In the novel‚ The Scarlet Letter‚ by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ Hester commits adultery‚ disobeying the Puritan laws‚ and is punished with two constant reminders of her sin‚ the scarlet A and her daughter‚ Pearl. Hawthorne characterizes Pearl with contrasting personalities and roles she plays in Hester’s life. Pearl’s conflicting personality components‚ innocence and defiance‚ both derive from her isolation from society‚ which resulted from her mother’s sin. Pearl represents the conflict between good and
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The preface to Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter‚ “The Custom House”‚ serves to introduce the society and times in which the story is set; also‚ this essay provides the background story for the finding of the scarlet letter. The Custom House also provides a definition of what a romance is. Excerpts from “The Custom House” essay closely link to The Scarlet Letter’s text. Two notable examples of these parallels can be found in the descriptions given of the townspeople in Salem who live by ancient moral
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A Feminist Perspective on the Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter is an important piece of literature which offers a notable contribution to all literature with it’s strong female main character and themes of misogyny‚ religious mania‚ and forgiveness. The summary by Mary Ellen Snodgrass in The Encyclopedia of Feminist Literature describes and summarizes this perspective. The excerpt speaks on Hester’s strong character and resistance against the patriarchal oppressive religious male stronghold
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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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“Thou hast escaped me!”-Chillingworth says. Throughout the course of the Scarlet Letter many of the characters suffer personal struggle and make choices that affect the lives of others. All characters experience this but one such character is Roger Chillingworth or Mr. Prynne‚ as he is also known. The choices and character changes of Roger Chillingworth will be explained throughout this essay. The first point is about Chillingworth’s main conflict in the story. His wife Hester Prynne‚ a main character
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The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ is easily considered a classic‚ simply because of all the symbolism and connections made throughout the novel. The alluring part of theses symbolisms and connections is they can be taking in many different ways and still be considered correct.One of the many reasons Nathaniel Hawthorne has disguished himself as a well known author through the ages. Arguably one of the best things Hawthorne did was simply take the letter “A”‚ which you may know as
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Luke Sousa Professor Hogg Comm-126-1037 2 January 2016 Module Eight Lesson Four Mastery Assignment: The Scarlet Letter Chapters 13-19 a. What do many townspeople now say the A represents? The townspeople now believe the A stands for “able” rather than the real intention being “adulterer” b. Why does Hester feel she is to blame for Dimmesdale’s poor condition? Hester feels that she is to blame for Dimmesdale’s poor condition because while Dimmesdale has been torturing himself over his secret and
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In The Scarlet Letter‚ Hawthorne uses the lives of Hester‚ Dimmesdale‚ and Chillingworth to emphasize themes of hypocrisy and sin within the Puritan society by stressing the relevance of forgiveness‚ the negative outcome of abandoning righteousness‚ and the austere need for compassion in the Bostonian community . Through Hester‚ Dimmesdale‚ and Chillingworth’s habitation among the Puritans‚ Hawthorne reveals to readers the need for clemency through the demonstration of themes about hypocrisy. First
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The Human Inclination to Love In writing The Scarlet Letter‚ author Nathaniel Hawthorne was immersed in the era of transcendentalism and romanticism that so greatly influenced his work. Defining the movement was the concept that humans are inherently good in their nature and if they are left to their own devices ultimately they will do that good uncorrupted (Chase 109). Within The Scarlet Letter‚ this is brought to full awareness through the nature of Puritan society in the early English colony
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In chapter two of The Scarlet Letter‚ Nathaniel Hawthorne describes Hester Prynne as she stands on a pedestal in front of her community and gets publicly condemned for her adultery. Hawthorne shows the irony in the situation through the symbol of Pearl being just as sinful as the letter A embroidered on Hester’s clothing. He also irony irony in describing the A and how it is so similar to how Hester herself is portrayed. Lastly‚ Hawthorne describes Hester’s physical beauty and the irony of how the
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