Love letter

of Irony Throughout The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is notoriously known to many students as having a rather deep and complex plot, making literary analysis a difficult task for those unable to grasp Hawthorne’s use of irony and the reasoning behind it. Literary critic Mason Cooley explains, “Irony regards every simple truth as a challenge”. Although this quote is not specifically referencing the simple truth found in The Scarlet Letter, it can be contextualized…

Hester’s Dilemma; Family, or Love? “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God;”(Thessalonians 4:3-5), this Bible verse is one of which the puritan laws followed. Their society became the origin of the many injustices that plagued it, by basing puritan society on pietism they created a hierarchy based…

The Consumption of Identity The Scarlet Letter is a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the Romantic Era of American Literature. Throughout this iconic novel the reader profoundly follows the life of Hester Prynne, a woman who bears a Scarlet Letter upon her bosom, while simultaneously bearing the label of “adulteress” upon her soul. This book also encompasses the severe impact of Hester’s adultery upon the Puritan community surrounding her. In many cases, labels are given to people by the…

In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates the story of a young woman growing up in the Puritan era. The novel exposes the hardships, struggles, and expectations placed on women of this era, and the starring character of this story, Hester Prynne, experiences all three. Hawthorne’s choice to make Hester experience these challenges is to empower women. From being condemned, to providing for her daughter without a father figure, and finally to feeling anguished over the…

The Scarlet Letter is seen by many as a story about sin, forgiveness and love and although these are all key points to the story, there are many other symbols and parts to the story that may not be plain to see at first glance. Symbols can be found in many different areas of the book, like the symbol for public shame, which can be found in the scaffold where Hester stood. Although there are multiple symbols found throughout the story, perhaps the most interesting and numerous one is the symbols…

The justification behind the concept of punishment takes many different forms. In Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the primary rationale behind the Puritans’ punishment of Hester Prynne, the accused adulteress, is retributive, in proportional to the nature of the transgression. The Puritans intend their punishment of ostracism and forced visibility of the letter “A” to match Hester’s crime of adultery by shaming her with a sense of damnation. However, ironically this punishment brings an…

puritan world view is taken up and treated by Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter? The Scarlet Letter is an indictment on the follies of the puritans featuring the rigid values and beliefs of the society. Hawthorne criticizes various aspects of the puritan confraternity through the lives of the characters and the punishsment one is made to undergo because of the sin committed. Hawthorne took the puritan view seriously in the scarlet letter by depicting the gender inequality, hypocrisy of government…

Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is full of symbolism especially in regards to the use of the colors red and black. This symbolism is important to the story and how we perceive the characters in it. Hawthorne uses color association throughout the novel to help accentuate the importance or meaning of a person, event, or object. Red symbolizes many things throughout the novel such as love, passion, lust, and sin. The most important use of red in the novel is the scarlet letter. This…

Shame is meant to weaken a person and make them regretful, but it can also make them a stronger, more independent person motivated to make their society better. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, explores how Hester transforms her shame and successfully changes the way other people in her Puritan society perceive her. After, choosing to become an outsider living on the edge of town, Hester shows the people of Boston that she is not sinful and ashamed but is charitable and open hearted.…

The Scarlet Letter focuses heavily on the romantic movement and what conflicted it at that time. Hawthorn uses these characters as outlets for showing the romantic movement and how it was put into action while also being ridiculed. Hawthorne wrote the Scarlet Letter to communicate how following the beliefs of the Romantic movement helps lead people to achieving their best moral life; their passion is the most natural feeling, how society ridicules the people who: believe in the romantic movement…