The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is about Hester Prynne, who’s the protagonist. Overall, she has been branded with the letter A, which signifies adultery, for the wrong that she has done in her life. For the rest of her life, and till death, she is forced to wear forever her public shame. Now, in the society that we live in currently, people aren’t branded, but if I was branded with a letter that shows my flaw, what would it be? What letter would I have that would shame for the rest of…
Transformation in The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays Reverend Dimmesdale as a man who cowardly strays away from the truth and cannot manage the shame that he has brought upon himself in The Scarlet Letter. In a moment of vulnerability, Dimmesdale falls in love with Hester Prynne who then bores his child, even though they are not married. In the eyes of this puritanical community, Hester has sinned against God. To punish her, the heads of the town force her to wear a scarlet “A” for…
1. The sin Hester Prynne commits is adultery, one of the gravest sins a person could commit in the 17th century puritan society of New England. Hester’s immediate punishment is that she has to wear the scarlet letter, and face the social ridicule that comes with it. Hester will never be able to blend in with the society around her, and instead be required to bear the consequences of her sin at all times. Hester, being cut off from mainstream society moves in to a small cottage outside of…
The Effects of Symbolism The Scarlet Letter is the magnum opus of Nathaniel Hawthorne and one of the most groundbreaking creations in American literature. As Hawthorne takes a society established to be a role model for all other immigrants like a City upon a Hill, he challenged the religious and political basis that formed our great nation. Simultaneously he discusses the morality, and moreover the immorality of the human race as a whole. The Scarlet Letter as a whole is an allegory of sin and…
“...if truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom...” (71). The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, principally focuses on humans sinning, which is a concept of Anti-Transcendentalism: where every person is recognized as having both a good side and a bad side. As for literary techniques, Hawthorne brilliantly displays symbolism in the setting, multiple occasions of foreshadowing, and, of course, an Anti-Transcendentalistic theme. Aspects of the…
Wang, Yamin. A Representative of the New Female Image- Analyzing Hester Prynne 's consciousness in The Scarlet Letter. Finland 2010. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, We. April 25 2016. In Yamin Wang’s literary citizen of hester Prynne she calls Hester the representative of the ‘New Female Image.’ Primarily Wang speaks about the development of the female images beginning with the traditional female image. This traditional image is split up into two images; one being praiseworthy…
Maya Seckler 10.23.15 Living on the Edge Who sets the social standards in a society: the people or the institution? Do individuals have real influence or do they blindly follow along? Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter, explores the individual versus society through the lense of Puritan life in the 1600s. Hawthorne not only criticizes society in general but also specifically targets authority by making the Church seem hypocritical. In the novel, Hester Prynne, a woman living in…
the stage she was being scorned at by all the townsfolk, her baby in her arms. The light was shining bright upon them, it seemed that it was shining brighter on Hester and Pearl then the rest of the crowd. They were illuminated along with the Scarlet Letter, beautifully stitched upon her breast shining with the help of the strong rays of light. The light was affecting Pearl so much that she was forced to turn away from the sun in her mother's arms in an attempt to protect herself. The other…
person she loves. Although some of Hester Prynne’s actions might seem uncanny, She is still the victim in the novel the Scarlet letter because she is outcast from the society. Hester suffered being abandoned from her society. Nathaniel Hawthorne, In this book “ The Scarlet Letter” writes that ”On the outskirts of town,…
Miller created two literary works that were set in the early days of the Puritan religion. The novel, which is the Scarlet Letter, is a literary work about a woman committing her sin and living it on a day to day basis. The Crucible, is a play that is about false accusations against people who have to pay the ultimate price, which is death, for these allegations. The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible have kindred attributes, such as views of religion, dealings of sin, and identity. The views of…