... 's identity. As the novel progresses, the letter changes meaning from adultery to ability, in the eyes of the people around her. Through the scarlet letter, Hester become a sympathetic heroine, and the Puritan society becomes not only bigoted and joyless, but essentially evil. (Bloom 13-14, 97, 100) The person that is affected most by the scarlet letter is Hester Prynne, for many very obvious reasons. It is a large part of her daily life, and each of her actions ... of Hester and Dimmesdale. (Hawthorne; Bloom 26-27) There are many signs that Arthur Dimmesdale is physically deteriorating ...

• Word Count: 1366
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... in the 17th century. The following will explain the nature of evil in the stories, "The Scarlet letter" and the "Minister's Black Veil". The Scarlet letter deals with guilt, fervor, and hypocrisy in a tough Puritan society. Hester and Dimmesdale's experience relates to the story of Adam and Eve because, in both cases, sin results in expulsion and suffering. But it also results in knowledge, specifically, in knowledge of what it means to be human. For Hester, the scarlet letter ... really the nature of evil for the sin she has committed? The book argues that true evil comes from the clos...

• Word Count: 471
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

"The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne The extract from "The Scarlet Letter" gives a good view of what life in Salem was like and the way people act towards people's personal issues. The language used in the extract keeps the reader in captured in the wait for the confession from the Reverend to take place. The morals and ways of life in Salem were quite different from now, and because of this, the extract has a huge impact on the reader. To see the difference ... had the "scarlet letter on her bosom". A climax is reached in this chapter of the book. Here, the characters' secrets are pub...

• Word Count: 755
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... multitude of ways. First, the rosebush outside the prison; in the first chapter, it is used as a symbol of hope, or maybe a symbol of redemption. It represents a glimmer of happiness outside the grim, ugly walls and heavy oaken door of the prison. Later in the book, when asked of where she came by the governor, Pearl says she was "plucked off the bush of wild roses that grew by the prison ... the father of her baby was during the first scaffold scene. Perhaps the most complex symbol in the book is the most obvious and prevalent one, the books namesake, The Scarlet Letter itself. At its f...

• Word Count: 777
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... Hawthorne points out that the former is true of all people in the novel The Scarlet Letter. In this novel, there are three main characters who commit evil and sinful acts, but each act is at a different degree of sinfulness. For example the sins get worse as the story goes on. These three sinners, in the eyes of the puritan community are the beautiful Hester Prynne, the esteemed Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and the cold-hearted doctor, Roger ... until he finds what he is looking for, but not with destroying Dimmesdale's life even more. Hawthorne illustrates this event when he remarks, "N...

• Word Count: 1211
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School