The Scarlet Letter can easily be seen as an early feminist piece of work. Nathaniel Hawthorne created a story that exemplifies Hester as a strong female character living with her choices‚ whether they were good or bad‚ and also as the protagonist. He also presents the daughter of Hester‚ Pearl‚ as an intelligent female‚ especially for her age. He goes on to prove man as imperfect through both the characters of Dimmesdale and of Chillingworth. With the situation that all the characters face‚ Hawthorne
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The Scarlet Letter Final Paper The Scarlet Letter‚ by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ is set in a society of Puritan confinement. Not surprisingly‚ it contains minimal displays of affection among its characters‚ with only three crucial kisses depicted. Each kiss is between the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and his love child‚ Pearl‚ and accent the underlying theme of nature vs. societal repression. Each kiss represents a transfer‚ a clash or crossover of natural instinct and social conduct between Dimmesdale
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Chillingworth visits Hester during her brief incarceration‚ where he berates her for having crushed his dreams of finding acceptance and love ("My heart was a great mansion with room for many souls‚ but cold and empty and without a parlor fire; I longed to light one!"). While he makes it obvious he will not take revenge upon her or the baby‚ he demands to know the name of Hester’s lover. She refuses to tell him‚ but Chillingworth promises that he will find the man and destroy his soul. Chillingworth
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Scarlett Letter Criticism Nathanial Hawthorne envisioned The Scarlet Letter as a short story published in a collection‚ but it outgrew that purpose. Most critics accept Hawthorne’s definition of it as a “romance” rather than a novel. The novel begins with an introductory autobiographical essay‚ “The Custom House” where Hawthorne describes working as a custom officer in Salem‚ Massachusetts. He describes coming across documents that provide him with the basis for The Scarlett Letter. The introductory
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The Superiority of Men? The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is commonly known as America’s first great novel and as America’s first feminist novel as well. Hawthorne writes The Scarlet Letter in the middle of the nineteenth century while the novel actually takes place in the mid seventeenth century puritanical Boston. Different people at different times viewed women in very different ways. In this novel alone women are viewed in two different ways. Hawthorne was a transcendentalist from
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Abstract The Scarlet Letter‚ Nathaniel Hawthorne’s representative work‚ is a classical novel in American literature in the 19th century. The novel displays Puritanism’s great impact on people’s life and thought. This thesis will give a picture of puritans’ life and ideology through the analysis of the Puritan town Boston and some related characters‚ and introduce how the communities in the town are deeply influenced by Puritanism. Meanwhile‚ by analyzing the main character Hester‚ the thesis will
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Hester’s Strengths as a Feminist Protagonist in The Scarlet Letter Feminism is the philosophy advocating equal political‚ economic‚ and social rights for women. The idea of feminism was not at all prevalent during the 1850s when Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter was published. In spite of this‚ Hawthorne wrote one of the most influential feminist novels of his time: The Scarlet Letter. This novel was hailed as an important feminist novel because of the main character: Hester Prynne. Hester
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Symbols of Guilt Within The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter‚ a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the 1800’s‚ transports readers to a Puritan town in the 1600’s. Hawthorne‚ nephew of the Puritan Judge John Hathorne‚ was very fixated on puritanism and theocracy. Throughout his novel Hawthorne repeatedly emphasizes the importance of the Christian religion in the theocratic town. Along with stressing the topic of religion Hawthorne also accentuates the theme of guilt within his novel and uses
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Hollywood scene and probably a rather erotic book. Add Puritan ideals and writing styles‚ making it long‚ drawn out‚ sleep inducing‚ tedious‚ dim-witted‚ and the end result is The Scarlet Letter. Despite all these unfavorable factors it is considered a classic and was a statement of the era (Letter 1).<br><br>The Scarlet Letter is pervaded with profound symbolism and revolves around the idea that hidden guilt causes more suffering than open guilt. This theme along with its symbolism is demonstrated through
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everywhere in everyday life. Beginning before even before 1640‚ people in the newly established colonies were forced to wear letters on their chests for all of the public to see. People who refused were actually whipped and beaten to coerce them into wearing their letters. One particular letter was the scarlet letter “A” which represented adultery. In the novel The Scarlet Letter‚ the leading woman‚ Hester Prynne‚ is forced to wear an “A” for her sin. Hawthorne uses Hester as an example to the rest of
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