... ! Love ... must always create a sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance that it overflows upon the outward world" (186). Extending this metaphor of the radiance of ! love, Hawthorne often refers to Hester's scarlet letter as glowing and thus figuratively lighting up the dark and cruel world around it. When Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold, connected to Hester by Pearl, another symbol ... Chillingworth's torture. "But for [his] aid, [Dimmesdale's] life would have burned away in torments;" by prolonging his life, Chillingworth allows the minister to confess before his death (157)....

• Word Count: 1485
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... , but she still treats Pearl as her only treasure and dresses her up every day. Hester dresses up Pearl to look nice just like she does to the scarlet letter itself. Pearl is Hester's misery, punishment but she is also her only happiness, as she is sent as a blessing and as retribution to remind Hester of her fall from grace ... society pressure. She is such a free and lively girl that never can be restricted by the rules. She is like the stream which "danced, sparkled,and prattled airily along her course." (p163) She has the tacit understanding with flowers, birds, forests and the natu...

• Word Count: 830
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... chapter we see a plant which stands out, "But on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rosebush, covered with its delicate gems" (Hawthorne). This rosebush is like Hester, for it too stands out as wild and different. She wears her scarlet letter among the solemnly dressed Puritans as this rosebush wears its scarlet blossoms amidst a small plot of grass and weeds ... come of this, which is why it forebodes evil. Later on in that same scene, Hester and Dimmesdale decide to escape together. In a moment of joy, Hester removes the scarlet letter and tosses it...

• Word Count: 1118
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... their theocratic society, the eyes of the officials were those of God. In the Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne's punishment was assigned to her by a highly prestigious panel of men from the churches and courts of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. All of the townspeople came to see Hester's punishment because of their loyalty to the court. They came to see what was going on with the court because this ... space for three hours on the platform of the pillory, and then thereafter, for the remainder of her natural life, to wear a mark of shame upon her bosom." (Hawthorne, 86). Even though many may...

• Word Count: 648
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... recoveries for a characters personality. In The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth shared an important similarity with Ahab and the whale, Moby Dick. Dimmesdale was a young, handsome reverend that was the secret lover of Hester Prynne. Chillingworth was Hester's husband from the Netherlands and the first to find out that Dimmesdale was the illegitimate father of Pearl. By this tragic news, Chillingworth vows revenge on the reverend. Chillingworth and Dimmesdale begin ... , a resurrection occurred. Dimmesdale was resurrected in The Scarlet Letter and Ahab in Moby Dick. Dimmesdal...

• Word Count: 768
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... and fear. Then these poor choices lead to other wrong actions that reflect their guilt. Lack of insight leads people to make bad choices, and there are several examples in the book, The Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynne and Roger Chillingworth get married even though they knew it was not going to be a truthful love relationship. Back then, women often married for stability, rather than ... as a minister, but he would have lived a better life just like Hester. It is better to tell the truth and admit one's crime earlier like Hester than to hide it until the last minute like Dimmesdale. After...

• Word Count: 1002
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... . It will not flee from me, for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!" "Nor ever will, my child, I hope," said Hester. "And why not, mother?" asked Pearl, stopping short. "Will it not come of its own accord, when I am a woman grown?" It is an explanation on the significance of the scarlet letter as a symbol and the bridge of the connection between sin and humanness. "Mother," said [Pearl], "was ... that the same minister that kissed me by the brook?" "Hold thy peace, dear little Pearl!" whispered her mother. "We must not always talk in ... , and looked upon with awe, and yet with reverence, to...

• Word Count: 720
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• Grade Level: High School

... America. People such as Emerson and Thoreau changed the views of the public, with words and actions. The scaffold similarly served as a link for the characters in the Scarlet Letter to separate their ideals from the ideological society in which they lived. Though the role of the scaffold was different, some sort of absolution was always the outcome. As the story begins the scaffold is meant to be a punishment for ... people have a potential for evil. The scaffold in The Scarlet Letter serves as an important symbol with many different purposes throughout the novel. The first scaffold sce...

• Word Count: 917
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... him" (p124). This passage, taken from the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, shows the effect that evil has on the antagonist of the novel. The antagonist, Chillingworth, is the novel's villain, due to his numerous displays of evil throughout the course of the novel. Chillingworth's villainy is mainly derived from the anger he has toward his wife for having an affair with Dimmesdale, the Reverend of the town. His villainy also enhances meaning ... plays an important role in The Scarlet Letter. It helps Hawthorne portray his beliefs on sin and the worst kinds of it. Chillin...

• Word Count: 670
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... or by accident. Some sins are committed out of love, like that of Hester and Dimmesdale in "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. While others commit the sin of hate just like Chillingworth. Hester was forced to bear the letter "A" (adultery) as punishment for committing her sin and for salvation. On the other hand, I must bear "H" (hate) in order to transform myself into a better person and to gain ... more knowledge of things that I wouldn't be able to see for myself without my Scarlet Letter. Hate is such a strong word, but it is also a strong ... within me. All of my life rel...

• Word Count: 675
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... corresponding to their symbolisms. Hester's punishment is to face the public with her guilt, and Dimmesdale has the punishment of hiding his guilt from the public. Hester became stronger from her punishment, but Dimmesdale becomes destructed from his sin. The Scarlet Letter portrays the idea that guilt is harsher and more destructive than public punishments. Hester is persecuted on the scaffold when she is released from prison due to ... her adultery. She is referred to as "malefactresses" and "baggage" by the women in her town. Despite the community's harassment, she is able to stay st...

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... sin even expressed natural humans" need for love. The women in the community condemn her for sewing the scarlet letter with such embellishment; because its beauty and luster seems to say to the world that she is proud of her sin rather than ashamed of herself. On the contrary, Hester accepts the sin and her scarlet letter as part of herself, in the same way she accepts Pearl. Pearl's birth also ... implies that treasure can sometimes become the end result of sin. Hawthorne ... makes it clear that Pearl's character is directly related to the sin that brought her into the world. She is a...

• Word Count: 1128
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet letter is a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is about a woman who was convicted on a horrible crimes back in the 17th century. This story has many themes within its binding. One of the very obvious themes is Civilization verses the Wilderness. In this story it seems like the civilization uses the wilderness to get away. They feel free there and they feel like there are no rules or ... come to this conclusion mainly because they really don't know what lies within the forest. It is an uncontrolled territory. It is natural and nobody can control it. The Pur...

• Word Count: 362
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... public appearance with her child and the scarlet letter on her bosom. She maintains a confident poise about her, despite the judgement that comes along with standing on the scaffold. Hawthorne's usage of the scaffold depicts Hester's isolation from the Puritans, and illustrates the theme of punishment that is common throughout the novel. Roger Chillingworth is present, watching the sinner upon the scaffold who is secretly his ... features, like a snake gliding swiftly over them". Minister Dimmesdale is partaking in the persecution of Hester by repeatedly questioning who the father of the...

• Word Count: 587
• Approx Pages: 2

The Scarlet Letter is a story of characters that have to live and deal with the effects of sin in different ways. Of these characters, the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is the character portrayed as the most weak and unnoble. Despite this portrayal Dimmesdale was a stronger character than given credit for. His unbelievable amount ... fault for Hesters torment as any common villager, if not even more so. Seven years prior, Hester stood in this place and took the punishment for both of them while he quietly stood aside and led people to believe that he also condemned her. During those long seven ...

• Word Count: 475
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... she is earning their rightful respect. In this final section of the novel, she makes a choice to go back to the place where such significant events occurred in her life because of the overall effect it had on shaping her identity. Hester even continues to wear the scarlet letter, no longer because of its negative connotation, but because it played such a prominent part in her life that ... she does not wish to eliminate. Free will again comes into play in this aspect of the novel. Hester makes the decision to outwardly exhibit her ... she has been through because of them. She was origi...

• Word Count: 1347
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... of her subsequent life, the y classed themselves among her ugliest remembrances."" She remembered scenes of when they were happy. However, the happy Chillingsworth she knew before he had left changed as soon as he saw her on the scaffold wearing the Scarlet "A- carrying the child. Hester realizes that she is somewhat at fault for Chillingsworth's hurt and obsession for vengeance. Hester says, "The Scarlet Letter burned on Hester's bosom. Here was ... another ruin, the responsibility of which came partly home to her."" The Scarlet "A- on her chest and Pearl ridiculed Chillingsworth. Howe...

• Word Count: 909
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... from her daughter's being born because of adultery. The Puritan society, Dimmesdale's, and Hester's story takes place in a strict, hypocritical, and judgmental one. Their adulterous sin was one the puritans believed should have been punished by death. However, only Hester was punished as Dimmesdale kept his part of the sin a secret. Hester was forced to wear a scarlet letter "A" on all her clothing, as a symbol for her ... sin and shame. On the other side, Dimmesdale stayed away and was not punished at all. But, as he began to change he felt something should be done. Dimmesdale's final ...

• Word Count: 854
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... for her frailty; nay, more, they had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as the token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since " (147). The truth of Hester's scarlet letter changed; it no longer represented her weakness and evil, instead, she ... completely good, their environment shapes them and they choose whether to be good or evil . How important is nature? "But, on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might ...

• Word Count: 1931
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

In the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale has committed the sin of adultery with Hester Prynne. The story begins with Hester coming out of a jail and being put on the scaffold for the sin she has committed with the cursed child in hand. The town is ashamed at her for this horrible act but they do not know who she has committed the crime with. Ironically, Reverend Dimmesdale ... ease his mind he physically abuses himself. Because of the guilt that Chillingworth has brought out of Dimmesdale, The Reverend becomes mentally unstable. He begins to have vis...

• Word Count: 735
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Much of the novel, "The Scarlet Letter" centers around determining the identity of Hester's lover, Pearl's father. While Hawthorne is not gratuitous with this information, he does give the reader subtle hints as to the man's identity. Using plot points, dialogue, or other specific descriptions from the text, pick out at least three places from the first half of the novel (through "The Leech") that lead the reader to believe what ... of God given to Hester yet still reminding her of her sin (beginning on page 104 with "Oh, not so!" and ending on the following page before the start of the secon...

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In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter", life is centered around a rigid, pure society in which one is unable to show his or her deepest thoughts and secrets. Every human being needs the opportunity to express how they truly feel, or the emotion is bottled up until it explodes. Unfortunately, Puritan society did not permit this expression, so characters had to use different ways to relieve themselves ... acknowledge Hester and his undying love for her. It is here that Hester can do the same for Dimmesdale. It is here that the two of them can engage in conversation, without being absorbe...

• Word Count: 1015
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet Letter In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses three scaffold scenes to demonstrate an underlying theme of sin revealed, sin concealed. If hidden, sin will destroy, but if revealed sin can make a person stronger. The first scaffold scene depicts Hester and her child on a scaffold in front of the townspeople of Boston. For Hester, this forces her to reveal her sin. Because Hester reveals her sin, she becomes ... a stronger person. After the townspeople shun her, Hester only has her infant. For Dimmesdale, seeing Hester on the scaffold only makes him want to reveal his sin, ...

• Word Count: 541
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... was not an option. Guilt on the other hand was the one way of measuring how sorry one was of the sin they had committed. This was the one aspect that comforted Dimmesdale. No one carried the guilt of their action as well and sincerely as he did. He would evidence this by long walks. He even took a knife and carved the letter "A" into his chest. He begged ... knew that Dimmedale's confession would not end the reproach of the people on him. So in His demonstration of love, He takes him home. In summary the story of The Scarlet Letter is nothing more than the absence of the Father in the l...

• Word Count: 2000
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... having done something wrong, improper or immodest. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale struggles to overcome sin, guilt, and public shame in Puritan society. Arthur Dimmesdale reveals his guilt and shame towards the end of the novel when Hester and Pearl stand with him on the scaffold while he confesses his sin to the townspeople. To feel shame or guilt, one must have a clean conscience ... mental health suffers, along with his ability to restrain himself from talking to Reverend Wilson while he was on the scaffold. However, Dimmesdale does not speak to ...

• Word Count: 939
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School