of Public Humiliation The scaffold in the Scarlet Letter is symbolizes a place where the entire town can gather and important events occur. In the novel‚ anytime that the scaffolding is mentioned‚ the main characters are brought together by a matter of circumstance. The scaffold is used by the characters throughout the book to either project their emotions or have emotions projected upon themselves. Each time the focus is on Hester Prynne’s scarlet letter and the events surrounding her. The first
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story The Scarlet Letter including‚ Hester Prynne‚ Arthur Dimmesdale‚ and Roger Chillingworth. Some characters keep secrets in this story so they don’t get in trouble. But Hester Prynne‚ with a mind of native courage and activity‚ and for so long a period not merely estranged‚ but outlawed‚ from society‚ had habituated herself to such latitude of speculation as was altogether foreign to the clergyman. She had wandered‚ without rule or guidance‚ in a moral wilderness. The scarlet letter was her passport
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In The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne’s purpose for the ” A” was to demonstrate the clear absence of feminism in the 1850’s when the story takes place. Hester Prynne‚ the heroine of The Scarlet Letter‚ is a strong independent woman who demonstrates wisdom. Instead of allowing herself to be a victim of her situation and Puritan contempt‚ she lives as a irrepressible woman and does not allow herself to be controlled by particular normalities. Hester committed adultery while her husband was
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The Scarlet Letter‚ a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ is a novel that takes place in the town of Boston‚ Massachusetts in 1642. Hester Prynne‚ the main character of the story‚ commits the sin of adultery. Because of this sin‚ she is "blessed" with a child named Pearl. Her punishment is to wear a scarlet letter “A" on her chest for the rest of her life‚ which affects the way the townspeople look and act around her. Also‚ she must stand on the scaffold in the town for three hours for the whole
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Perhaps the foremost purpose of The Scarlet Letter is to illustrate the difference between shaming someone in public and allowing him or her to suffer the consequences of an unjust act privately. According to the legal statutes at the time and the prevailing sentiment of keeping in accordance with a strict interpretation of the Bible‚ adultery was a capital sin that required the execution of both adulterer and adulteress--or at the very least‚ severe public corporal punishment. Indeed‚ even if the
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A Sign for Sin Throughout The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ the effects of sin and guilt on the mind‚ body‚ and soul of Hester and Dimmesdale are revealed through imagery and symbolism. Hester and Dimmesdale are living in the tormented realm of social stigma inflicted by carrying around sin and guilt in different ways. For example‚ in The Scarlet Letter‚ Hester remains beautiful and composed on the outside throughout her punishment‚ while her body and poker face are not affected. Dimmesdale
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Hawthorne manages to create many metaphors within his novel The Scarlet Letter. The rose bush outside the prison door‚ the black man‚ and the scaffold are three metaphors. Perhaps the most important metaphor would be the scaffold‚ which plays a great role throughout the entire story. The three scaffold scenes which Hawthorne incorporated into The Scarlet Letter contain a great deal of significance and importance the plot. Each scene brings a different aspect of the main characters‚ the crowd or
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minister’s clothing‚ and‚ upon witnessing the dark secret on the minister’s bare chest‚ becomes engulfed in vengeful delight. The leech‚ unable to contain his ecstasy‚ releases it in a cathartic dance as he flails and sways like a madman. In The Scarlet Letter‚ Nathaniel Hawthorne argues that sin has detrimental and severe lasting effects on one’s life. Through the use of third person omniscient point of view and the characterization of the vengeful and obsessed Roger Chillingworth‚ Hawthorne delineates
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Arthur Dimmesdale was a very important character in The Scarlet Letter. He encountered many problems and resolved them throughout the novel. He changes a lot throughout the novel‚ physical and mentally. While reading the novel‚ the reader can relate to Dimmesdale by his actions and feelings. Minister Arthur Dimmesdale explains the moral of the story‚ and helps the reader understand what the novel is about. First‚ Dimmesdale encountered many problems throughout the story. These problems were very
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every sin they committed. For example‚ religious conflict takes place in literature such as “Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God” and The Scarlet Letter. Real historical figures include Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams. Religious conflict has shaped American society. In The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is publically shamed by being branded with the scarlet A for committing adultery for as long as she lives. However‚ many people think that she deserves a bigger consequence such as being sentenced
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