Ambiguity‚ which is doubleness or inconclusiveness of meaning‚ is an important characteristic of Hawthorne’s style in The Scarlet Letter. Constantly used throughout the story‚ ambiguity continually keeps the readers attention. Examples of ambiguity are clearly seen throughout the book. When Hester Prynne is leaving the prison‚ Hawthorn briefly describes a rosebush In front of the prison. Hawthorne says‚ "…or whether‚ as there is fair authority for believing it had sprung up under the footsteps of
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“Setting” is a word used to describe the place‚ time‚ assumptions and values of a society in a story. In the Scarlet Letter‚ the setting was in the Puritan town of Salem in Massachusetts Bay Colony circa 1640. Being that the era and location of the backdrop is in a 17th century Protestant Puritan village‚ the assumptions and values would be that the townspeople are God-fearing individuals who strictly adhere to the Bible and its preachings. In this particular story‚ the primary conflict was the setting
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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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The Story The Scarlet Letter is a story that is about a woman named Hester who had committed Adultery. She now wears what is known as the Scarlet A. The Scarlet A is worn on her chest for everyone is the town to see‚ and to know that she is an Adulter. The townspeople found out about her committing adultery because she had a baby named Pearl‚ but her husband has been gone for a whole two years so it wasn’t to hard to figure it out. The only thing nobody knew was who Pearl’s father was. Hester’s husband
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The Scarlet Letter: Nature’s Individualist Every individual is born universally in nature‚ all starting from the same humble beginnings. The only way we gain our originality in life‚ is when we look deeper into the eyes of nature and see that her small flaws are mirrored in us as well. In the novel‚ The Scarlet Letter‚ by Nathaniel Hawthorne Hester Prynne embodies the characteristics of the self- reliant individual. The novel takes place in Puritan sixteenth century Massachusetts telling the story
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Judgement The main theme of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel‚ The Scarlet Letter‚ is judgement. Because of Hawthorne’s broken past many of his writings focus on sin and judgement in Puritan societies. Throughout The Scarlet Letter we journey with Hester as she returns to her village after being held in jail because of her grievous sin of adultery. Hawthorne uses Chillingworth and the townspeople in order to show that‚ “When we judge others we are not defining them we are defining ourselves.” When
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Scarlet Letter What comes to mind when people think about the solitude‚ darkness‚ and recovery of sin? In the novel this question is very relevant‚ characters in the book face the solitude and darkness of sin itself. Along the way some of these characters recover their former selves‚ for example Hester Prynne finds her way back in society. “The letter was a symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her‚--so much power to do‚ and power to sympathize‚--that many people refused to interpret
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Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ a critically acclaimed American writer of the 19th century‚ was born in Salem‚ Massachusetts in 1804. The novelist ’s book‚ The Scarlet Letter‚ is supposedly his best work‚ and universally considered a literary classic. Concerned with sin and consequences of dealing with it‚ Hawthorne ’s work relates to his own personal sense of shame about his ancestor ’s persecuting roles in the 17th century Salem Witch Trials. By indirectly dealing with his sense of guilt through fictional
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individuals are prone to sin and self-destruction‚ affected psychologically from sin and guilt. In “The Scarlet Letter”‚ Nathaniel Hawthorne employs elements of romanticism and symbolism to communicate the idea that sin and guilt has a great impact in the manifestations of humans. Hawthorne utilizes symbolism to demonstrate what effects sin and guilt has on humans. Hester Prynne has to wear a scarlet letter on her chest‚ walking in her own shame. This has
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preordained; God chose who would be saved and welcomed into heaven. However‚ if an individual does not follow Puritan rules‚ he or she will most certainly be damned. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ set in a Puritan town in the seventeenth century‚ Hester Prynne is forced to wear a letter A on her chest‚ also known as the scarlet letter‚ for the adultery she committed that ended her up with a child. When asked who the father of her child is‚ she refuses to answer and is forced to stand at the scaffold
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