... the consequences of her mistake, so she is exposed to public judgment and forced to wear the scarlet letter. However, it is Dimmesdale's guilty conscience and struggle to rise above the sin that makes the essence of the narrative. The argument for Dimmesdale as a protagonist lies in the answers to the following questions. Does Dimmesdale's character change throughout the story? Does he have an antagonist and a helper? Do his actions bring about the ... climax of the story? Finally, does he solve the ... gravely one to another: -"Behold, verily, there is the woman of the scarlet letter; ...

• Word Count: 1627
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... in-depth thought. For example, the experiences between the characters rise up questions like; Did Chillingworth's selfishness in marrying Hester eventually cause her to commit adultery with another man? The person who is taking the punishment directly is Hester herself, but is she really the nature of evil for the sin she has committed? The book argues that true evil comes from the close relationship between hate and love ... his own daughter. Well the minister's black veil is about how every person has a secret sin that they are keeping a secret. That's just one interpretation anyway. ...

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

... have foreseen Pearl's behavior. Pearl has never seen Hester without the scarlet letter, and no matter how much Hester wants the letter to be her history, she knows that the scornful object will be her destiny. " I must bear its torture yet a little longer- (Hawthorne 207). Hester Prynne stays silent about the identity of her lover. Because of the strong feelings Hester has for her lover, it is easy for ... an act of love, and to Hester, there is nothing immoral about it. Unfortunately, when the Puritans find out about a couple who have committed adultery, the punishment is severe. The P...

• Word Count: 1429
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... of a Puritan background, seems to disturb her that Pearl acts so free spirited. The best example of the difference of Pearl in a positive way is a direct statement about Puritan children, "Puritan elders; the ugliest weeds of the garden were their children" (pg. 87). By describing the other puritan children as weeds, Hawthorne symbolizes the paths that they will live. Weeds will grow up big but will never ... be as beautiful as a flower and often tries to smother flowers and kill them off. The religious descriptions of Pearl are ... assumed to be some type of witchcraft. This is even mo...

• Word Count: 675
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter", life is centered around a rigid, pure society in which one is unable to show his or her deepest thoughts and secrets. Every human being needs the opportunity to express how they truly feel, or the emotion is bottled up until it explodes. Unfortunately, Puritan society did not permit this expression, so characters had to use different ways to relieve themselves ... without tripping over one commandment or another. Come to me, and be free." Hester takes advantage of this, when Dimmesdale appears. She talks to him about subjects which would never be...

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

... they tell the reader about the prison, the scaffold, and how Hester is being publicly condemned for adultery. These chapters also show the reader that the society is depicting the political reality of Hester's World, the Puritan society. The Puritans intended to create a "Utopian" society, but it can be seen in these chapters that this world already knows sin. The women of the town criticize her for embroidering the scarlet letter, the symbol of ... her shame, with such care and in such a flashy manner. This seems to declare that Hester is proud, rather than ashamed, of her sin. In real...

• Word Count: 295
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet Letter is about a Puritan woman in Boston, Massachusettes, named Hester Prynne who commits adultry and is sentenced to wear a scarlet A on her breast. In result of the affair Hester Prynne had a little girl, Pearl. The letter "A" that was sown onto the bosom of Hester had become a symbol of sin and was intimately associated with her. Hester set forth towards her social life, which she thought God had ... had an extremely passionate nature.But it is what happens after Hester's affair that makes her into the woman with whom the reader is familiar.Shamed and seperated from the rest ...

• Word Count: 330
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School