The Scarlet Letter

Everybody has their secrets, things no one would expect of them. Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale are prime examples of this in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter. After Hester Prynne makes her way into the Massachusetts colony where Dimmesdale lives, they eventually become lovers and she becomes pregnant with his child. While no one in the community is sure of the identity of the father, they treat Hester with revulsion and punish her for her actions. Hester’s crime causes her to face new…

Since the agricultural revolution, women have held subservient positions in society. Even today, inequalities such as gender bias and slut-shaming are constant injustices most women face in their lifetimes. In The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and originally published in 1850, Hawthorne comments openly and often about the infringement of Hester Prynne’s rights as a human and a citizen. He discusses the torment and abuse she endures after being found guilty of adultery, and…

I am writing to you to voice my opinion on Hester and to offer some insight on the most appropriate way to handle her punishments. I would like to make it clear that I portray all of this with the utmost respect and I am writing solely as a concerned citizen of Boston. There is no denying that Hester’s actions were completely wrong, however, her punishment must not be overzealous. Hester should be allowed to keep and tend to Pearl. This will not only show the mercy of our congregation, but also…

author who was a genius in the symbolism concept was Nathanial Hawthorne. In his novel The Scarlet Letter, he creates a beautiful work which revolves around many symbols. The most prominent…

The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne Historical Fiction 1800’s The Author and His/Her Times Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on Independence day, 1804 and died on May 19, 1864. Form, Structure, and Plot Nathaniel Hawthorne Point of View The Scarlet Letter is written in third person omniscient and in the past tense. By incorporating third person omniscient, the narrator is able to tell the story from one viewpoint that shows he knows more about the characters than they know…

17th 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…

the scarlet letter for being accused of sleeping with a married man; so she was forced to wear the scarlet letter to symbolize her wrongfulness and so she can feel bad with her infant child. In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne the symbol of the letter “A” changes from adultery, to ability,…

two groups: the devil children and the angel children. The character Pearl from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famous novel, The Scarlet Letter, does not seem to fall into either of these departments. Being the illegitimate offspring of the revered Puritan minister Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne, a beautiful woman publicly viewed and shunned as an adulteress marked with the scarlet A, little Pearl is seen as the evil born from her parents’ sin and is generally avoided by the Puritan populace. The…

The Real Meanings of the Scarlet Letter Many people are labeled and publicly judge by things they do. Others live with a hidden guilt. This is what happens in “The Scarlet Letter”, with Hester and Dimmesdale. Hester’s letter represents adultery but eventually it represents her change and what she is able to do. Dimmesdale’s letter isn’t visible but he does carry his own letter and he accepts it. In the Scarlet Letter, Hester’s letter represents adultery and sin. Marcus, Fred H…

Many events occur in The Scarlet Letter that cause the reader to deeply examine the meaning that Hawthorne was trying to portray in the novel. He caused harm to many characters in the book, which lead to a couple of deaths, included some odd characters that helped build the main characters, such as Mistress Hibbins, and also put many characters in great misery. But Hawthorne was not completely heartless; a welcome change is included when he uses Pearl as a blessing to Hester throughout the novel…