Often‚ two people can commit the same sin‚ but deal with it differently. Guilt can be dealt with in two ways: publicly or privately. In The Scarlet Letter‚ by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale both commit adultery‚ and both Hester and Dimmesdale deal with guilt from the sin they committed in completely different ways. Hawthorne writes about dealing with guilt publicly and privately to show the emotional and sometimes physical toll of guilt based on how people choose to deal
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the forbidden acts of drunkenness‚ blasphemy‚ and adultery. In The Scarlet Letter‚ the church enacts harsh sentences of incarceration and public shaming in order to discipline the presumed sinners. Even though these punishments seek to inflict harm and cause suffering to their victims‚ Hawthorne uses their cruelty to elicit the truth. Presenting a major symbol of Puritan punishment‚ Hawthorne employs the harshness of the scarlet letter to allow Hester to discover her own strength and beauty. Under
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one thing in their life to still be there when they get out of jail. It also says that the scarlet colored rose is used “to symbolize a sweet moral blossom.” This is a little ironic because of the robe the Hester is forced to wear. Hester‚ an adulteress is considered to have no morals and is shamed into wearing this scarlet letter. The scarlet flower is supposed to be a symbol of morals and scarlet-letter-bearing Hester is thought of as the opposite of morals. Yet another way to look at the flowers
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In the novel "The Scarlet Letter"‚ the characters relationships and their actions are more based on what their community thinks of them. However in critical theory today‚ commodification is stated as "the act of relating to the objects or persons in terms of their exchange value" (Tyson 60). To add to that society will commodify each other when they "structure their relations with them to promote their own advancement financially or socially" (Tyson 60). Relationships of all types can all be judged
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The forest is a very important aspect of this novel. In The Scarlet Letter‚ there is a lot of secrecy and lying. The theme of this book is to be true‚ so it is obvious that there is a lot of lies being told. The forest gives shelter and secrecy to those who need it. In the town‚ there are so many rules‚ and if you do something wrong‚ someone is bound to see it. The forest offers Dimmesdale and Hester secrecy that they need when they have to talk to each other. While they are in the town‚ they are
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The Power of Romance Versus Society Hester Prynne‚ the main character in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter‚ is very similar to Edna Pontellier of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening‚ in that both women contradicted the societal standard and followed their hearts as opposed to the rigid marital structure of their respective times in history. Edna and Hester chose to be with men whom they really cared for. At times when marriage seemed to be based more on a convenient loyalty rather than a genuine bond‚ these
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The Scarlet Letter: Symbolism in the Forest "The path strangled onward into the mystery of the primeval forest"(179). This sentence displays just one of the multiple personalities that the forest symbolizes in The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorn. As seen in the epic story Wizard of OZ‚ the forest represents a place of evil and delight‚ but in the Scarlet Letter the forest symbolizes much more then that. Each character brings out a different side of the forest‚ however the forest
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In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book‚ “The Scarlet Letter‚” a very prominent theme is the idea of how something a little bit out of the ordinary can become quite exaggerated. In the beginning of the book‚ the main character‚ Hester Prynne‚ is made to wear a scarlet letter to pay for her sin of adultery. This letter and even Hester herself is exaggerated in the eyes of society throughout the book. “It was whispered‚ by those who peered after her‚ that the scarlet letter threw a lurid gleam along the dark
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Scarlet Letter Chapter Summaries Chapter 1: The Prison Door The first chapter pretty much sets the scene for the rest of the book. It describes a door‚ the door to the prison in seventeenth century Boston. The door is studded with iron spikes and is surrounded with overgrown weeds and one rosebush. The narrator suggests that it’s a reminder of nature’s kindness to the prisoners. It says it will provide a “sweet moral blossom” in the face of distress. Chapter 2: The Market-Place The women
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"A" for Alienation Alienation is a common theme in all writing; however‚ in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ never has alienation been so vividly accounted. The Scarlet Letter is a story about Hester Prynne‚ a woman who commits adultery against her husband named Roger Chillingworth‚ with the local reverend named Arthur Dimmesdale; the result is a strange child named Pearl. The plot thickens as the mistress and the reverend strive to keep their sin a secret‚ and as Chillingworth appears
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