Letter of marque

Nathaniel Hawthorne in his novel, The Scarlet Letter, portrays the life of a sinner in a Puritan society. He displays how self and public guilt can deteriorate a human. Hawthorne uses the characters Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, and The Reverend Dimmesdale to show that allenation and shame result in deterioration of one’s self. Hester Prynne is the first character Hawthorne presents as a sinner. Hester Prynne is publically shamed and alienated by the town because of her sin. Hester Prynne…

Human nature brings out the strengths and weaknesses of society. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, the concepts of sin and resilience are brought into question. Resilience is the ability to recover rather quickly from difficult situations. This trait is seen in the protagonist, Hester Prynne, through her stubborn personality in which she knows what she stands for. In contrast, the characters in this novel all present their weakness at some point. One of the most prominent…

century Puritan Boston, The Scarlet Letter is a tale about a good woman who made a terrible mistake. She committed adultery. In Puritan society, adultery was the ultimate sin, and it was punishable by death. Since Hester Prynne gave birth to a child due to this sin, the townspeople decide not to punish her by death, but rather allow her to live out her days with her child while condemned to wear a scarlet A on her bosom. Many themes stand out in The Scarlet Letter, and readers will notice…

Helen Keller once proclaimed “Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.” Nathaniel Hawthorne develops this theme through the use of symbolism in his novel, The Scarlet Letter. The brook, which Pearl happens to innately draw to, plays a role in her comfort among nature. The rose-bush growing next to the prison door grants comfort to all who pass. The scaffold, which makes periodic appearances throughout the novel, allows…

What are some ideas expressed in The Scarlet Letter? The narrator in The Scarlet Letter said that each person should “Show freely to the world, if not (their) worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred.” This statement is highly debatable, and it has good reason to be challenged. Hester Prynne spent the majority of her life as a known adultress. The whole town knew of her sin, which was her worst trait. Reasoning and examples from the book clarify that knowing the worst about…

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 plot in The Scarlet Letter are conveyed through the Puritan society, Hester,…

“The Miller's Tale” in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, tells a story of three men: John, Nicholas, and Absolon, who are in love with one woman, Alisoun. Lies make up a substantial portion of “The Miller's Tale” they are shown in ways of adultery, trickery, and downright lies. These lies pose the question of whether or not the lies told in “The Miller's Tale” can be classified as moral or immoral? The bible states, “no sin is greater than any other”, while that is a spiritual belief, it…

The great-great-grandson of an influential magistrate in the Salem witch trials, Nathaniel Hawthorne was a prominent writer in the nineteenth century who experimented with his own unique writing style to write dozens of short stories for the American audience. “Young Goodman Brown” is one of his most famous stories, in part because of its context; the Salem witch trials are a big part of American history as it was a turning point in the perspective of the Puritan faith. The story is enhanced…

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter has received a variety of reviews over it's existence. Most of these reviews, criticizing the main character Hester Prynne.One critic, Mark Van Doren’s use of literary devices to great effect to describe Prynne. These include praising diction, an enduring tone, and heroic allusion help him illustrate Hester Prynne as as strong, rugged woman. Van Doren’s use of praising diction helps the reader envision the likes of Hester Prynne, a character who develops…

In the beginning, the idea of imperfection is introduced with Aylmer’s remark about Georgiana’s birthmark and the cruelness of Nature, “It was the fatal flaw of humanity which Nature, in one shape or another, stamps ineffaceably on all her productions, either to imply that they are temporary and finite, or that their perfection must be wrought by toil and pain” (646). Throughout the entire short story, there is a constant tension between the world that was created, and the parts Aylmer perceives…