Winthrop

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is an exploration into the protagonist, Hester Prynne. It further examines her intrinsic persona and how internal and external forces affect her and how it transforms the mindsets of those later. Very little is revealed about Hester previous to her affair. Released from prison, Hester appears before the puritan community on a platform where she is to be publicly scorned, exposing the scarlet “A” for adulterer is embroidered on the breast of her garment.…

The concept of natural law allows one to express yourself however you please in society because you have the right to. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the entity of two different laws of nature, Puritan and natural are represented by Hester’s instinct to follow the laws of nature rather than the laws of the Puritans and their society, to earn her own contentment. A woman named Hester has a baby with someone who is not her husband, gets locked up, put in jail and is forced to wear…

The narrator’s attitude towards the Puritans is very negative. He portrays them as unforgiving and cold-hearted people. The Puritans believe that people who have sinned must confess their sins and be punished for them. They punish anybody who has sinned and use them as an example to others. This is the case with Hester Prynne because she has committed adultery and is condemned to wear a scarlet letter on all of her clothing to show the crime she has committed. She was also forced to stand on a…

Sassy Pants The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines sassy as having or showing a rude lack of respect, very stylish, and confident and energetic. The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, shows the life of Hester Prynne. The novel begins with Hester being forced to stand on top of a scaffold in front of the townspeople because she committed adultery. After that, for a long period of her life, she lives with being shunned without inclusion with her community. Not only that, but she must…

Arjun Srivatsa Chad Hayden 12 October 2015 The Scarlet Letter Essay (2015 FRQ 3) The Scarlet Letter is a novel centered on contrasts. Contrasts between outward reputation and inner guilt, puritanical law and true sin, and intentions and actions, create a dynamic of hypocrisy, a hypocrisy that infects and slowly debilitates all those involved. Specifically, acts of cruelty are used as vehicles through which Hawthorne delivers his indictment of duplicity and hypocrisy. In The Scarlet Letter…

The past is an unchangeable occurrence that plays a major role in the development of human character. It involves triumphant memories and mistakes that completely alter self-portrayal and societal reputation. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, the past ignominious love affair between Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale shapes not only Hester's character and lifestyle, but also those close to her to suggest that the past contains positivity, should be accepted openly, and…

During the 1600's there was a type of punishment in Puritan society where someone would have to wear a scarlet letter on their shirt. This was for the reason of public humiliation so people would be discouraged to do anything bad. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne the main character Hester Prynne is being punished for a crime she committed and the punishment was public humiliation so she was forced to wear a scarlet letter. She was being discriminated and left out of society. In this…

The nature of the society in which Hester and Dimmesdale live in comes from its religious teachings, combined with the unfamiliar and hostile surroundings in which it exists. One such thing which the they did not have control over was the wilderness beyond the town. The Puritans' manners and customs are important to the power of the story in The Scarlet Letter. The story of The Scarlet Letter would be different in modern society. The Scarlet Letter is greatly influenced and shaped by the Puritan…

Hester The Lover In The Scarlet Letter, Hester, the main character in this novel, gives up her public approval to protect her child. Hester is tried and punished for committing adultery and is made to wear a scarlet “A” at all times. This leads to the whole community shunning her, as they are all Puritans. She bears the burden of humiliation and being shunned from society without complaint, taking her punishment head on. She raises Pearl alone and with little income, but refuses to give up…

When Hester begin to wear the scarlet letter, the townspeople realize her sin and cannot see her as anything but that sin. As soon as Hester steps out of the prison, a crowd gathers around her—some people are “sombre and grave” (59) while others choose to gossip rudely about Hester. A group of women standing nearby criticize her shameful misconduct and argue that her punishment should be more severe. One woman demands, “they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forehead”…