... and scream at them. With toys, Pearl always plays games in which she destroys everything. Hawthorne points out that the first thing Pearl saw in her infancy was the scarlet letter. As a baby she even reached up and touched the letter, causing her mother intense agony at the shame it generated in her. Pearl later played a game where she threw flowers at her mother and jumped ... then embroidered with gold thread. Hawthorne comments that, "the child's whole appearance...was the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letter endowed with life!" When the children in the town try to thro...

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

... Hester is surprised by her daughter's ability to connect the scarlet letter to the minister's ailment; in response, the mother denies the true meaning of the letter, instead answering "I wear it for the sake of its gold thread."   Hester intends to reveal Chillingworth's true identity and purport to Dimmesdale. She arranges a meeting with the minister in the nearby forest. She is conscious that her husband has most ... wait by the brook in the forest, and Pearl tries to catch some of the transitory sunshine in the forest. Strangely, the sunshine seems to avoid Hester and "plays with Pea...

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

... caused her to tread down a path that perhaps in another place or another time she never would have considered. Hester's emerging sense of identity begins with the imposition placed upon her to fashion her own punishment, the scarlet letter "A". She does not sew a piece of cloth that is dreary, colorless, plain or somber. This would have been fitting for a Puritan society concerned with propriety ... was making a bold statement of who she was and what she believed in the way she carried herself in front of the townspeople, in the way she created the Scarlet Letter with such striking colo...

• Word Count: 1295
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... Identify and describe both the time and place of The Scarlet Letter. The time and place of The Scarlet Letter is in, " the good town of Boston," Massachusetts, in the year 1850 (105). In the 1850's people think differently of different things such as crime and life, a simpler time with simple thoughts and people. 1.b. Discuss how the setting contributes to the believability of the novel. In The Scarlet Letter, the setting of Boston is ... surrounded by a, " vast and dismal forest" (68). The ... when she is told that she has to give up her daughter, she says, "Pearl keeps me here in life!...

• Word Count: 781
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• Grade Level: High School

... 's sin and is therefore a constant reminder of guilt for both Hester and Dimmesdale. Pearl is also always doing something to further her mother's guilt. The first thing she recognizes in the world is the scarlet letter, she often throws things at the letter, and she even makes one for herself out of seaweed. Hawthorne even shows her as an A herself Hester make her a beautiful red dress that ... . Although it causes Hester great pain, it is better for Hester to suffer openly about her guilt in public because she eventually comes to terms with it. Hawthorne shows the evolution of the letter...

• Word Count: 915
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... 's sin and is therefore a constant reminder of guilt for both Hester and Dimmesdale. Pearl is also always doing something to further her mother's guilt. The first thing she recognizes in the world is the scarlet letter, she often throws things at the letter, and she even makes one for herself out of seaweed. Hawthorne even shows her as an A herself Hester make her a beautiful red dress that ... . Although it causes Hester great pain, it is better for Hester to suffer openly about her guilt in public because she eventually comes to terms with it. Hawthorne shows the evolution of the letter...

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

... to church weekly repenting their sins. Hawthorne uses many symbols throughout The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne uses the colors red, black, and white to represent Hester's emotions and the emotions of those around her. The most frequently used color symbol by Hawthorne is red. Red most obviously represents Hester's sin, as shown by her scarlet letter. Her scarlet letter, like her sin, is something she must always deal with ... well as representing simple evil. Light symbolizes a state of enlightenment and a refreshed spirit, as well as purity. The color symbols in The Scarlet Letter help to ...

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

... reasonable and correct to the teacher? Similar to the Scarlet Letter, it falls to the same, how do we know if a person is the most or the least moral? Everyone's morals are different, it is not based on religion, but on what the people believes in and whether he or she follows it righteously or not. Hester Prynne, the protagonist of the Scarlet Letter is forced to wear the letter A on her bosom for ... , in fine red cloth surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter "A"." pg. 51. Viewed from a Puritan perspective, she is a sinner, a...

• Word Count: 833
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• Grade Level: High School

... to take off this badge"(176). She goes on to say that if her sentence to wear the scarlet letter was over, the letter would disappear naturally. It is God's duty to manage the sins of people and not the magistrates of the government. Although the scarlet letter may not be the sentence of God, it does help Pearl redeem her soul. This is also a view of Wagenknecht that is proven in ... saved Hester from punishing herself with torture as Dimmesdale had done. I agree with the statements that Wagenknecht made about The Scarlet Letter. He says that the scarlet letter was not the punishment of...

• Word Count: 942
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... proportion, because when you are in the forest, you are with the Indians, who are "possessed by the devil." The forest was viewed that way because in the early days, Indians used to roam and practice their "magic" there. That view is not very different from Nathaniel Hawthorne's view on the forest in The Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter does not see the forest in such a grim light as ... does The Crucible, but it does see the forest as a place where you express your true self, outside the boundaries of society. The forest is the first place that Hester and Dimmesdale hold hands in pub...

• Word Count: 656
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet Letter To the naked eye, the story of The Scarlet Letter appears to just be a well-written love story within a puritan society full of unexpected flips and turns. Upon closer examination, The Scarlet Letter is really filled with obsession, guilt, and morals. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, uses a twisted physician, a minister, and a very independent character to express the theme of revenge among his three main characters. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne uses his very different ... everyone to see. "It was whispered, by those who peered after her, that the scarlet letter threw a ...

• Word Count: 1589
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!" This quotation is how I see the love that cannot be. The sunshine is the love of a man (Arthur Dimmesdale) and it does just what Pearl says - it runs and hides itself from the scarlet letter. This love must be hidden because of practical reasons; such as Roger Chillingworth who ... revenge on Arthur. With Roger in Boston he would get in the way of them having an open relationship and he would destroy their true love. Arthur and Hester's love cannot exist because of personal reasons as well. Hester wears the scarlet letter, so Arthur can't be with her o...

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

... ; that God will determine all else. Pearl is a name of beauty but the representation is in vain. Clad in scarlet, Pearl is an obvious symbol of burden and the punishment for Hester's "sins-. Pearl's true emotions are held back in public, yet when in the forest, she feels free enough to recognize the scarlet letter's role in her life and is not afraid to hate Dimmesdale. She ... is true to herself and her emotions and allows people to make the decision on whether or not they can accept it; it was the latter for the town. Pearl is the Noble Savage in The Scarlet Letter, uncivil yet in soci...

• Word Count: 995
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... in this novel go through their lives struggling with themselves and trying to cope with the guilt and shame associated with their actions. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, "The Scarlet Letter," he shows the lasting effect that adultery has on Chillingworth Dimmesdale, and Hester. Roger Chillingworth's first reaction to the crime of adultery committed by Hester is one of shock, but he quickly suppresses ... Hester is publicly seen with the scarlet letter when she first comes out of prison. "It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity and enclosing h...

• Word Count: 681
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... becoming only a shadow of her former passionate loving self. The letter that Hester was forced to wear upon her bosom, the scarlet letter was not only a symbol of her adulterous sin, but of the women herself. The letter masks her beauty and passion as the story goes until it is what she is known. Other than the scarlet letter, she was a very moral woman whose only joy in life was her ... daughter Pearl. Also, a rose bush that grew outside the prison was a symbol of survival, that there is life after the prison where Hester spent the beginning of the story. Theme Openness vs. Concealment...

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

... hide. Whenever she faces these people she feels she can detect a certain reaction to the sight of the Scarlet Letter that betrays a sense of guilt. Feeling such guilt as this, Arthur Dimmesdale goes to stand in shame on the platform one night. In the gloomy night sky a "meteor shower in the shape of an A" mysteriously appears. This supernatural phenomenon gives Arthur a sense of ... used to create a mysterious atmosphere through the story. Finally, intuition is also used to add romanticism to this tragic novel. Pearl, is constantly questioning the meaning of the scarlet letter "A" on he...

• Word Count: 522
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... of one's shadow-self lead to self-reliance? The nature of sin exists internally and externally and affects one's state of mind. Set in the mid 17th century, the three scaffold scenes developed by Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter depict the moral, emotional and psychological effects of Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. Also, the Scarlet letter "A" that Hester is obligated to wear affects her persona and shadow ... self along with the community in which she lives. Each scene exemplifies ... ...

• Word Count: 1995
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet Letter To the naked eye, the story of The Scarlet Letter appears to just be a well-written love story within a puritan society full of unexpected flips and turns. Upon closer examination, The Scarlet Letter is really filled with obsession, guilt, and morals. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, uses a twisted physician, a minister, and a very independent character to express the theme of revenge among his three main characters. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne uses his very different ... everyone to see. "It was whispered, by those who peered after her, that the scarlet letter threw a...

• Word Count: 1480
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... 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 her arms and the scarlet letter "A" on her breast. A man in the crowd tells an elderly onlooker that Hester is being punished for adultery. Hester's husband, a scholar much older than she is, sent her ... , as she has given birth to a child. She will not reveal her lover's identity, however, and the scarlet letter, along with her public shaming, is her punishment for her sin and her secrecy....

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

... eating away at his soul. Mentally Dimmesdale seems to be a disturbed man. A few times during the novel Dimmesdale hallucinates due to the guilt of his sin. One such example, he is lying up at night and sees Hester and Pearl in her scarlet dress. Pearl points at the scarlet letter on Hester's chest and then points her finger at his own chest. Dimmesdale's suffering and guilt ... and shamed by her community and was left to struggle through the experience by herself. This changes Hester's personality and view on society. She is no longer a tender and passionate rather, the scarlet letter h...

• Word Count: 915
• Approx Pages: 4
• 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
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• Grade Level: High School

... The Scarlet Letter " But (Hester) is not the protagonist, the chief actor, and the tragedy of The Scarlet Letter is not her tragedy but Arthur's. He is the persecuted one, the tempted one. He it was whom the sorrows of death encompassed . His public confession is one of the noblest climaxes of tragic literature." The argument over the protagonist role in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne runs undeniably deep. At first glance it appears that the protagonist of the ... that men do not have enough blood to operate both their reproductive organs and their brain at the same time, so ...

• Word Count: 855
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• Grade Level: High School

... Chillingworth is Hester's husband and his worst enemy. All of this torture and guilt leads Dimmesdale to create the novel's second scaffold scene. In this scene Dimmesdale mounts the scaffold, clutching his naked breast which held the scarlet letter, permanently etched there. On the scaffold he screamed aloud, without power to restrain himself. He then exclaimed, "It is done ... her. The final scaffold scene is a powerful conclusion to the end of the novel. Hawthorne perfectly structures The Scarlet Letter around the three scaffold scenes. In each scene Dimmesdale is closer and closer to...

• Word Count: 1498
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• Grade Level: High School

... , Chillingworth found Dimmesdale asleep in a chair. Chillingworth silently moved in on Dimmesdale. Once Chillingworth had reached Dimmesdale's body, he swiftly removed Dimmesdale's church robe and saw the scarlet letter on the chest before him, which ended Chillingworth's search for the father of Pearl. Now that Chillingworth knew Hester and Dimmesdale's secret, his change to evil was complete. Chillingworth had gone from a caring individual to a devil ... a "fiend" To Chillingworth, Dimmesdale was weak and deserved what was coming to him. Dimmesdale asks God to forgive Chillingworth of ...

• Word Count: 576
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... that Hester is a young and beautiful woman who has brought a child into the world with an unknown father. She is punished by Puritan society by wearing the scarlet letter "A" on the bosom of her dress and standing on the scaffold for three hours. The scaffold is an unpleasant punishment to bear; the townspeople gathered around to gossip and stare at Hester and her newborn child, Pearl ... , named because of her extreme value to her mother. In the middle of the faces in the crowd, Hester sees the face of a man ... her true husband, Roger Chillingworth. "It was sufficiently evident to Hes...

• Word Count: 461
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School