John Winthrop

Arthur Dimmesdale is a protagonist in the novel The Scarlet Letter and understood to be guilty of two sins, one of commission (his adultery with Hester Prynne) and of omission (his cowardly and hypocritical failure to confess. The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850 and inspired by his Puritan primogenitors in the 1630s. Because of his knowledge of the Puritans he is able to describe their strengths and portray their weakness as a colony and community. Hawthorne’s The…

Dramatic Irony- irony occurs in a fictional work when the audience / reader or a character knows something that another character does not. The pardoner’s prologue exemplifies dramatic irony within the Pardoner’s preaching regarding evil. ( Chaucer 18, 20, 21,) The pardoner addresses within his sermon the root of all evil is avarice, yet he willingly reveals to the reader his true intent within such declaration was a selfish greed.( Chaucer, 46) Due to his occupation, and previous assertions,…

Prompt: How is the theme of appearance versus reality dealt with differently in A Streetcar Named Desire and Blue Jasmine? “Character is like a tree and reputation its shadow. The shadow is what we think it is and the tree is the real thing.” However simple these words may seem, this is perfectly epitomized by Tennessee William’s theatrical masterpiece, ‘A Streetcar named Desire’ to the modern adaptation ‘Blue Jasmine’ directed by Woody Allen. A streetcar named Desire and Blue Jasmine touch on…

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's story, “The Minister’s Black Veil”, there are several themes, but the most ordinary and prominent is that everyone has secrets and sorrows hidden from others. In the story, the main character, Reverend Hooper, is a minister in a small Puritan community in Milford. The minister is described as wearing two folds of black crape, which entirely conceals his facial features other than his mouth and chin (240). This veil symbolizes many things, but most people assume that…

In the “Minister's Black Veil” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to represent secret sin and shows the theme is death. The main character named Mr. Hooper wears a black veil In the story Hooper wears a black veil which symbolizes hiding sin. “But what if the world will not believe that it is the type of an innocent sorrow?” urged Elizabeth. “Beloved and respected as you are, there may be whispers that you hide your face under the consciousness of secret sin. For the sake of your holy office,…

The scarlet letter is something that Hester can never get rid of, and is stuck with for the rest of her life. Even if she feels she has paid for her sins “who had some comfortable hope of pardon of [her] sin” (Winthrop). The Letter also brings about a lot of public humiliation to Hester, “under the heavy weight of a thousand unrelenting eyes” (Hawthorne 70). Hester can not do anything within the town, without being watched and judged for her actions even if she…

Punishment for sin was a big deal in Puritan beliefs. The Scarlet Letter was written in 1850 by Nathaniel Hawthorne and was a classic American novel in the 19th century. The story was set in a Puritan community in Boston, Massachusetts during the 17th century. The story is about a woman who committed adultery and was punished for it while others got away with their sins in the moment, but they caught up to them in the end. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale’s suffering…

Symbols are commonly used by authors in novels to represent a larger theme or notation. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, the scarlet ‘A’ is used as a symbol to present the progression of Hester, the protagonist, from feeling embarrassed to embracing the scarlet letter on her chest. The symbol of the ‘A’ also shows the development of Hester’s community’s acceptance of her and her sin. In the beginning of the novel, Hester is portrayed as an abashed woman whom greatly regrets…

A one eighty change It is ironic how one mistake can lead to the demise of the main characters in The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the novel, the reader experiences the drastic changes the main characters go through after the adultery the adulterous act of by Hester and Dimmesdale. Since Hester had committed a sin, she must endure the punishment of wearing the scarlet letter. The sin caused Dimmesdale to become sick with guilt and her ex-husband Chillingworth to be consume…

Authors often use fictional works to add their own commentary about the social and political aspects of the era their work is placed in. In The Scarlet Letter, the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, draws attention to the Puritans’ flawed perspective on sin. Hawthorne illuminates this gray area that is often overlooked due to the black and white Puritan way of thinking. In doing so he adds his own viewpoint on the reality of sin and its reverberations. By portraying Hester as a sympathetic character,…