Analysis—Chapters 1–2 These chapters introduce the reader to Hester Prynne and begin to explore the theme of sin‚ along with its connection to knowledge and social order. The chapters’ use of symbols‚ as well as their depiction of the political reality of Hester Prynne’s world‚ testify to the contradictions inherent in Puritan society. This is a world that has already “fallen‚” that already knows sin: the colonists are quick to establish a prison and a cemetery in their “Utopia‚” for they know
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else. Hawthorne has a perfect atmosphere for the symbols in The Scarlet Letter because the Puritans saw the world through allegory. The Puritan community sees Hester as a fallen woman‚ Dimmesdale as a saint‚ and would have seen the disguised Chillingworth as a victim — a husband betrayed. Instead‚ Hawthorne ultimately presents Hester as a woman who represents a sensitive human being with a heart and emotions; Dimmesdale as a minister who is not very saint-like in private but‚ instead‚ morally
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have subsequently built admirable strength of character. Ruth Copeland‚ from The Third Life of Grange Copeland‚ had to overcome generational poverty and ignorance. Ruth uses her patience to overcome adversity and hegemony. In The Scarlet Letter‚ Hester Prynne overcame being a sinner and an adulterer. She allows others to see the strength she gained and her acceptance to the punishment society imposed on her. Both characters overcame some kind of hegemony and ignorance that surrounded them. Whereas
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shaming of a woman named Hester Prynne. It takes place in the 17th Century Boston‚ Massachusetts. The story begins with Hester being released from prison and walking down to town scaffold. She is wearing an “A” on her chest‚ which stands for adulterer. She is carrying her baby Daughter‚ Pearl‚ as she stands on the scaffold receiving insults. She is on the scaffold because she committed adultery with another man while she was married. Later‚ Hester’s long lost husband visits Hester in the prison. He has
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past from everyone in the community except Hester Prynne‚ his young wife whom had arrived years earlier than him in the New World. It has been described how‚ in the crowd that gathered before Hester‚ stood an old‚ tired‚ and crooked man‚ who‚ after being released by hostile Native Americans‚ finds his wife‚ holding an infant‚ shamefully standing on a scaffold. From the whispery gossip exchanged between the other spectators‚ Chillingworth learns that Hester is being condemned for committing adultery;
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actions. To begin‚ Hester Prynne was a young Puritan woman‚ just like any other. She was‚ at one point‚ married to the character who calls himself Roger Chillingworth; however‚ Chillingworth was said to be lost out at sea after disappearing for a few years or so. During the time Chillingworth was gone‚ Hester found herself a new love‚ Minister Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester and the minister had an affair‚ which left Hester pregnant. Eventually‚ Chillingworth returns to find Hester with this newborn baby
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Published in 1850‚ The Scarlet Letter‚ by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ is a book based on sin‚ guilt‚ and redemption. A woman‚ Hester Prynne‚ must bear the guilt of sin by wearing a scarlet “A” on her bosom. The reason she wears this letter is because she had a child by a man‚ Arthur Dimmesdale‚ who is not her husband‚ Roger Chillingworth. Although she has committed the sin of adultery with Dimmesdale‚ her husband is also guilty of being a sinner himself. According to the narrator in Chapter 14‚ “This unhappy
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The Market Place Summary The Puritan women waiting outside the prison self-righteously and viciously discuss Hester Prynne and her sin. Hester‚ proud and beautiful‚ emerges from the prison. She wears an elaborately embroidered scarlet letter A — standing for "adultery" — on her breast‚ and she carries a three-month-old infant in her arms. Hester is led through the unsympathetic crowd to the scaffold of the pillory. Standing alone on the scaffold as punishment for her adulterous behavior‚ she remembers
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its freedom. The wilderness also affects the characters in the book‚ specifically Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester is exiled from the community‚ living on the brink of wilderness‚ “outlawed from society‚ and so freed‚ in a sense‚ she…. [goes] beyond accepted Puritan attitudes toward society and theology” (Eisinger 325). No longer an active participant in society‚ living in nature with only her daughter‚ Hester is presented with a sense of freedom. She embraces that freedom and uses it to
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townspeople that he is not the man that they know and love. Instead‚ he is a sinner who has committed adultery with Hester Prynne. He does this so that he can die without the weight of guilt on his chest. After Dimmesdale says all that needs to be said to free him‚ he dies. This quote plays a very influential part in the story because it deals with the connection between Hester‚ Pearl and Dimmesdale. Right after Dimmesdale confronts the townspeople about his sin; he collapses and asked Pearl
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