... . Scarlet as defined in Webster's New World Dictionary is "sinful, specifically whorish" (Webster 532). In sum, the main plot of the novel is this: Hester Prynne is a women living in seventeenth-century New England. She is convicted of committing adultery. At the beginning of the novel, Hester is forced to wear a scarlet letter, A, on her dress as a sign of her guilt. She ... angel, like the novel's refusal of her earthly reunion with Dimmesdale, has long struck readers as Hawthorne's failure to honor the independent spirit of his heroine, his capitulation to nineteenth-century conventio...

• Word Count: 1505
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... experienced by many. In an attempt to portray both the cause and the effects of committing a sin, Nathaniel Hawthorne writes the book The Scarlet Letter. He sets the book in seventeenth-century Boston, then a strict Puritan society, where a lady, Hester Prynne, has committed the grave sin of adultery. Hawthorne observes that when a sinner sins, not only does the sinner reverts to an ... -shapes of gloom and despondency that had brooded in [Hester's] heart"(80) is used by Pearl to comfort herself. Even if Pearl has a chance to assimilate into the society of seventeenth-century Boston, Hes...

• Word Count: 1004
• Approx Pages: 4

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the character of Hester Prynne suffered from a case of mass hysteria and superstition rather than a becoming victim of sin. During the seventeenth century, in Puritan New England, a sin was looked upon as merely a sin with no context to the causes or effects of someone's actions. The actions of Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester ... a fact however, that, in the eyes of the very men who spoke thus, the scarlet letter had the effect of the cross on a nun's bosom."" Then we see in the seventeenth chapter, The Pastor and His Parishioner, the novel...

• Word Count: 1213
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... decides to write a fictional story based on the events from the manuscript and calls it The Scarlet Letter. The narrator then goes into his book which takes place in 17th century Boston which was a Puritan settlement. A young woman is guided out of a prison with a child in her arms and the letter "A" patched against her breast. An elderly onlooker asks of what ... also relates to what we have learned in American History I in many ways. It relates to our history class by its time period for one thing. It takes place in seventeenth-century Boston where Hester had immigrated which was a Pu...

• Word Count: 1497
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, draws attention to the negative qualities pertaining to the Puritan lifestyles and beliefs of the 17th century. He illustrates this by describing "the city upon a hill", materialism, and the hypocritical nature of the Puritan society. Nathaniel Hawthorne was raised in Salem, Massachusetts, and was of Puritan descent. ... their own shame for the sake of the Puritan ideology. The "city upon a hill," materialism, and hypocrisy are all ideal examples of the negative qualities of Puritan society in the seventeenth century that Nat...

• Word Count: 548
• Approx Pages: 2

... not look up to him for their spiritual guidance. The final reason to keep these lovers apart is societal. The Puritan belief in New England during the middle of the seventeenth century would not have tolerated any type of union between Arthur and Hester. The strict codes of conduct would destroy any way for them to be alone. Their only opportunities to ... ...

• Word Count: 381
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... of the work. In the novel "The Scarlet Letter", the author Nathaniel Hawthorn's depiction of the two male characters, Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth, emphasizes the moral problems of the seventeenth century puritan society. Hence, their different characters contribute vitally to the plot of the novel. Arthur Dimmesdale, the Reverent and the protagonists" lover, was not a very powerful character. At his first ... ...

• Word Count: 746
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

SETTING The Scarlet Letter is set in the seventeenth century, puritanical, New England colony of Massachusetts. The complete action is set in the town of Boston with the scenes shifting within it. The crucial scaffold scenes are set in the ... ...

• Word Count: 1929
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

Judge Me Not, Love Me, Seek No Revenge Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, a dark tale of sin and redemption, centers on the small Puritan community of Boston during the seventeenth century. A young woman (Hester Prynne) comes to this town to find a place to live for her and her husband, but falls victim to the desires of the human nature. Hester falls ... ...

• Word Count: 759
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... even greater. Dimmesdale, however, suffers the most, for he is tortured by his hypocrisy and hidden guilt. PURITANISM IN THE NOVEL Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is set in the seventeenth century New England town of Boston, a staunch Puritanical town. It is a moralistic and gloomy place where the citizens dress in drab colors and lack any liveliness. Even on the Election Day ... ...

• Word Count: 1285
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

John Proctor and Hester Prynne, two characters derived from a seventeenth century, puritan community have interesting views on life. John Proctor is selected from the play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller. Hester prynne comes from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. John ... ...

• Word Count: 630
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... uncovers a manuscript wrapped in the cloth, which he later reads. Jonathan Pue, a customs surveyor, wrote the composition a hundred years before, about an account of events that happened in the mid-seventeenth century. The narrator reads it and subsequently decides to write a fictional story out of Hester Prynne's experiences. Though he knows his story will not be exactly accurate in facts, he trusts ... ...

• Word Count: 3653
• Approx Pages: 15
• Grade Level: High School

... to help someone else and that is illustrated in the novel The Scarlet Letter. The novel opens with a prison setting, foreshadowing the future isolation and denunciation of Hester. During the seventeenth century, in the town of Boston, Puritans went by the Bible, especially the Eighth Commandment "Thou shall not commit adultery." As of this, Hester wore the Letter A, which symbolized adultery. The ... ...

• Word Count: 593
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Scarlet Letter 1.Setting: Where and When does the action of the story take place? The story begins in seventeenth-century Boston, during a Puritan settlement. It takes place in Salem and Concord, Massachusetts; late 1840. A young woman, Hester Pryne, is led from the town prison with her infant daughter, Pearl, in ... ...

• Word Count: 1337
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... 1804 in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. The setting of the story takes place in the puritan colony of Massachusetts. The scaffold scene was set in the marketplace during the seventeenth century. However the novel opened with a prison setting foreshadowing the future, hiding sadness and comdemption of Chillingworth. Chillingworth's obsession of discovering the truth about Hester's lover, eventually turns him into evil ... ...

• Word Count: 443
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... of the work. In the novel "The Scarlet Letter", the author Nathaneil Hawthorn's depiction of the two male characters, Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth, emphasizes the moral problems of the seventeenth century puritan society. Hence, their different characters contribute vitally to the plot of the novel. Arthur Dimmesdale, the Reverent and the protagonists" lover, was not a very powerful character. At his first ... ...

• Word Count: 328
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... works of literature, are comparable. Both are in the area now known as Massachusetts, The Crucible being in Salem, and the Scarlet Letter in Boston. Each was set in the seventeenth century. Both are small communities where religion is the basis of government. But to understand these comparisons and contrasts, both stories have to be thoroughly read and understood. The crucible's main ... ...

• Word Count: 298
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... responsibility is harmful and should be held with contempt through the character Arthur Dimmesdale, the unholy minister whose guilt of being an adulterer eventually kills him. Hawthorne's story begins in seventeenth-century Boston, then a Puritan settlement. A young woman, Hester Prynne, is led from the town prison with her infant daughter, Pearl, in her arms and the scarlet letter "A" on her breast. Hester ... ...

• Word Count: 1146
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... after the demise of the New England Puritan society that his novel attacks. The novel follows the struggles of two sinners in the morally strict Massachusetts Bay Colony in the seventeenth century. A young woman named Hester Prynne and the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale commit adultery. Hester's sin becomes publicly acknowledged when she has a child; she is forced face humiliation by standing on a scaffold ... ...

• Word Count: 891
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School