In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ a character named Hester Prynne committed adultery with a man who at first was unidentified but later confirmed to be her reverend‚ the worshipped Arthur Dimmesdale. Since Hester became pregnant after the affair and her husband had not yet arrived in the colony‚ it was clear that she had committed adultery. The government of the colony demanded to know who her lover was‚ but Hester repeatedly refused to incriminate him. Because Hester never identified
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The Scarlet Letter: The Theme of Punishment Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter deals with many themes‚ the most powerful being punishment. In this novel‚ Hester Prynne becomes a highly respected person in a Puritan society by overcoming one of the harshest punishments‚ the scarlet letter. This object on "her bosom"; however‚ does the exact opposite of that which it was meant for. Eventually‚ Hester Prynne inverts all the odds against here due to her
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Many punishments in the Puritan society are public. The point of this is to humiliate the “criminals” and make them feel as if they need to repent. There is nothing that the magistrates enjoy more than public confessions of the guilty (in text citation). The Scarlet Letter was written in the 1850’s and was based in this type of society. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter‚ the two main characters commit a similar sin but experience a different outcome. Hester and Arthur commit a very similar
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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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they tend to come back and complete it. When Hester left New England‚ she abandoned her punishment and past. She later came back feeling the need to complete what she hadn’t finished. Hester couldn’t escape her town‚ because of all that she left behind in it. After leaving New England‚ Hester suddenly returned. Hester came back to the place where her sin all started. She continued to wear the scarlet letter‚ even though no one would’ve required it to be worn. Hester felt that she had a connection
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There is a lot of commotion around the town discussing whether or not Hester’s punishment was enough to be considered just. Some of the people wanted a harsher punishment and not some weak punishment like being in jail for a couple of days. But the punishment the magistrates gave was a good one and they didn’t need to go to the extreme. Hester did break a major crime committed adultery and she will pay for it later on‚ she is going to be outcast of the town‚ and she will keep pearl so she will always
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The Scarlet Letter is an exemplification of the theme of Crimeand Punsihment. It is mainly the story of Crime‚ say sexual crim‚ and the consequences arising therefrom. The act of adulteyr is certainly a crime against the individual‚ be that individual‚ the wronged wife or a hsuband. Similarly it is also a crime against society‚ for it involves that violation of a moral code formulated and honored by that society. Adultery has been branded as immoral in all civilized communities of the world. By indulging
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Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter was one of the first mass-produced novels in the United States. Hawthorne was born July 4‚ 1804 in Salem Massachusetts. An early ancestor of Hawthorne‚ William Hathorne‚ emigrated to Salem‚ Massachusetts in 1630 and took on the reputation of being a harsh judge during the Salem Witch Trials in the 1690s. Hawthorne‚ wanting to distance himself from the puritan legacy on his father’s side‚ added a “w” to his last name. Wanting to further remove his family
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Capital punishment was wide spread in Puritan Boston. Although the Bible was a moral guide‚ societies were swarmed with crimes and sins. The punishments included severe whipping‚ imprisonment‚ slitting nostrils‚ and public execution on scaffold(“Puritan”). In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter‚ although the two main characters‚ Hester and Dimmesdale are guilty of the similar sins‚ they experience different punishments and outcomes. Hester and Dimmesdale differ in sins they commit. It is clear
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Sin‚ Punishment and Redemption in The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter is a book about sin‚ punishment‚ and the hope of redemption. The book is about the life in colonial Boston of Hester Prynne‚ Her husband Roger Chillingworth‚ and Hester’s lover Arthur Dimmesdale. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a very complex and can be interpreted in many ways. Throughout the novel the Concept of sin‚ punishment‚ and redemption was portrayed through Hester Prynne‚ Aurthur Dimmesdale and Roger
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