... for her sin. The effect that this distortion of the letter produces is that the audience is left to try to draw the conclusion from the story by following the themes and seeing how the distortion itself can heighten our responses to the actions of the novel. The Scarlet Letter is very distorted in its depiction of the appearance of the letter, the meaning of the letter, and the affect that the letter has on other people. The appearance of the Scarlet Letter is very mysterious ... so surreal in this story that it is almost bigger then life and means a lot to the story as a whole. The Sca...

• Word Count: 1455
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... or a consequence for Hester, but also is the un-flawed character in the novel. Finally, the letter "A" is the consequence of Hester's sin of adultery which stays with her throughout the novel. Blatantly the most obvious of the three symbols, the scarlet letter "A" contains the most power, as it is the basis for the theme of the book, which is sin and its consequences. Although Pearl was a consequence, the scarlet letter which Hester wore upon her bosom became ... part of her personality and identity. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, there are many symbols, but the forest, Pearl, and the a...

• Word Count: 2041
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• 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...

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... '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...

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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...

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"The Scarlet Letter" Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote "The Scarlet Letter" in 1850 in the highly religious area of New England. When it was written many people judged the novel solely on its story telling, whereas ignoring the loads of hidden themes that Hawthorne placed in the novel. "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne has many different themes contained in the novel, but the themes of Puritanism vs. Romanticism and the theme of reflection are the most prevalent. The Scarlet Letter is chock ... full of symbolism. Hawthorne uses people and objects and makes them symbolic of events and though...

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... 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...

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... , not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since. The scarlet letter had the effect of the cross on a nun's bosom." (148) Due to Hester's caring and considerate virtues, the scarlet letter no longer stood for adultery and alienation. "Some people began saying that A stands for "Able" (158) and more accurate sign of herself. So ... in some ways, it was almost a gift that Hester's community knew of her sin. She could accept the punishment and continue her life and Pearl's, but most importantly, she didn"t the let the sin destroy ...

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... that they do not accept her. Not knowing what a true friend is, she makes imaginary enemies to fight with. In The Scarlet Letter, Pearl is referred to as "one of those naughty elfs or fairies or...a little bird of scarlet plumage" (Hawthorne 97). The comparison of Pearl to an elf or fairies adds a sense of alienation and mystery to her personality. When she is compared ... stubborn. Hawthorne shows that Pearl represents the scarlet letter not only symbolically but literally as well. Hester says that Pearl is the living scarlet letter, and causes Hester more anguish than the scarlet lett...

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... and ideals. Women of this time were not thought of as able to overcome hardships and trials because they were considered weak, but Hawthorne showed to the world with The Scarlet Letter what women, in actuality, were like. The embodiment of Hawthorne's feminist ideals, Hester, was an unusual character for that time period. Women weren't considered very important. Yet, "so strong was Hester Prynne, ... spirit, courage, and character could be victorious in battles where physical strength could never triumph. The shame Hester first felt when she wore the scarlet letter was almost unbearable...

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... and wild ones, - and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss" (136). Hester Prynne, who is the main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, is the subject of this quote. She is sent ahead by her husband in England to settle in the colonies. He fails to arrive and following a few years of his absence, Hester falls into an adulterous relationship and ... would be considered scandalous for a Puritan woman living in New England. "Our forefathers, had they known of it, would have held it to be a deadlier crime than that stigmatized by the scarlet letter" (113). How...

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... by St. Augustine, regarding immorality. This is discovered to be very true by the main characters in The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne's story of a woman (Hester) who lives with the Puritans and commits adultery with the local minister (Dimmesdale). In his novel, Hawthorne shows that sin, known or unknown to the community, isolates a person from their community and from God. He shows us ... doubtless caused by one of those meteors the minister, looking upward to the zenith, beheld there the appearance of an immense letter-the letter 'A'-marked out in lines of dull red light" (Hawt...

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... 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...

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... 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...

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... 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
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... her, themselves, their faith and devotedness. Mr. Hawthorne's tone during his description of Hester is subtly mystified and filled with wonder. His tone at the description of the crowd is sorrowful, irked. Although significant, tone is not Hawthorne's only weapon of choice. The Scarlet Letter was a novel filled with antagonism. Main conflicts include man versus man, man versus self, and man versus society ... of the points of view of the characters also helps the reader to see that Hester's sin had such an impact on herself and her community. Hawthorne's point of view in writing The Sca...

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Often in society people are criticized, punished and despised for their individual choices and flaws. In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author attempts to show the way society casts out individuals simply because their ideas and deeds differ from the common values. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Hester Prynne to symbolize that those who challenge social conformities can benefit society as a whole. Though she has ... not satisfied with this punishment and chose to pass their negativity on to their offspring. "Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with th...

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... The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne creates a story where every emotion is shown. The story shows who the characters really are and what they are all about. In the song A Praise Chorus the band Jimmy Eat World expresses many feelings that the four main characters in the book have. Both the story and the song show the pain, guilt, wondering, and love Hester, Pearl, Chillingworth, and Dimmesdale feel. The book The Scarlet Letter shows the ... consequences of peoples actions and how everything does not work out the way one has planed. In the song A Praise Chorus the ... not merely estranged, but ...

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... 's attic and among these, he discovers a manuscript bundled with a gold-embroidered patch in the shape of an "A." The manuscript was written by a past surveyor who detailed events some two-hundred years before the narrator's time. He later 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 ...

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• Grade Level: High School

... her guilt and able to show passion after she and Reverend Dimmesdale meet in the forest seven years later. So speaking, she undid the clasp that fastened the scarlet letter and, taking it from her bosom, threw it to a distance among the withered leaves. The stigma gone, Hester heaved a long, deep sigh, in which the burden of shame and anguish departed from her spirit. Oh exquisite relief! She ... had not known the weight until she felt the freedom. (Pg. 223) To show her freedom, Hester takes the scarlet letter off her bosom ... begins to not only take a toll on his emotions but also on...

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... community is said to be one of strict and proper manner though when one bearing the scarlet "A" on their chest was to walk through the town, they were pointed and taunted at, as though they were not a human being but of some sort of horrifying existence. The Scarlet Letter could have been written to show others of Puritan ways and beliefs but one who reads this ... on this earth for. Such people were punished in such ways as the scarlet letter, or in The Crucible, the Salem Witch Trials. The sad views of these narrow-minded people also led to the penalizations and unfortunate deaths of ...

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... prove that this quote is true. Two literary works which support this quote are A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry and The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. By using different literary elements, the authors of these two works prove this quote to be true. In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, there is a character named Walter Lee. Walter Lee is a thirty-six-year-old black man ... are true tests of a courageous person and how he beared defeats without losing heart. Another work of literature which supports this quote is the novel, The Scarlet Letter. In this story, the main chara...

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... they do not take responsibility for it. In The Scarlet Letter, Minister Dimmesdale becomes a greater sinner than the two other main characters, Hester and Chillingsworth, because he does not confess and take the blame for the sin that he committed. In The Scarlet Letter, Minister Dimmesdale has an affair with Hester Prynne, which results in the birth of the baby, Pearl, and leads to the deterioration of Hester's husband, Chillingsworth. For ... honor that ended up being his major downfall, for he loses his sanity, his love, and his livelihood in the dreadful depths of sin. Hester was not...

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... present truthfulness in various, common everyday situations, ranging from strong moral values among friends to those of the ones you love. Nathaniel Hawthorne presented to readers how valuable telling and concealing truths may be by his compelling novel, The Scarlet Letter. His fictional characters parallel to roles of those enduring heart-pounding punishments for denying truths of those ... that the everyday person can encounter. Almost always, people find love in forbidden places. The Scarlet letter places essential characters in representation of certain things that would be considere...

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The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne's crime had several effects on her character including the ways she relates to other people in the book including her daughter, Pearl, husband, Roger Chillingworth, and the other people of the colony. Her crime made people look at her in many different ways and they all had some little effect on her character. Hester's crime changed the way she acted around her daughter, Pearl ... me, then, what thou art, and who sent thee hither?" Pearl answers in a laughing way "Tell me Mother!" Hester says that the heavenly father sent her. Pearl touches the scarlet letter ...

• Word Count: 509
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School