The Purloined Letter

the theme of overcoming sin and shame by benevolent actions and deeds in The Scarlet Letter through the use of different symbols like the scarlet letter, Pearl, and the forest. Hester’s scarlet letter “A” starts off with being a symbol of sin, shame, and wrong doing but, by the end of the novel turned into a symbol of her identity that people came to respect. Pearl is like a living symbol of Hester’s scarlet letter where at first was the reason for all of Hester’s shame but, ended up being a…

Good Always Overpowers Evil “Good can exist without evil, whereas evil cannot exist without good” (Brainy Quotes). In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the story of Hester Prynne, a woman who is accused of committing adultery, and to eternally remind her of her sin she has to wear a scarlet letter on her bosom and gives birth to her daughter Pearl, who was the product of her affair. Arthur Dimmesdale, the minister of the town, and Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s secret husband, are…

doubtless, as the mother herself hath told us, for a retribution too; a torture, to be felt at many an unthought of moment." This quote that was made in chapter eight of the Scarlet Letter was stated by Arthur Dimmesdale to the governor to allow Hester Prynne keep her daughter, Pearl. Throughout the Scarlet Letter we see the relationship between Hester and Pearl and also some thoughts about how others view Pearl. Most characters see her as an evil devil child and Hester also sees this in her.…

The question of whether Hester Prynne’s character develops over the course of The Scarlet Letter is debatable. To the Puritans living in her community, Hester drastically changes from a sinful adulteress to a charitable and selfless seamstress. True to their cold and unforgiving nature, the Puritans disregard Hester’s emotional development and focus on the technical, concrete aspects of her transformation instead. The shallow Puritans see her as they want to see her without making an effort to…

works by Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter is one of Hawthorne’s most famous writings and it is closely related to the theme of sin, specifically sin in secrecy, as proven to be true in Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil. The Scarlet Letter is also based during the Puritan time period therefore, sin is something that mostly all individuals frown upon and punishment is also provided for those who are sinful. The main character, Hester Prynne, wears a scarlet letter ‘A’ on her chest as a result of…

cannot be changed due to countless people looking down on you; You are trapped in an overwhelming unpoppable bubble surrounded by others who point, poke and mock you for past mistakes. Hester Prynne experiences this shame in the novel, The Scarlet Letter by; Nathaniel Hawthorne. Protagonist, Hester, is an independent single mother who finds a way to support her daughter in a time of hardship. Hester also fights to transform the meaning of her punishment by questioning the hypocritical morals of…

Journal Entry 1 The Scarlet Letter: Topic and Description and Detail, Chapters 1-6 In my personal opinion, the first six chapters of the book are a little too obvious. I think that the author put too much detail into the story leaving little room for guessing at what will happen in the future. The first chapter contained little substance but large amounts of detail hinting that Puritan society had imprisoned someone socially and literally. In the second chapter, we learn of a woman Hester…

The Mysterious Being! The first chapter of “The Scarlet Letter” sets in motion the rest of the story in a few aspects including; the setting, an imagined world, and hidden in the text, is Mother Nature. Something that one may overlook throughout simple daily life is the gift, protection, and unforgiveable powers of nature. However, when the society of man dishes out a harsh, unwanted fate to someone while turning their back in disappointment, such as the Puritan Society did to Hester Prynne,…

Throughout The Scarlet Letter, judgement is displayed quite often. Hester Prynne, the main character in The Scarlet Letter, commits a sin that is heavily looked down upon, and she is forced to adjust to her new life of constant judgement and ridicule. Hester Prynne was considered a malefactress and was required to spend time in jail and be publicly shamed and humiliated on the scaffold in the center of the town. Nathaniel Hawthorne…

approach as today’s society. It also may have been advanced in some people’s opinion keeping the men’s image as a continuous view throughout time. The two different viewpoints of both women and men are portrayed in Nathaniel Hawthorns novel “The Scarlet Letter”, published in the 1850’s and Margaret Atwood’s feminist poems, “The Siren Song” and “Marrying the Hangman”. Both authors explore humiliation and suppression to disintegrate women’s perception…