, and the love story aspect. First of…

A sin is portrayed as a shameful thing, or is it? Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, is a fictional novel, published in 1850. In the seventh - century in Massachusetts, where the novel takes place, is in a deep rooted Puritan town of Salem. A new young mother to the community, Hester Prynne, has been punished among her Puritan community to be marked with a red letter A on her dress that carries shame and recognition along with it. Hester’s community demand to know who the father is…

Gateway to Light and Freedom According to Greek Historian Thucydides, “The secret to happiness is freedom... And the secret to freedom is courage”. An integral part of one’s thoughts and human nature is to obtain freedom. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a prime example of this driving force in human nature. Both Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale have flaws that they find ways to conceal, but realize that their attitudes will lead to their demise. Dimmesdale, a minister of the…

According to Telegraph, one of the top 15 North American Novels is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s the Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an adulterous affair with the reverend, Arthur Dimmesdale, while her husband is away and struggle to build a new life of repentance and dignity. A popular example of Gothic Romanticism, The Scarlet Letter, is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s critically acclaimed portrayal pf the effects of sin and punishment during…

isolated and since no one wants to be around you also have to live in confinement. This is the case for Hester Prynne, the main character in the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Because of the Puritan community that she lives in, when she commits the crime of adultery Hester is thrown into the pit of isolation. She is forced to wear a scarlet A on her chest to represent the evil inside of her, yet she does well. The only person the town condemns her to communicate with is her…

more softly, a young wife, holding a child by the hand, "let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart", claimed a townswomen in The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne p. 36). Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, her lover, are punished publicly and privately because of the sins they committed. In the Scarlet Letter, the use of the characterization of Hester and Dimmesdale demonstrate that private punishment is stronger than personal punishment. Hester suffers from many…

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the imagery of light and darkness are portrayed through many characters that either open up to the new world or get consumed by its evil. In chapter XVIII, “A Flood of Sunshine,” Hester Prynne finds light when she takes off her letter, while Arthur Dimmesdale struggles to find this light like Hester and stays in the darkness. The comparison between these two characters shows the complexity, juxtaposition and sources of their internal strengths.…

provides the biggest intimation in his fictional novel, The Scarlet Letter, to shape the path of the characters. He introduces Hester Prynne living in a faithful Puritan world that degrades her because of her misdeed. Hawthorne illustrates a brighter rosebush in a dark environment that guides characters from shame to redemption. Although the rosebush can be seen as an aspiration within the darkness through the eyes of the prisoners, its scarlet luminosity embodies a token of sin; yet, the vile…