The Scarlet Letter

Trevor Klipstein Ms. Elliott English III 3-21-17 The Symbolism of the Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter follows the story of Hester Prynne throughout her life. Hester committed a sin punishable by death, but was instead given a mark. This mark was the scarlet letter “A”, the meaning of which changed during the course of the story. First, the original meaning of the letter “A”. At the beginning of the book was the meaning was Adultery, a very grave sin in the eyes of the…

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the 1850’s revolves around Hester Prynne, a woman suffering the repercussions of committing adultery with Dimmesdale, the minister of a small Puritan town. As the characters develop they learn that their sins may always be with them, but it does not have to define who they become. Three of the symbols Hawthorne uses to represent the concept of sin are The Scarlet Letter on Hester’s Bosom, Hester and Dimmesdale's daughter Pearl, and…

“your past is done, so forget it; your future is yet to come, so dream it.” People learn from their past in order to learn from their mistakes. They know that they can fix them and become better people. It wasn 't always like that, in the book The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne the main character Hester realizes that even though she did she committed a sin in her past the Puritan community sees that sin as one of the worst sins you can commit and will never forget what she has…

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the 1850s, takes place in the Massachusetts in the seventeenth century. During this time, the land is dominated by a Puritan society and ruled by their strict beliefs. Hester Prynne, a woman originally from England, travels to Boston alone. Her husband, Roger Chillingworth, is expected to follow, but manages to be captured on the sea by Indians. He comes back after two years to find his wife on display before the town. She is found guilty for…

Mitchell Shaw Mrs. Way Eng III Dec, 7, 2017 Mitchell Cannon Shaw’s essay over “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850 I. Intro Intro Intro Intro Intro In the novel the scarlet letter the letters meaning changed from adultery to ability to an angel to living persona of pearl II. Body 1 In the beginning the scarlet letter was supposed to mean Hester has committed adultery. Society had set religious standards that did not go with her true feelings at heart. "If thou feelest it to be for…

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…

As with her lover and her partner in sin, the life of Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter gives key insights to idea that shame varies from individual to individual, and from society to society. Like Dimmesdale, she experiences a deep shame for her previous actions. Unlike Dimmesdale however, she is punished for her crime and is forced to wear an embroidered scarlet ‘A’, as a token of her shame, “the same reason that the minister keeps his hand over his heart” (Hawthorne 122). From here, her…

disastrous effect on the individual to the point that the person will be mentally and physically deteriorated; this is especially true if the sin is contained in the individual. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne creates a situation in which guilt and sin are driving forces. The characters in The Scarlet Letter greatly exhibit how guilt can affect the individual and how the individual will react to it. When Dimmesdale commits adultery with Hester Prynne, he keeps the secret…

The story 'The Scarlet Letter ' if filled to the brim with symbolism, both in the form of the letter 'A ' itself and the way people see it and the people themselves. The letter, the main form of symbolism has many different meanings varying from the living embodiment found in Hester 's daughter to the version where it was 'burned ' into Arthur 's flesh, to the different ways that it is viewed while Hester wears it over the years. symbol, or symbolism, is generally a concrete (physical) object…

Dimmesdale received forgiveness in the book “ The Scarlet letter”. As Hester and Dimmesdale walked through the forest talking, Dimmsdale recalled to Hester “I could recall one instance of peace or hope.” Dimmesdale stated that because “ he was asking for forgiveness.” One reason Dimmesdale had asked for mercy was because he got sick and wanted forgiveness for what he had done. Another reason Dimmesdale hoped for forgiveness, hiding the Scarlet letter made him tired of, and he wanted the…