...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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...The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible are two literary classics that portray excellence in expounding the importance of life. Both written works encompass striking similarities in aspects such as the setting, plot, and major conflicts. However, The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible bare conspicuous differences such as in The Scarlet Letter solid evidence for the crime of adultery is distinctly manifested while in The Crucible the court possesses no tangible evidence for the crime of witchcraft. In addition, The Scarlet Letter is a novel while The Crucible is a play. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Crucible by Arthur Miller have pronounced similitude, such as the common conflicts, and the setting, and also bare an impactful distinction between the resolutions of the two written works and the characters. The major conflict in...
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...The Scarlet Letter In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, A young woman named Hester Prynne in Boston is prosecuted for adultery. To symbolize her crime, she has an “A” imprinted on her bosom. As a result of her committing adultery, she and Reverend Dimmesdale (his identity is not identified until later in the book) have a child. She is a very curious child, and her name is Pearl. Roger Chillingworth, comes to see Hester on the scaffold and he doesn’t want his identity revealed either but it does get revealed in later chapters. In the Scarlet letter, the author uses different symbols, literary devices, and themes that help Nathaniel’s purpose of writing. Symbolism A symbol in the Scarlet Letter is literally the Scarlet Letter...
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...The Scarlet Letter summaries. Chapter 1 This chapter somewhat introduces seventeenth-century Boston, where a group of gloomy, sad Puritans stand in front of an old prison in Boston, which seems to be a horrible and degrading place. By the descriptions given (heavy oak door, with spikes) it sounds like the prison is meant to keep and hold deadly murderers and ax murderers. The area around the prison is gray and gloomy. Decay and ugliness are in the author's descriptions, the only thing that sticks out is a lovely wild rosebush, blooming by the prison door. I believe the rosebush links us to Hester. They are both in full bloom, the rosebush in numbers of roses, and Hester in her humiliation. They both stand out. Chapter 2 The chapter opens to townspeople talking about Hester Prynne’s sin. Hester comes out of the prison and walks to the scaffold wearing an elaborately embroidered scarlet letter A on her breast, and carrying a small infant in her arms. When she did this she was to be ashamed of her sin, and the townspeople made mockery and fun of her. One of the most ugly woman in town implied that she be killed for her sin. As Hester looks out over the crowd, she realizes that her future will be lonely, being alone. Just her daughter and herself. When she realizes this, she squeezes Pearl so hard she starts to cry. The market place is described as the punishment of Hester. She was compared to Mary. Chapter 3 While standing on the platform, Hester sees and...
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...Period 1 Strength In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne endures a drastic life changing experience. Hester is convicted, in a Puritan New England town, of committing adultery and is scolded constantly by this town. Even though Hester is in an incredibly difficult circumstance that most of the people could not endure, Hester remains proud and unregretful while her lover hides in the shadows of the sinful act. Throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne portrays his belief in the significance of personal strength through the contrasting personalities of Hester Prynne, who portrays strength as she faces the sin with dignity, and her lover Arthur Dimmesdale, who portrays weakness as he continues to hide from the sin. Hester Prynne’s personal strength is important, as well as necessary, for her redemption in life. At the beginning of the novel, Hester is condemned for her sin and forced to stand on the scaffold, she remains strong and dignified despite constant disapprovals from the town. The townspeople are shocked as “Hester Prynne appeared more ladylike… than as she issued from the prison,” and when Hester’s beauty “shone out and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy” despite her dreadful sin (49). Although at times Hester feels weak and alone, in public she continuously displays immense personal strength. Instead of running away, Hester faces her punishment and wears her scarlet letter with pride. When she is released from the prison...
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...novel The Scarlet Letter. One important influence on the story is money. Hawthorne had never made much money as an author and the birth of his first daughter added to the financial burden ("Biographical Note" VII). He received a job at the Salem Custom House only to lose it three years later and be forced to write again to support his family (IX). Consequently, The Scarlet Letter was published a year later (IX). It was only intended to be a long short story, but the extra money a novel would bring in was needed ("Introduction" XVI). Hawthorne then wrote an introduction section titled "The Custom House" to extend the length of the book and The Scarlet Letter became a full novel (XVI). In addition to financial worries, another influence on the story is Hawthorne's rejection of his ancestors. His forefathers were strict Puritans, and John Hathorne, his great-great-grandfather, was a judge presiding during the Salem witch trials ("Biographical Note" VII). Hawthorne did not condone their acts and actually spent a great deal of his life renouncing the Puritans in general (VII). Similarly, The Scarlet Letter was a literal "soapbox" for Hawthorne to convey to the world that the majority of Puritans were strict and unfeeling. For example, before Hester emerges from the prison she is being scorned by a group of women who feel that she deserves a larger punishment than she actually receives. Instead of only being made to stand on the scaffold and wear the scarlet letter on her chest...
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...Many people commit wrongdoings at some point in their life. Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter are no exception. These wrongdoings contribute to an overall theme of the novel. This theme is sin. There are many symbols in the novel that draw attention to this theme, such as color and the scarlet letter. There is more symbols that are present in the novel and have high importance, however these two stand out significantly. Through instances involving Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth, color and the mark of the scarlet letter drive the theme of sin within the novel. Hester’s relationship with her scarlet letter is a distinct example of how the symbol of the...
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...LEssay: Imagine living in a world where all sins are viewed as equal, this is the society of the Puritans, where people received the same punishment for murder as they would for theft. In The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is affected by the secret of his adultery with Hester Prynne, that he must keep hidden. This secrecy has affected Dimmesdale, from him having a mental break down and punishing himself to him constantly being weak and lethargic. Overall, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, presents the negative impact of secrecy on the physical and spiritual state of the character Arthur Dimmesdale, who is forced by society to keep his secret hidden. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, the self punishment Dimmesdale performs is used to engrave into the audience the negative effect of secrecy. Dimmesdale has a constant inner turmoil between the fact that he really needs to reveal his secret...
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...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 gives her enough strength to use silence as a weapon, and thus not revealing who Pearl’s father...
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...is a major character in the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Even though she is a young child through most of the book, she plays a very important role. Pearl asks many different questions throughout the text that make the adult characters even question themselves. She is more perceptive and more honest than anyone in the rest of the book. Without Pearl, “The Scarlet Letter” would not be as successful as it is. Pearl is supposed to be an average child, but she is also there to help us realize things we might not have seen on our own, and to symbolize sin and guilt. When we first meet Pearl, most of us realized that there was definitely something special about this little girl. She has a special insight into things in the book that I would have never noticed without Pearl. Hawthorne uses Pearl in a special way to reveal that Dimmesdale has something to do with the scarlet letter. Pearl is not used to being around a lot of people, so when she accepted Dimmesdale so openly it helped the readers realize who he truly was. It says “Pearl, that wild and unpredictable little elf, crept over to him. She took his hand in both of hers and laid her cheek against it.” (92) This is a kindness that most little girls would only share with a family member, such as their father. There is also other information that Pearl gives to reveal to us that she knows who her father truly is. When Hester and Pearl come across Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale on the scaffold, she asks him “Wilt thou...
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...In the novel “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the characters Hester and pearl evolved through the obstacles in the puritan society. Hester accepted the Scarlet letter to emphasize who she is as a person. Pearl helped hester through her maturity by being born. Pearl contributed allot through hester's evolution by Hester accepting that pearl was a baby who hester sinned but was also a blessing for Hester Throughout the novel Hester and pearl had to go through many obstacles such as society not accepting pearl and controversies about Dimmesdale In the beginning of the novel the puritan society wanted pearl taken away for hester since they considered peral as a demon child and thought that Hester wouldnt set an example for peral. The...
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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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...Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale wage a constant mental and physical battle throughout the Scarlet Letter. Chillingworth, a man of noble purpose and strong dispositions, falls further and further into his obsession of revenge. While at the same time, Dimmesdale, a respected reverend, suffers mentally and physically from his affair with Hester Prynne. As we progress through the novel, a question materializes: who deserves the blame for Hester Prynne’s affair, Chillingworth, Dimmesdale, or Hester Prynne herself? All three main characters believe they hold some sort of responsibility for the affair between Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale. Ultimately, Hester Prynne wrongs both Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale. Mrs. Prynne’s sin led to Roger Chillingworth’s and Arthur Dimmesdale’s demise both mentally and physically. Arthur Dimmesdale, a religious man respected by the community, ironically has an affair with Hester Prynne. Dimmesdale understands the sin he commits. He realizes all too well that he must confess publicly, but he cannot bring himself to do so. Instead, he begs Hester to announce what he has done: Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life. What can thy silence do for him, except tempt him…(64). Dimmesdale feels nothing but shame for falling...
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...Scarlet Letter Essay In the Puritan era, the government and the community’s religious affiliation were mixed together in a caldron of malice and negativity. This resulted in harsh punishments for people who went against the bible and sinned against God. Often times the punishment for such acts of sin was public ridicule upon a raised platform, referred to as a scaffold. This form of punishment is a reoccurring event in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, where the protagonist, Hester Prynne, was originally patronized for the creation of an illegitimate child named Pearl with an unknown man, learned to be minister Dimmesdale. However, scaffolding scenes reoccurs throughout the novel and represents turning points in the plot that change the motives and actions of varying characters. The first scaffold scene of the novel occurs when Hester Prynne is released from prison and while upon the scaffold, shows the crowd her scarlet letter “A” that she bares upon her chest. This scarlet “A” was a punishment appointed by the head ministers of the community for her adultery that she committed. However, Hester turns this would-be punishment as a way to individualize herself. Hester adorns the scarlet letter with “an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread” and with that, appears to have a “haughty smile” (Hawthorne 50). By making the scarlet letter elaborate and elegant, it portrays the idea that Hester wants to draw attention to the scarlet letter....
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...Title of Work: The Scarlet Letter Author’s Name: Nathaniel Hawthorne Date of Publication: Genre: Fiction Setting: The Scarlett Letter is set in the middle of the seventeenth century, in a time where there were strict religious values. Major Characters: Hester Prynne is the main character or this book, and hence the book’s title she wears a scarlet on her clothing which is a large letter “A”. This letter means that she is an adulterer, which means that she cheated on her husband. Her husband, an old man named Chillingworth had sent her to America to start a life for them, but when there she had an affair with a young stud named Dimmesdale, and with him she had a daughter named Pearl. Hester is a strong willed woman as she deals with years of shame from her past actions, and as the continues to live in her community she notices their way of treating women and makes good observations. Pearl is Hester’s daughter that she had with Dimmesdale. She has an unique ability to see things that others do not, for example she finds out the truth about her mother and Dimmesdale, and the townspeople say that’s is devil’s spawn since her father was unknown. She is a smart girl that has a wild imagination. Arthur Dimmesdale is the man friend of Hester Prynne, and the father of Pearl. As a pastor he is tormented by what he has done with Hester, as it goes against what he has been studying and teaching to the masses. To try and overcome this he continuously beats himself mentally...
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