and moralist might point‚” (71) Hester is burdened with overwhelming guilt in her isolated life within the authoritative society. As an act of atonement‚ Hester covers her hair with a cap‚ and her beauty and warmth are buried under the elaborate scarlet letter on her bosom. While Hester is deserved to be an outcast for her “evil doings‚” (57) the male sinner‚ who in fact is disclosed to be Reverend Dimmesdale‚ hides behind his deeds and suffer in silence but none of the criticisms are made on him. Hawthorne
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Perhaps the foremost purpose of The Scarlet Letter is to illustrate the difference between shaming someone in public and allowing him or her to suffer the consequences of an unjust act privately. According to the legal statutes at the time and the prevailing sentiment of keeping in accordance with a strict interpretation of the Bible‚ adultery was a capital sin that required the execution of both adulterer and adulteress--or at the very least‚ severe public corporal punishment. Indeed‚ even if the
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Sin and Forgiveness in The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne uses the theme of sin and forgiveness throughout The Scarlet Letter to portray the protagonists and antagonists of the story. Hawthorne uses comparative techniques through dark versus light‚ and nature versus civilization. With both of these he is giving underlying comparisons of sin and forgiveness. Hawthorne uses comparisons to show the reader that by having the inability to forgive‚ he/she is committing the sin of pride and is no better than
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The Worst Sinner in The Scarlet Letter In The Scarlet Letter there are three main sinners presented to the reader. Hester Prynne‚ Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth are all written with their own forms of sin‚ and each has a unique coping mechanism for their sins and guilt. Sin‚ at this time‚ was a hugely important part of daily life‚ and punishment for one’s sins was universally seen as not only a positive thing‚ but a necessary action to keep the people of the colony pure. Both Hester
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Colleen Callahan 12/2/12 Period 5 A Tale of Three Sinners In the classic novel‚ The Scarlet Letter‚ Hawthorne utilizes the extraordinary power of description and word choice to illustrate the tragically harsh lives and expectations of 19th century Puritans. The story begins with the ostracization of Ms. Hester Prynne‚ and quickly escalates toward a much deeper and darker focus: sin. Sin can be defined as the deliberate disobedience of Puritan morals and man-made law. To sin will always be
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The Scarlet Letter Analytical Essay By: Lydia Burkhart By reading and analyzing the Scarlet Letter and “Young Goodman Brown”‚ it can be inferred that the general influence of both stories is constant monitoring and harsh scrutiny from the community and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s experiences of the loss of innocence‚ the acts of sin and the punishment from the community that comes not long after. There is also the belief that everything outside of their town is deep and dark; very few
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The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible - Comparison of Proctor and Dimmesdale The decisions made by the character John Proctor‚ in The Crucible‚ and by Arthur Dimmesdale‚ in The Scarlet Letter‚ were very much alike. Throughout the entirety of both books‚ the similarities and differences between these two male characters‚ and the environments in which they lived‚ seemed to reflect back and forth quite generously. Also‚ the societies in which John Proctor and Arthur Dimmesdale lived in have a fair amount
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In "The Scarlet Letter"‚ Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the hypocrisy of the Puritan society of the seventeenth century with the story of the downfall and redemption of Hester Prynne. The hypocritical Puritan society punishes Hester for committing adultery. However‚ in her own mind‚ she does not see her actions as a sin because she acts out of love. Furthermore‚ she redeems herself by turning her offense into a virtue. Through the tale of Hester Prynne‚ Hawthorne’s moral is that the sin is not in adultery
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story‚ chiaroscuro is displayed throughout The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Also prevalent in many masterpieces created by Rembrandt during the 17 century‚ Rembrandt uses chiaroscuro to create a focal point in his paintings and evoke personal thought. Hawthorne uses chiaroscuro to focus on the element of overall sin and to illustrate conflicts between characters. A comparison of chiaroscuro in Rembrandts paintings and Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter‚ provides a deeper understand of how light
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In the story of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ there are plenty of themes surrounding the deep story. One theme in particular stood out‚ and that was price of untold sin. It plays a major role throughout the story and Pearl‚ one of the main characters‚ is a product of sin. In this story‚ set in 17th century Boston‚ Hester Prynne suffers the ignominy of having to wear the Scarlet Letter on her bosom for the rest of her natural life. After committing adultery‚ Hester must endure the pain
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