Badge of shame

The Scarlet Letter “Guilt is the most painful companion of death,” said the Coco Channel. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s essay, The Scarlet Letter, this is but one of the major themes he explores in a Puritan society. For throughout his story, we see the major theme of a Puritan society, and how this society meshes with the idea of sin, guilt, and hypocrisy. Hawthorne gives us his representation on the ideas of a Puritan society by associating a number of themes within his story, making The Scarlet…

Contrary to popular belief, punishments can be beneficial. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter displays one example of this situation. The Scarlet Letter is about Hester Prynne, who committed adultery, and now must wear a scarlet letter. Guilt is consuming Arthur Dimmesdale, who also committed adultery, and remains unidentified until the end. The child that was borne from Hester, named Pearl, is an exact representation of the scarlet letter. The symbol of the “A” represents Pearl’s sinful…

originates from Hester’s affair with Arthur Dimmesdale while she is married to Roger Chillingworth, resulting in her pregnancy. Although the “A” worn by Hester Prynne initially stands for adultery to represent her sins, nevertheless Hester ignores the shame society inflicts upon her because she strives to change the symbolic meaning of the “A” to something that showcases her ability to raise her daughter. After learning of her sinful actions, the town sought to publicly punish Hester by forcing…

We as a collective often has a desire of fitting in a certain group, and being ostracized may make us discover ourselves to a further extent. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, portrays the protagonist, Hester Prynne, besmirched with a letter ‘A’ on her chest symbolizing her adultery and a sign of her sin. Throughout the play, Hester’s hardships of judgment and discrimination of the letter transitions her to a remarkable strength and courage. This individuals transition throughout the…

From the point during which Hester and Pearl first stood on the scaffold until seven years later when she contemplated leaving the hostile town, the scarlet letter Hester wore upon her bosom changed in meaning. The antagonistic townspeople outside the prison where Hester first stood on the scaffold were so disgusted by her sin they suggested harsh punishments including branding her and claiming she, “ought to die” (Hawthorne 36). This was the first encounter that demonstrated the society was…

Michael Jackson once said, “The meaning of life is contained in every single expression of life. It is present in the infinity of forms and phenomena that exist in all of creation.” Everyone on this earth has a sole purpose for existing. The reason sometimes comes at a young or old age. Even if someone feels as if they do not serve a purpose on this earth, a reason is there but not always visible. In the Scarlet Letter Pearl is an everyday reminder for Hester and Dimmesdale that they committed…

There are five things particularly depicted as red in the story: Ethan's scar, the "cherry-coloured scarf," Mattie's "cherry hued scarf," the famous pickle dish, the Mattie's "crimsons ribbon”. With these eight symbols the color red is likewise a player in symbols all basing on the shading red. The shading red is frequently identified with yearning love, enticement, sin, enthusiasm, warmth, and desire. Another color is white, with the color white you would think of purity and angelic figures.…

The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter is a book written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The book is about a young woman named Hester Prynne, who has recently moved from England to America. The plan was for her to go on ahead while her husband stayed for a little while and got their affairs in order. After not hearing from or of him for a long time she assumed that he had either stayed in England or perished at sea and decided to move on with her life. She developed a secret relationship…

whilst her husband was away for multiple years. As her punishment, she is instructed to wear a large letter ‘A’ upon her bosom until her last breath. In the Scarlet Letter, the letter A Hester bears upon her bosom begins as a representation of Hester’s shame, but ultimately…

for the parishioners.In the beginning of the novel, the letter is a symbol of shame. It is just a reminder of adultery and moreover found the secret vision. Now she see not only the evident sin in the passers-by but also the one hidden in their hearts. As has been already noted, the character of Hester is not so simple, so the logic of the evolution dictates her personality and dictates a change to the symbol of “shame”. Hester is more clearly aware that the mark is also her greatest…