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“A mockery at which angels blushed and wept, while fiends rejoiced, with jeering laughter” (Hawthorne 101). The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the article “Concerns Raised on ‘Scarlet Letter’ for Drunk Drivers,” by Toni Locy, both provided very different examples of public shaming. Both show the pros and cons of shaming by either telling a story or explaining people’s opinions. The Scarlet Letter provides a historic view on shaming during the Puritan times. A woman named Hester is…

"On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A" ( Hawthorne 45). In the book, The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is a woman convicted of adultery and who must wear the letter A upon her chest for her sin. The reader may assume that Hester is a coward who refuses to show her face in town after this incident but instead, Hester is a strong leader because of her ability to be honest about her sin…

Throughout The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne faced an adultery scandal. While reading the novel you discover that towards the end the meaning of her sin has changed. Hester committed a sin with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and had a baby. Once that sin was committed she has to wear the letter ‘A’ on her chest and face public humiliation. In a small town in Boston it's wrong to have interactions with someone while you are married. Fortunately for Hester, her and Dimmesdale perpetrated this sin and…

In this riveting novel, Nathaniel Hawthorne explored the ideas of Adultery and he chose different quotes to express the meanings of the story. In this quote they are talking about the puritan prisoners and how they were when they were in prison and not just that but there are roses growing just beside the door and its explaining that even though they are prisoners there’s still roses growing near the door. Hester Prynne wears the scarlet letter for being accused of sleeping with a married man;…

The Scarlet Letter as Hypocritical Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet letter is a book of great symbolism. This book is about how society treats, and punishes a woman who have committed adultery. The plot of the book that follows the life of the main character, Hester and her daughter, Pearl. In the meantime, there are a few other main characters that are play a big role in hester’s life. These characters are the preacher of the town, Dimmesdale, and the doctor of the town, Chillingworth.…

The Symbols of a lifetime Symbols are used around us rather it be the business logos or colors. Throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter there are many symbols. The three that the reader will be informed about will be Pearl the product of the sin between Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, the scarlet letter “A”, the sign for adultery, and Roger Chillingworth, a doctor bent on revenge. Pearl is the illegitimate daughter of Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne who was conceived…

“But she named her infant “Pearl,” as being a great price- purchased with all she has- her mother’s only pleasure.” The Scarlet Letter is one of many books wrote to teach the values of many possessions. But Hester’s scarlet letter is something much different. Hawthorne conveys the two central ideas of Sin and Temptation, and the Judgment of the Puritan Society to impact how the puritans believe everyone is born a sinner and how society judges them. The development of characters, setting, and…

infant closely to her bosom’(80) so that the symbol of her malfeasance, the scarlet letter she wears upon her chest, would be obscured and she would fit into the Puritanical paradigm of normal. However, she ceases trying to conform and wears her A as a badge of her individuality, and simultaneously Hawthorne elevates her above the populace of the town by placing her on a scaffold. In this way, Hawthorne insinuates that her assertion of individuality leads to her transcendence, both literally and…

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…

The scarlet letter is supposed to be a symbol of dishonor; however, Hester Prynne turns the meaning around, and it becomes a symbol to distinguish her. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter shows that one should not flee from sin but should take it on directly. Puritans came to the New World to change the rules; however, committing adultery was not one of them and is still looked at as a terrible sin. Adultery is the sin of being unfaithful and cheating on one’s partner. Even though Hester is…