...North American Literature 2014-2015. Individual Freedom restricted by Puritans. Analysis of Hester, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. [Nathaniel Hawthorne; The Scarlet Letter] ABSTRACT: The aim of this paper is to analyze how Nathaniel Hawthorne deals with the theme of freedom focusing on the major characters such as Hester, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. I argue that, there is a sign of individual freedom due to the fact that all the characters have the right to act in the way they do it but they will be always suppressed by the decisions of the Puritans. I also argue that, there is no collective freedom in terms of society because Puritanism restricts, punishes and judges individual actions. Key words: major characters, individual freedom, suppressed, no collective freedom. The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850, is constructed by the main themes of isolation and suffering. Moreover, sin and the Puritan law are narrowly connected, making the wish of freedom almost an impossible achievement. Over the course of the novel, Hester is the only one who truly manifests her right of individual freedom. However, she has been punished by the Puritan law, which considers her attitude as a threat to the Puritan community and its religion. Hester’s freedom starts since the moment she decides to carry her punishment in New England and not going back to England, where she could have lived a new life without feeling guilty. Furthermore, her self-determination...
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...The Scarlet Letter Study Guide Published in 1850, The Scarlet Letter is considered Nathaniel Hawthorne's most famous novel--and the first quintessentially American novel in style, theme, and language. Set in seventeenth-century Puritan Massachusetts, the novel centers around the travails of Hester Prynne, who gives birth to a daughter Pearl after an adulterous affair. Hawthorne's novel is concerned with the effects of the affair rather than the affair itself, using Hester's public shaming as a springboard to explore the lingering taboos of Puritan New England in contemporary society. The Scarlet Letter was an immediate success for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the United States was still a relatively new society, less than one hundred years old at the time of the novel’s publication. Indeed, still tied to Britain in its cultural formation, Hawthorne's novel offered a uniquely American style, language, set of characters, and--most importantly--a uniquely American central dilemma. Besides entertainment, then, Hawthorne's novel had the possibility of goading change, since it addressed a topic that was still relatively controversial, even taboo. Certainly Puritan values had eased somewhat by 1850, but not enough to make the novel completely welcome. It was to some degree a career-threatening decision to center his novel around an adulterous affair (but compare the plot of Fielding's Tom Jones). But Hawthorne was not concerned with a prurient affair here, though the novel’s...
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...Symbols in "The Scarlet Letter" A In “The Scarlet Letter,” symbols appear everywhere. Hawthorne uses several different concrete objects to represent something of deeper meaning. Among these symbols is the scarlet letter "A" itself. It is made of red cloth and beautifully embroidered. It is a literal symbol of the sin of adultery. The letter "A" appears in several places and several forms. It is the letter that appears on Hester's heart that she is condemned to wear for the remainder of her life. At Governor Bellingham's mansion it is magnified in the breastplate. It seems as though she is hidden behind it. On the night that Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl, a huge letter A appears in the sky. Later, while in the forest, Pearl arranges a letter a on her heart that is made of eel grass. One of the most dramatic of the A's that appear in the book is the A that appears on Dimmesdale's chest. Not only does the "A" symbolize adultery, but it also has several other meanings to the different characters as well. To the community, it is simply a mark of punishment. To Hester, it is a mark of embarrassment and humiliation. To Dimmesdale, the scarlet letter is a reminder of his own guilt. To Pearl, the mark is a mysterious curiosity. To Chillingworth, the "A" is his chance to get revenge on Dimmesdale. Later, the letter symbolizes "Able" when Hester wins some respect from the townspeople. The scarlet letter is meant to be a symbol of shame, but instead it becomes...
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...In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne employs the theme of vengeance to strengthen the idea of Roger’s search for revenge. Roger becomes a symbol of the devil throughout the story because he becomes obsessed with the idea of getting back at Dimmesdale that he does not care if he hurts or even kills him. The sin that Hester and Dimmesdale committed betrayed Roger in the worst way possible. Roger begins to want to betray them the way he was. The search for revenge begins with Roger wanting to feel complete with himself and not allow Hester and Dimmesdale to feel content with each other. Roger’s search for revenge on Dimmesdale for the amount of betrayal he felt by the sin caused him to become a devil-like symbol in the novel, therefore he...
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...Marcelo Neto US History Hon Mr. Hershaw 11/15/2012 The Scarlet Letter By Nathanial Hawtorne Summary The Scarlet Letter opens with a long chapter explaining how the book came to be written. The narrator was the surveyor of the customhouse in Salem, Massachusetts, where the novel takes place. In the customhouse’s attic, he finds a number of documents, among them a manuscript that was bundled with a scarlet patch in the shape of an “A.” The manuscript detailed events that occurred some two hundred years before the narrator’s time. When the narrator lost his customs post, he decided to write a fictional account of the events recorded in the manuscript. The Scarlet Letter is the final product. The novel begins in the seventeenth-century Boston, when Hester is briefly released from prison so that she can be paraded through town, displaying her scarlet "A" embroided on her chest while standing on top of the town scaffold. She carries her baby daughter, Pearl, in her arms. After being Hester steadfastly refuses to reveal the name of Pearl’s father, so that he might be saved from punishment. Hester Prynne’s long lost husband arrives in the midst of this parade through town. He visits her in prison before her release and asks her not to tell anyone that he’s in town. His plan is to disguise himself so that he can ferret out...
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...Sin can alienate an individual. Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates this concept in his novel “The Scarlet Letter” by involving the three main characters Hester, Chillingworth, and Dimmesdale. The sin in which Hester, Chillingworth, and Dimmesdale have done excludes them from society, self, and God. Hester Prynne is a lady who committed the crime of adultery. She was pointed out by society with a scarlet A on her chest so when people looked at her, they seen her sin and isolated her. In “The Scarlet Letter” it quotes “But the point which drew all eyes and, as it were, transfigured the wearer- so that both men and women, who had been familiarly acquainted with Hester Prynne, were now impressed as if they beheld her for the first time- was that...
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...Evil, obsessiveness, and manipulative are some of the words describing what Roger Chillingworth is because of sin in The Scarlet Letter. From the beginning, we see Roger as an enigmatic character, knowledgeable in medicine from his time in captivity, as well as - unbeknownst to others except the audience - the wife of Hester Prynne. As the story progresses, - and when Roger finds about Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin, - Roger becomes a more sinister character, whose darker complexion is only matched by the devil himself, with his only goal being to pursue Dimmesdale for his (and Hester’s) act of sin. For seven long years he stays, soon becoming dependent and obsessed about Dimmesdale’s suffering and pain, like a leech on a decayed animal. His...
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...Chapter 22, “The Procession” of The Scarlet Letter configures all the components into place to reveal the conclusion of the novel. The entire chapter is committed to the foreshadowing of events that expose the true relationship between Dimmesdale and Hester to the entire Puritan community. Therefore, Hawthorne makes great efforts to depict the atmosphere of the procession. To present the reader with a general comprehension of the era, Hawthorne sets the scene with a thorough analysis of monarchy power. He extensively describes how the of flaunt of strength from the monarchy overpowers almost everything. This exhibits his aversion to those who receive power without working for it. Hawthorne elaborates on how primitive statement were elected by power rather than qualities- “elevated to power by the early choice of the people, seem to...
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...Similarities and Differences between Anne Hutchinson and Hester Prynne While many people may feel that Anne Hutchinson has nothing in common with Hester Pyrnne they actually more alike than most people would think. Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of “The Scarlet Letter,” used many references to Anne Hutchinson in his book. During his life, he wrote a sketch of Hutchinson thus portraying his interest towards her and the characteristics of her life. It could be accurate to say that Anne Hutchinson was used as a guide to make the character of Hester Prynne. Therefore, Hawthorne creates Hester’s character to resemble and to differ from Hutchinson. Hester Prynne and Anne Hutchinson show their similarities and differences through those who influenced them, their religious beliefs, leadership, and personalities. In the beginning of each of their lives Hutchinson and Pyrnne both started at a divergent road. Hester had an impulsive behavior. Her parents had to always keep an eye on her because she was oblivious and incautious. She married at smart man while she was young and tried to convince herself she was happy. Anne, on the hand, was forced into a life that made her strong and intelligent. Her father had been imprisoned for preaching against English ministers. Later, Anne was taught by her father of his religious views. She read many of his theology and religion books. This influenced her religious views and made her into the strong minded female. Both of these women show differences...
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...Lance Shaundell American Literature Hester Character Analysis September 10,2014 Hester Prynne Analysis In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Hester is the main character. She is described as a tall, youthful, free minded, beautiful women but the “A” takes a lot away from her confidence and swagger. Her spirit is shown when she decorated the “A” and made the best outta this new situation but she seems like the protagonist throughout. She’s fighting with inner pains with having the affair but there was a reason why she did it but she doesn't see it. I see her grow throughout the story and mature and she was a good centerpiece in this novel. In the beginning when she described prison in such detail you knew she had spent a lot thinking about that prison. We learned about her affair and I quickly wondered with who? As a reader there are many secrets that we have to find out. When Chillingworth comes in to the story the mood feels eerie and the past between them is very complicated. Hester feels like Chillingworth sent her away to the new world to get away and she didn’t think she was ever going to see him again so when he comes its unexpected. I think she always had sorrow for the sin she committed. Through her hardships she was still strong and confident even though society is very cruel. She keep a tight circle with just Pearl and herself. "'No, my little Pearl!' said her mother. 'Thou must gather thine own sunshine. I have none to give thee!'" Chapter 7, pg. 95 She...
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...The Scarlet Letter: The Feminist Approach The Scarlet Letter tells the story of a woman labeled by the Puritan society due to her actions and vows of silence to not explain herself.When looking at the feminist approach to literature, the reader must know the three premises and principles. First, language, institutions, social power structures have impacted throughout history reflected particular interest. Second, woman have always resisted or subvert, and at the last but now least, patriarchal dominance and feminine subversion is evident in literary and cultural text. In Bentuck's analysis of The Scarlet Letter, she uses the statement “ Hester Prynne, however, subverts the Puritan- patriarchal laws of meaning in two ways. First, she embroiders and embellishes the community's representational codes, thereby confusing them. Second, Hester refuses to name child's father.(pg.397)”as one of her primary arguments. In addition to Hester's ability to subvert, Benstuck's argument and statement that The Scarlet Letter“focuses attention on representations of womanhood, with special emphasis on Puritan efforts to regulate female sexuality within religious, legal, and economic structures.(pg398)” is her thesis for her analysis. The people of the society Hester Prynne lived in were strictly judgmental on one if they had not chose to take the “proper” and “righteous” way to reproduce. Benstuck speaks on the biology and religious aspects of man and woman to support her idea gender issues...
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...in The Scarlet Letter and the House of The Seven Gables, on the other; though we should hardly have understood the promise had not the fulfillment explained it. The shorter pieces have a lyrical quality, but the longer romances express more than a mere combination of lyrics; they have a rich, multifarious life of their own. The material is so wrought as to become incidental to something loftier and greater, for which our previous analysis of the contents of the egg had not prepared us. The Scarlet Letter was the first, and the tendency of criticism is to pronounce it the most impressive, also, of these ampler productions. It has the charm of unconsciousness; the author did not realize while he worked, that this "most prolix among tales" was alive with the miraculous vitality of genius. It combines the strength and substance of an oak with the subtle organization of a rose, and is great, not of malice aforethought, but inevitably. It goes to the root of the matter, and reaches some unconventional conclusions, which, however, would scarce be apprehended by one reader in twenty. For the external or literal significance of the story, though in strict correspondence with the spirit, conceals that spirit from the literal eye. The reader may choose his depth according to his inches but only a tall man will touch the bottom. The punishment of the scarlet letter is a historical fact; and, apart from the symbol thus ready provided to the author's hand, such a book as The Scarlet Letter...
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...often had to repress these desires more than males. Males have been the dominating species throughout history and have expected women to repress their nature. For the most part, females kept their place in society and played their role but there were some who broke the norm. There have been serious consequences for females who have attempted to liberate themselves, especially when they attempt to do so sexually. Females have the ability to achieve their sexual liberation despite the patriarchal societies in which they live. Two females which have attempted to achieve sexual liberation are Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter and Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar named Desire. Both Hester Prynne and Blanche Dubois’s attempts to achieve sexual liberation were hindered by the patriarchal societies in which they lived in; making only one of them successful. The Scarlet Letter, written in 1850, takes place in the late 17th century in Massachusetts. At this time Massachusetts is a Puritan colony. A Puritan, according to Oxford Dictionaries, is a member of a group of English Protestants of the late 16th and 17th century who regarded the Reformation of the Church of England under Elizabeth as incomplete and sought to simplify and...
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...Task Terms: A terminology guide to help develop questions for the Reading COE |Reading COE Task Terms |Definitions |Sample COE Questions with Targets | | | | | |Literary/Informational Comprehension | | | | | | | |Categorize |to place somebody or something in a particular category and |“Categorize the types of elephants discussed in the passage, | | |define or judge the person or thing accordingly |‘All Elephants.’ Describe the main characteristics of the | | | |elephant types using supporting details from the passage for | | ...
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...Title: The Problem of Faith in 'Young Goodman Brown' Author(s): Leo B. Levy Publication Details: JEGP: Journal of English and Germanic Philology 74.3 (July 1975): p375-387. Source: Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Juliet Byington. Vol. 95. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. p375-387. From Literature Resource Center. Document Type: Critical essay Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group, COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale, Cengage Learning [In the following essay, Levy examines Faith as a character, an allegorical figure, and a symbol.] Few of Hawthorne's tales have elicited a wider range of interpretations than “Young Goodman Brown.” The critics have been victimized by the notorious ambiguity of a tale composed of a mixture of allegory and the psychological analysis of consciousness. Many of them find the key to its meaning in a neurotic predisposition to evil; one goes so far as to compare Goodman Brown to Henry James's governess in The Turn of the Screw [Darrel Abel, in “Black Glove and Pink Ribbon: Hawthorne's Metonymic Symbols,” in NEQ 42, 1969]. The psychological aspect is undeniably important, since we cannot be certain whether “Young Goodman Brown” is a dream-allegory that takes place in the mind and imagination of the protagonist, an allegory with fixed referents in the external world, or a combination of these that eludes our ordinary understanding of the genre itself. The story is all three: a dream vision, a conventional allegory, and finally an inquiry into the problem of faith...
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