Name: Professor: Bernhard Radloff Subject: ENG 2450 B Date: 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
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In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ Dimmesdale who is a minister acts as a role model to the townspeople. He is the last person who should commit a crime and lie about it. As the minister of the community‚ Dimmesdale is held to certain moral standards‚ and is expected to be the moral measure for his congregation. He attempts to follow the strictures of society‚ but must hide his sins of adultery and hypocrisy to remain angelic within the community. Dimmesdale weighted with the guilt of
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Hester’s Scarlet Letter In the novel‚ The Scarlet Letter‚ the protagonist‚ Hester Prynne‚ is forced to publically wear her sin on her sleeve. She committed adultery‚ which was a sin that was highly chastised by the Puritan society. The Scarlet Letter that Hester wore first symbolized the burden and humiliation that accompanied the sin. Throughout the novel however‚ the meaning of the letter changed to parallel Hester’s own development into a strong‚ independent woman. The letter starts out
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Sin and guilt are one of the main themes that are continuously mentioned in Nathaniel Hawthorn’s book The Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynne‚ Arthur Dimmesdale‚ and Roger Chillingworth experience the different forms and effects of sin and guilt. Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale are both mostly convicted for having the sin of adultery while Roger Chillingworth is most guilty of having the sin of revenge. Out of these 3 main characters Hester handles her sin through most effective way and used it to
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book The Scarlet Letter who is an adulterer‚ who obeys everyone with her punishment. Hester is described to be a slave of her own sin. Puritans laws required Hester to be bound through her identity to her very public sin. As such‚ the puritan system is the basis for which society has discovered its punishment systems. This would include beliefs on God‚ beliefs on marriage‚ how the influence of Puritanism relates to Hawthorne’s life‚ and how Hawthorne tied these into his story The Scarlet Letter. Puritans
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The effect of the symbol--or‚ rather‚ of the position in respect of society that was indicated by it-- on the mind of Hester Prynne herself‚ was powerful and peculiar. All the light and graceful foliage of her character had been withered up by this red-hot brand‚ and had long ago fallen away‚ leaving a bare and harsh outline‚ which might have been repulsive‚ had she possessed friends or companions to be repelled
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Literature 9 April 2014 ‘The Scarlet Letter’ as a Tragedy The Scarlet Letter is a literature monument of the American Romantic era. The intensely tragic drama‚ written by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ has been analyzed by American literature analysts and critics alike. The aim of this paper is to specifically highlight the tragedy it narrates. Tragedy‚ considered to be the highest poetic element by Aristotle‚ has elements and characteristics portrayed in the text of The Scarlet Letter‚ that the weave of the
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Symbolism of The Scarlet Letter A symbol is a literary device which is employed to portray another object or individual. In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ it is most often a tangible object he uses to represent an undefined idea‚ complex in scope and significance. More times than not‚ it represents reverent‚ profound‚ or virtuous concepts of merit. From the substitution of one idea or object for another‚ to creations as massive‚ complex‚ and perplexing as the veil in the Minister’s Black
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Major Themes Individual vs. Society The Scarlet Letter is a novel that describes the psychological anguish of two principle characters‚ Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimondale. They are both suffering under‚ while attempting to come to terms with‚ their mutual sin of adultery in a strict Puritan society. As critics immediately recognized upon publication of the novel in 1850‚ one of its principal themes involved conflict between the individual and society. Hawthorne represents the stern and threatening
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Marie-Claire Blais and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ isolation was used as a major theme to sculpt and reveal the characters true identity. The behaviour of each central character towards isolation crafted their fates. The Scarlet Letter portrays the psychological effects of alienation on the characters. Mad shadows illustrates an unprincipled world where beauty is skin only deep and love is measured by material possessions. The main character in The Scarlet Letter‚ Hester Prynne‚ committed
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