Badge of shame

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, sin and repentance are recurring topics, depicted in the novel’s three main characters. Each can be accused of immorality, and each suffers differently as a result of their offenses, however, only one individual clearly repents of his sins. Throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the theme of sin and repentance is apparent in the characters of Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, and Arthur Dimmesdale. During the entirety of the novel,…

Moreover, another characteristic of romanticism that connects to the three stories “The Scarlet Letter”, “The Minister’s Black Veil”, and “The Devil and Tom Walker” is individualism. Individualism is shown throughout these stories in different ways. In the story “The Scarlet Letter”, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows individuality in Hester. He showed Hester’s individualism by making her the only one to wear the scarlet letter “A” and also making her different from everyone else. Even though the letter…

Symbolism has been in human history since the very beginning, especially in books and poems. It is a way to teach and reach a better understanding of our world or an idea. Nathaniel Hawthorne provides many examples of symbolism in his novel, The Scarlet Letter. Every character provides a different idea, but they are all related and share the topic of sin. You might ask what the scarlet letter, the central symbol of the book, could mean. The Scarlet Letter was a symbol that right after you see it…

gold thread” showcasing her sins (41). The over zealous townsfolk see her as a sacrilegious woman. For years she attempts to redeem herself by performing good deed after good deed. Soon society does not seem so far away. Starting off as a symbol of shame and punishment, the scarlet letter later serves as a token…

should have. In order to control her image she mustn't take the letter off. Taking the letter off will prove she is weak and that societies thoughts define her. The letter represents society in the sense that its meant to provide embarrassment and shame which is how society sees her. Hester has the ability to change the letters meaning through her own actions and intentions.…

“But she [Hester] had named the infant “Pearl,” as being of great price, - purchased with all she had, - her mother's only treasure!” writes Nathaniel Hawthorne in the Scarlet Letter about Pearl, the most complex character present in the novel thus far, who continues being seen as a misunderstood child due to her association with her mother and the the child of the scarlet “A”. Hester pays the greatest price in giving birth to Pearl, as she receives a lifelong, physical reminder of her faults.…

able to escape. In the Scarlet Letter it mentioned how much of regret Hester felt and the torture she had to suffer. “She turned her eyes downward at the scarlet letter and even touched it with her finger to assure herself that the infant and the shame were reality” (57). Hawthorne…

by Herman Melville, one may seem to find similarities between the two. The Scarlet Letter is about a young, married woman named Hester Prynne, who becomes pregnant and has a child by another man out of wedlock; she is then forced to live with her shame and wear the letter “A” on her bosom to symbolize “adultery.” After her husband comes to town and finds out the life changing news, he fixates his main goal on divulging her baby’s father. Roger Chillingworth wishes to torture the secretive man…

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a story entirely focused on public shame. During the time of the Puritans in the mid-1600s, ignominy was one way punishment was granted unto those who had committed sins. Ignominy, though a foreign word to many, is no old topic. Seen in nearly every aspect of society today, public shaming nearly completely controls the image society gives to those who have done wrong. The reputation of a poor action is on the shoulders of the wrongdoer for nearly the…

meaningful and powerful. Ironically by punishing and spurning Hester from the community they actually strengthen her relationship with it, she is now seen as a living symbol in the town, she has overcome her hardships and refuses to bow in the face of shame and shares this with her daughter and continues to be imperturbable to humiliation and integrates their roles as the ‘outsider’ and sin into their identity. In disparity Dimmesdale whose sense of…