cultures at different eras within American history‚ a common theme can be established when comparing The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald with The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Both novels‚ for example‚ examine the dichotomy between reality and appearance as well as the conflict between individual and social values. In The Scarlet Letter‚ Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale love each other. This love holds great personal value for them. However‚ because their relationship is adulterous
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Sin‚ vengeance‚ evil‚ and redemption are all words one can associate when thinking about The Scarlet Letter‚ by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The character who takes the truest form of these negative words is Roger Chillingworth. Hester Prynne had married Chillingworth in England‚ however left her for many years. During those years‚ Chillingworth spent time with Indians learning their ways while Hester had an ill legitimate child with a beloved priest named Arthur Dimmesdale. When Hester Prynne begins her
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The Scarlet Letter: Symbolism in the Forest "The path strangled onward into the mystery of the primeval forest"(179). This sentence displays just one of the multiple personalities that the forest symbolizes in The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorn. As seen in the epic story Wizard of OZ‚ the forest represents a place of evil and delight‚ but in the Scarlet Letter the forest symbolizes much more then that. Each character brings out a different side of the forest‚ however the forest
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In Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter‚ Pearl serves many roles as a character. In the harsh Puritan society she lived in with her mother Hester‚ she provides some comical relief into their difficult lives. Hester was condemned her whole life from committing adultery. Her letter was not the only punishment she faced‚ but the internal guilt of knowing she went against her religion sat with her for life. Pearl was her most precious gift and she gave Hester a reason to keep going and continue on with her
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to wear a scarlet letter A for the remainder of her life. Nathaniel Hawthorne enhances his novel The Scarlet Letter with extensive attention to character description‚ especially when referring to Pearl. Through diction and imagery‚ Hawthorne identifies Pearl as slightly devious and frightening‚ yet compassionate‚ beautiful‚ and intelligent beyond her years. When Hester gave birth to Pearl‚ the community recognized the infant as a symbol of shame‚ as apparent as the scarlet letter on her chest
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In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book‚ “The Scarlet Letter‚” a very prominent theme is the idea of how something a little bit out of the ordinary can become quite exaggerated. In the beginning of the book‚ the main character‚ Hester Prynne‚ is made to wear a scarlet letter to pay for her sin of adultery. This letter and even Hester herself is exaggerated in the eyes of society throughout the book. “It was whispered‚ by those who peered after her‚ that the scarlet letter threw a lurid gleam along the dark
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Scarlet Letter Chapter Summaries Chapter 1: The Prison Door The first chapter pretty much sets the scene for the rest of the book. It describes a door‚ the door to the prison in seventeenth century Boston. The door is studded with iron spikes and is surrounded with overgrown weeds and one rosebush. The narrator suggests that it’s a reminder of nature’s kindness to the prisoners. It says it will provide a “sweet moral blossom” in the face of distress. Chapter 2: The Market-Place The women
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"A" for Alienation Alienation is a common theme in all writing; however‚ in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ never has alienation been so vividly accounted. The Scarlet Letter is a story about Hester Prynne‚ a woman who commits adultery against her husband named Roger Chillingworth‚ with the local reverend named Arthur Dimmesdale; the result is a strange child named Pearl. The plot thickens as the mistress and the reverend strive to keep their sin a secret‚ and as Chillingworth appears
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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 and related sin. Hester Prynne commits a sin of adultery. She is
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Throughout The Scarlet Letter‚ Hawthorne uses a great deal of symbolism especially with the meaning of the scaffold. The scaffold starts out to be place of sin and humiliation but ironically becomes a place of true salvation. It is used by many characters to show their emotions as well as how people of the Puritan society treated Hester‚ Pearl‚ and Arthur Dimmesdale. In the first scaffold scene‚ Hester is holding her daughter Pearl in her arms. Hester has committed adultery and must stand on the
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