Nanthaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter‚ Hester‚ the main character‚ is forced to wear the letter A’ on her chest symbolizing her act of adultery with an unknown person. Through his novel Hawthorne sought to demonstrate how‚ under certain circumstances‚ the personal consequences of a crime may serve as sufficient punishment. In early Puritan America‚ adulterer’s generally suffered execution. Yet‚ in Hester’s case‚ she was only required to wear the scarlet letter as her husband and her lover remained
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Between 1825 and 1850‚ he developed his talent by writing short fiction‚ and he gained international fame for his fictional novel The Scarlet Letter in 1850 (Clendenning 118). Rufus Wilmot Griswold stated‚<br><br>The frivolous costume and brisk action of the story of fashionable life are easily depicted by the practised sketcher‚ but a work like "The Scarlet Letter" comes slowly upon the canvas‚ where passions are commingled and overlaid with the masterly elaboration with which the grandest effects are
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The Scarlet Letter Analysis Throughout history‚ sinners and misfits have been alienated from society by the people of their community. Examples of people out casting others can be found in every day life from the odd peer at school to an adult who does not share the same opinions or ideas as the majority. In the 17th century‚ Puritans became an important part of American history. They had strict laws and punishments and wanted a government that could enforce public morality. In Nathaniel
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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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establish the whole relation between man and woman on a surer ground of mutual happiness” (ch.24).The definition of feminism would be women are inherently equal to men and deserve equal rights and opportunities. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s‚ The Scarlet Letter‚ Hester Prynne is the key example for feminism in the novel. In Puritan times‚ women were thought of as lesser than men. Women’s purposes were to raise children and give them good morals and values. Women did not have jobs; they wore the plainest
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In Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter‚ the respected minister Arthur Dimmesdale deceives his community‚ preventing the townspeople from seeing the truth that he has sinned and hidden his secret. When his guilt finally overcomes him‚ he fantasizes about confessing the secret of his adultery to his congregation seven years after he committed the sin‚ but the people do not believe what he says. Rather than believing him‚ they believe the deception he has been showing them. He shows the community a perfect
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do with her mother’s scarlet letter. Pearl Hester’s daughter‚ Pearl‚ functions primarily as a symbol. She is quite young during most of the events of this novel—when Dimmesdale dies she is only seven years old—and her real importance lies in her ability to provoke the adult characters in the book. She asks them pointed questions and draws their attention‚ and the reader’s‚ to the denied or overlooked truths of the adult world. In general‚ children in The Scarlet Letter are portrayed as more perceptive
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the case with the youthful Pearl from the novel The Scarlet Letter‚ by Nathaniel Hawthorn. As the daughter of the adulteress Hester Prynne‚ the townspeople view Pearl as a demon in an angel’s clothing; as an imp who not only knows exactly what the letter "A" signifies on the breast of her mother‚ but as the demon who placed it there as well. They also believe Pearl uses this information against Hester by constantly mentioning the letter in order to make Hester extremely uncomfortable. This is not
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Sadomasochists Will Not Be Satisfied With The Scarlet Letter “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor‚ both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death” (Leviticus 20:10). Puritans carried this Biblical credence to the very letter. Puritans were all about order in their society‚ achieved through strict laws and rules. The love between a married couple equated moral and religious duties (eHow)‚ and so when adultery was
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Scarlet Letter- Pearl Pearls have always held a great price to mankind‚ but no pearl had ever been earned at as high a cost to a person as Nathaniel Hawthorne’s powerful heroine Hester Prynne. Her daughter Pearl‚ born into a Puritan prison in more ways than one‚ is an enigmatic character serving entirely as a vehicle for symbolism. From her introduction as an infant on her mother’s scaffold of shame to the stormy zenith of the story‚ Pearl is an empathetic and improbably intelligent
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