... 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. They both stand separate from their surroundings. Later in the book we hear a conversation between Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth (Hester's unknown husband). They are discussing ... scene. Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl are atop the scaffold when, "a light gleamed far and wide over all the muffled sky. It was doubtless caused by one of those meteors the minister, looking upward ...

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

... with gold thread. Through the crowd's remarks and the narration of Hester's thoughts, it can be concluded that the scarlet letter stands for "adulteress." Hester has been accused of adultery and the small child in her arms is illegitimate.   In the third chapter, a small, deformed man accompanied by an Indian is identified in the crowd. As Hester's eyes search the gathering of people, she recognizes him and a look of horror flashes across her ... , because it is better for his fragile health. Hester has connections to a crew of a ship, which is to leave for England in four days. As he w...

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

... is used to represent evil and hiding. Hawthorne calls the prison the "black flower of civilized society," meaning it is evil and a place concealing the truth. Frequently Hawthorne makes references to darkness turning to light, suggesting darkness as a state of hiding where the person will not accept life's experiences and holds back. Pearl's eyes are called a "small black mirror," meaning they are empty and filled ... to his second. By marrying Hester, he makes her suffer; her suffering results in adultery, causing him to suffer. I felt that The Scarlet Letter is a great piece of literat...

• Word Count: 1044
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... Dimmesdale, a Puritan minister, who will not confess his sin of adultery. The forest is a place where the both of them, Hester and Dimmesdale, may have an open, truthful conversation without the restrictions of a strict Puritan society, where their sin, mainly Hester's due to its openness in the novel, will prevent even an attempt to carry a small chat. The forest, where no one ever ventures, is seen as a ... , none the less! See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with a million fold the power of retribution for my sin."(109) The narrator also e...

• Word Count: 2041
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... a Catholic been there looking upon Hester and baby Pearl he would have interpreted the scene very differently than the Puritans had. A Papist would believe that the child that Hester was holding so closely to her bosom, was a gift sent from God. How is it possible a woman so beautiful and a child so small and innocent cause such an uprising in society? Every child is a gift from ... God and should not be disciplined for something that his or her mother has done. Hester and Pearl should not be condemned or tormented by the community for Hester's sins, this is an inner conflict and must b...

• Word Count: 1200
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... , boring colors. This characteristic makes the letter stand out all the more. Hester lives alone in a small seaside house. She makes money by sew and embroidering all different things. The child she had was a little girl named, Pearl. 2 Pearl was usually dressed in a dark red or scarlet. Pearl was very sly and new that the "A" the her mother bore was because of something her mother has done. I think ... they can't be together. One night Dimmesdale had a dream that he, his daughter, and Hester run back to England and start a new 3 life. He took that as a God sent vision and late in the ni...

• Word Count: 677
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... is too late, ultimately finding happiness. At the beginning of the novel, Dimmesdale has established quite a reputation for himself. In discussing individual members of the magistrate, the towns people describe Dimmesdale as a "God fearing" gentleman, "but merciful overmuch (Hawthorne 49)". Due to his actions, all of the people respect and look up to the Reverend. Throughout the story, Dimmesdale desperately tries to confess, envying Hester ... this day (Hawthorne 243)". Proving that he was a very loved and influential man in the small town. In further developing Dimmesdale's character,...

• Word Count: 889
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Sin and Guilt Eats Away It's hard to hide an illegitimate child in a small Puritan community. When Hester Prynne, the principle character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, a married woman whose husband was long away, gave birth to a daughter in her town of Cornhill, she was clearly identified as a sinner. As soon as her sin became public knowledge, she was punished for being an adulterer ... press his hand over his heart" (118). When he publicly confesses his adultery and stands openly with Hester and Pearl in the final scaffold scene, it is the only sense of relief for him. "The spell...

• Word Count: 1175
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... as she walks by. Hester also begins to hate children, who unconsciously realize there is something different about her and thus start to follow her with "shrill cries" through the city streets. One of the things which Hester starts to notice is that every once in a while she receives a sympathetic glance, and feels like she has a companion in her sin. Hawthorne puts it, "it ... Arthur Dimmesdale and pleads with him to speak on her behalf. He comes forward with his hand over his heart and argues that God has obviously given Pearl to Hester for some divine reason, and that it would meddle...

• Word Count: 5572
• Approx Pages: 22
• Grade Level: High School