“But did your reverence hear of the portent that was seen last night? –a great red letter in the sky, -the letter A, which we interpret to stand for Angel. For, as our good Governor Winthrop was made an angel this past night, it was doubtless held fit that there should be some notice thereof!”…
The passage is organized in a sequence of events where the reader thinks Hester and William’s relationship is not very good or strong, but after revealing what the topic is the couple are discussing the reader begins to see introduced conflict. Later on in the passage when the husband reveals his experience it shows the reader that the couple loves each other still.…
In this passage Dimmesdale is speaking about Pearl standing on the other side of the stream refusing to go to him and Hester. The contrast between Pearl standing on the opposite side as them parallels the contrast in their lives. Hester, now not wearing the scarlet letter, and Dimmesdale are concealing their relationship and their sin in the forest, representing a world of secrecy. Pearl, however, is representing a world of truth by refusing to join them until Hester once again wears the ‘A’, which throughout the book has been Hester’s truth. The two separate worlds that they’re a part of cannot come together until they change; Dimmesdale wants Pearl to be the one to change by joining them in their new plan to escape to Europe and by joining them in their lie. Pearl however refuses to be with them until they join her in her truth. This is exemplified by Pearl not going to her mother until she wears the ‘A’ and by Pearl rejecting Dimmesdale. Pearl washes off Dimmesdale’s kiss after he once again refuses to hold their hands in public, showing yet again how much she rejects dishonesty. Dimmesdale refers to Pearl as an elf which is defined as, “one of a class of preternatural beings, especially from mountainous regions, with magical powers, given to capricious and often mischievous interference in human affairs, and usually imagined to be a diminutive being in human form”. This parallels to Pearl’s character very well because she is very capricious, her mood often changes very quickly and she can be really unpredictable also throughout the book she seems to be meddling in the affairs of Dimmesdale and Hester by not allowing them to live in secrecy. When Dimmesdale says Hester can never meet Pearl again it shows a strong divide between Hester and Pearl as Pearl is still very innocent and pure while her mother is conveyed as a sinner, similar to the way…
Thesis: The three scaffolding scenes are all important because they show how the scaffold is represented as a place where people are seen to be guilty of a crime or sin, and also how it contradicts the thought of having here society’s reverend in a high place as well.…
In “The Scarlet Letter” Henry David Thoreau argues that Hester neither blindly sinned against her community, nor willfully did so through her passion and purpose. Frederic I Carpenter analyzes Thoreau’s transcendentalist view of Hester’s sin as ignorant. In Carpenter’s criticism, he claims that Hester’s sin displays the negative effects on others around her as a result of her sin. Carpenter states “Hester Prynne sinned blindly through passion, and her sin caused the tragedy.” (177). Carpenter’s examination that Hester’s sin of adultery causes grievance to multiple characters conveys the fact…
Nathaniel Hawthorne continues to keep me on my toes in these chapters of the The Scarlet Letter. I found multiple themes and symbols that Hawthorne embodied in these chapters- mainly sin and effect, irony, and of course; the scarlet letter.…
Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne establishes the character Pearl as having tenacity and peculiarity in her personality and traits. First, Nathaniel Hawthorne exaggerates Pearl’s qualities to establish her as an odd child and a separate person from the Puritan town she lives in. In chapter 7, after the governor asks Pearl who created her, she answers by saying ‘no one created her rather her mother plucked her from a wild rose bush near the prison.’ Hawthorne follows Pearl’s remark with, “This fantasy was probably suggest by the near proximity of the Governor’s red roses, as Pearl stood outside of the window; together with her recollection of the prison rose bush, which she had passed in coming hither.” (Pg. 77) Adults are not…
At what point in time can one truly forgive themselves for a sin they have committed? A week? A month? A year? And what about peers? When do they start forgiving for a sin? Throughout The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne learns answers to such questions after it is learned she in an adulteress. Hester’s scarlet letter serves as a reminder to herself and her peers of the sins she has committed, and there is a true evolution from the beginning to the end of the story of the views of not only the letter but the person wearing it from Hester herself, the villagers, Pearl, and the author.…
The Puritans’ beliefs in the 17th century were different than most of the citizens that live in this modern day society. The Puritan beliefs are based on the of the Church of England, but they purified the religion. The Scarlet Letter is based off the Puritans’ beliefs and the story of society that the Puritans lived in; some other critics observe that Nathaniel Hawthorne criticizes the Puritans society and their beliefs.…
This quote is describing the first time Hester’s husband sees her with the scarlet letter on her chest. Hawthorne immediately describes his character, rather than letting the reader find out through judgment on how the character treats other people. This quote is a very distinctive description; Chillingworth is not a typical Puritan, he seems to be much more open-minded.…
Question 1: A Prison and a cemetery are the first things needed. It shows how strict the laws there were. Additional was the fact that for a punishment, for whatever sin, you either went to prison or were killed some way and buried in the cemetery. It sets the precedent of strict rules through the church. The Puritans ruled everything in their entirety through the church. They constantly went through the bible picking out different verses “deciphering” their meaning and utilizing these as evidence in the persecution of suspects. These translated laws were sometimes skewed and meant only to fit the purpose of the magistrates, the Salem witch trials being a prominent example of this.…
She almost lost her only child, and was not able to openly love who she wanted. Throughout the book she was feeling guilty, also feeling sorry for making Dimmesdale go through the suffering as well. She wanted to love again furthermore not to die with no one on her side, loneliness and lack of love led her to commit a “crime,” according to the Puritan society. All what Hester wanted someone that loves her and helps her but the puritan society prevented that from happening, so she became a victim of their rules and…
passed judgment on Hester and her sin is laid bare to the reader's opened eye.…
One of the prime examples of Hester’s independence in thought is shown in the affair between Hester and Mr. Dimmesdale. In the Puritan society in which Hester lives, it is society’s standard for women to stay in union with their husband no matter if they have problems or temptations. Despite this, Hester goes against society and does what she thinks is right and falls for Mr. Dimmesdale. Fully knowing the penalty and possible outcomes, Hester does what she believes is right and disregards the societal expectations to be with Mr. Dimmesdale. Hester’s love for Mr. Dimmesdale is pure and doesn’t come from lust or greed. This is reflected through the love Hester has for her daughter, Pearl. Hester shows her great love for Pearl when she is defending her right to be Pearl’s guardian. Hawthorne writes, ““God gave her into my keeping,” repeated Hester Prynne, raising her voice almost to a shriek. “I will not give her up!”” (101) In this scene, Hester is showing how she truly loves Pearl unconditionally. Hester’s love for Dimmesdale and her love for Pearl show her independent thinking. Another reason why Hester is socially independent is her financial autonomy. After she is shunned from the community and is forced to wear the scarlet letter, Hester is able to provide for her and Pearl by being a seamstress; she…
Short Response Questions: Respond to the following questions in 100-150 words each. Limit your answers, but do use text support where necessary. You may type on this document, save it as your own, and upload it with answers to turnitin.com. Use an appropriate MLA heading in the upper right. Do this by inserting a header. Use MLA parenthetical citation for all quotes.…