God was strictly obeyed by the Puritans. Those found guilty of breaking this law‚ and any other of the Ten‚ were severely punished to a degree determined by the leader of the church. Hester Prynne‚ the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter‚ is exposed as an adulteress-which creates the main conflict in the novel. Hester willingly sins against the laws of the church‚ thus causing the tragedy. Puritanism started in the sixteenth century as a movement to reform the Church of England
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directly connects the scarlet letter on her mother’s bosom and the sun’s failure to shine on her to the absence of sunlight in her life‚ through her sin of adultery. Though Pearl’s symbolic nature allows her to identify these truths‚ her position as just a child prevents her from understanding the intricacy that these truths hold. Pearl sees her mother as an example of what every adult is characteristic of. In this sense‚ Pearly believes that all grown women wear this scarlet letter of an equivalent
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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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Although The Scarlet Letter is commonly associated with Romanticism‚ Hawthorne allows Transcendentalism’s traits to pervade his themes‚ symbols‚ and motifs within the novel. The heart of Transcendentalism is the belief that divinity is in every part of nature and humanity. An obvious example of this idea occurs in Chapter 12‚ when Dimmesdale sees a red “A” in the sky: Nothing was more common‚ in those days‚ than to interpret all meteoric appearances‚ and other natural phenomena‚ that occurred
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December 4‚ 2012 Scarlet Letter Review Introduction Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter remains one of the best examples of Puritan literature‚ a novel‚ which points to the inadequacy of the Puritan beliefs and the moral duality of the Puritan culture. This paper reviews the author’s novel from a new‚ conformity vs. individuality angle. The context in which the novel was created is discussed. Hester’s silent challenge against conformity is evaluated. The goal of this paper is to understand
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The Scarlet Letter: Reading Assignment As we are reading The Scarlet Letter‚ we will analyze the author’s narrative devices‚ thematic developments‚ and language devices. 1. With each reading assignment‚ you will compose two thoughtful‚ opened questions to bring to the class discussion. These questions should address either the author’s use of narrative technique and/or his development of theme. Narrative: How does the author use narrative technique in this section? Consider
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to dwell upon…”. Throughout the rest of The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne uses several devices to describe Hester and women in general. The first device that seems to be the most prominent throughout the book is symbolism. One of the symbols was the scarlet letter itself. Due to Hesters sin of adultery‚ the letter “A” is given to her to wear. She is publically ridiculed because of her human nature “...was the SCARLET LETTER‚ so fantastically embroidered and illuminated
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Throughout the novel‚ The Scarlet Letter‚ Nathaniel Hawthorne emphasizes the intricate themes of isolation and alienation. Using a variety of literary techniques and descriptions of emotions and nature‚ Hawthorne is able to fully depict the inner feelings of hurt suffered by the central characters as a result of severe loneliness and seclusion. This‚ therefore‚ further adds to the overall gloomy and cynical atmosphere of the work. Isolation and alienation‚ two forms of torturous estrangement‚ are
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Struggle In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter‚ the main characters face the theme of isolation. Every single one of them deals with it internally‚ however‚ two of them must face it externally as well. To feel isolated is like standing in a crowded room‚ constantly filling with familiar faces but yet the feeling of emptiness or aloneness still lingers. It’s a battle with humanity as well as your own mind; in a particular case in The Scarlet Letter it drove a man crazy. Being driven crazy
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Damned if You Do‚ Damned if You Don’t: Contrast in the Scarlet Letter The Puritan society was known for it’s strict morals and religious piety. But despite these supposedly virtuous qualities‚ in the Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter‚ we are shown how twisted this model of society is. The people torment Hester‚ but refuse to see that their beloved minister carries the same sin in his heart; in fact‚ they revere him all the more for it. In his chapters‚ “Hester at Her Needle‚” and “The
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