Hawthorne was influenced by both Puritan culture and the Romantic and Transcendentalism movements. Puritans believed that life should be lived with complete conformity to the teachings of the Bible‚ that life is lived only for the glory of God‚ and that moral purity is a constant priority. Puritans wanted to obey God’s will in order to ensure their future happiness in heaven. As a result‚ they did not hold earthly pleasures in high regard‚ such as celebrations or holidays. Romantics‚ however‚ put
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Scarlet Letter Short Essay Adrienne Rich‚ a feminist poet and critic‚ wrote the essay “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision‚” to identify and admonish gender norms in her society. Rich considers that “the argument will go on whether an oppressive economic class system is responsible for the oppressive nature of male/female relations‚ or whether‚ in fact‚ patriarchy... is the original model of oppression on which all others are based.” She comments on the origin of gender roles‚ wondering
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Having reached the depths of the forest‚ Hester and Pearl sit on a heap of moss beside a brook. Just then footsteps are heard on the path‚ and Hester sends Pearl away‚ but not before the girl asks whether it is the Black Man approaching and whether Dimmesdale holds his hand over his heart to cover the Black Man’s sign. Pearl asks her mother to tell her a story about the Black Man‚ who is said to haunt the forest. Hester explains to Pearl that the Black Man is a myth about the devil. He haunts this
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A sin is doing what is wrong or not doing what is right according to God’s rules. The Scarlet Letter is the story about Hester Prynne committing a sin of adultery. The consequence of her sinning is that she is forced to walk around in shame wearing a prominent scarlet letter “A” on her chest for the rest of her life. Hester was condemned by her own puritan neighbors. During that time sinning was a big deal‚ and anyone was eligible to caught and punished. A sin is something that can possibly occur
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Societies are often formed with certain ideologies in mind‚ as groups of people come together looking for others who think like them. Then‚ the ideology begins to dominate as laws are formed and consequently change is resisted‚ even when the ideology is flawed. This process goes unnoticed by those involved‚ why should they question it? Why go deeper? On the other hand‚ an outsider of that society can be free of that society’s bias‚ and have a clearer perspective of it is those who see what truly
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The Scarlet Letter talks about Hester’s adultery‚ which occurred in a time frame when people judged severely. In those days they publicly humiliated people to make them think twice before committing a sin. For example‚ they made her wear a letter A on her chest for seven years. Hester didn’t hide from her shame or run from her problems. I felt that she dealt with it in a helpful servant type way. Hawthorne stated “So strong was Hester Prynne‚ with a woman’s strength.” Hester dealt
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Romanticism is a very unique style of writing that is very dramatic and descriptive throughout the entirety of the work. It is used in many different novels and writings‚ with one of them being The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter depicts a woman who is shamed of adultery and has to wear a scarlet “A” on her bosom‚ and the “A” seems to have supernatural powers that effect Hester Prynne and people around her in many different ways. The scarlet “A” attached to Hester Prynne’s
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In The Scarlet Letter‚ the Puritans are a group who believe that people are born with sin. Subsequently‚ they keep a strict eye over their community as well as themselves. Correspondingly‚ depending on how severe a sin is‚ it may be punishable by death. Hester is spared by the Puritans because they believe that she will serve as a living sermon of sin. Hester must wear a scarlet letter on her chest for the entirety of her life to make up for her punishment. These events convey how the overall theme
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The prison is often seen as a “black flower” of a civilized society. Hawthorne makes examples of decay and evil through the architecture of society: The wooden jail was already marked with weather-stains and other indications of age‚ which gave a yet darker aspect to its beetle-browed and gloomy front. The rust on the ponderous iron-work of its oaken door looked more antique than anything else in the New World…It seemed never to have known a youthful era. Before this ugly edifice‚ and between
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Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter has much to instruct psychoanalysts and psychotherapists‚ probably no other American novel lends itself so well to an study in gravity of the dynamics‚ conflicts‚ and aggressive attribute of shame. Hawthorne‘s novels deal with persons caught in a fight between individual desires and the ethical weight of society‚ a struggle which the being usually loses. More importantly‚ Hawthorne‘s characters are secluded individuals‚ who refuse society‘s principles but
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