... Chillingworth who was a physician as well as Hester's husband, moves in with Reverend Dimmesdale because Dimmesdale was growing sick. While staying with Dimmesdale, he grows suspicious that Dimmesdale is the father of 2 Pearl and seeks revenge on him by hurting him more than curing him of his illness. But this was only a suspicion until one night, Chillingworth opened Dimmesdale's shirt while he ... together and Dimmesdale imagines people mocking him as they should have seven years ago. He apologizes to Pearl and Hester for not being with them on the Scaffold. While they are on the scaf...

• Word Count: 2338
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale struggles to overcome sin, guilt, and public shame in Puritan society. Arthur Dimmesdale reveals his guilt and shame towards the end of the novel when Hester and Pearl stand with him on the scaffold while he confesses his sin to the townspeople. To feel shame or guilt, one must have a clean conscience. Dimmesdale is a good example of this because he is loyal ... to publicly reveal his sins, it's suggested that his mentality is now back to normal. With his sins now exposed to the public, he seems more supportive with Pearl. Before he confessed, Dimmesdale ignore...

• Word Count: 939
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... , which affects each character in a different way. The characters who are affected by the letter are Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth, Pearl, and Hester Prynne (Schneider). The scarlet letter is a sign by which the colonial authority seeks to fix the crime of adultery and the criminal, Hester Prynne. The "A" both indicates, yet hinders the Puritan community's authority over Hester'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 ... ...

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

... "A" patched against her breast. An elderly onlooker asks of what is going on and a man in the crowd explains that the lady is Hester Prynne who carries the child, Pearl, of an adulterer and is being charged for illicit sexual intercourse. The man explains to the elder that Hester was sent ahead to Boston by her husband, who is a scholar much older than she, but he ... years then pass by and Hester is then supporting herself as a seamstress and Pearl grows into a stubborn, naughty child. Since they are shunned by the community, they live on the outskirts of Boston. Later, community offic...

• Word Count: 1497
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... this guilt every day of his life. His emotions are characterized as anguish and anxiety like Hester, because he must rely on Hester not to give his name as the father of Pearl. Dimmesdale believes that God will never exonerate him for his hidden sin. This creates conflict and will cause Dimmesdale to torture himself later in his life, which is how ... feels a sense of vengeance towards his wife who has clearly betrayed him. His emotional state is represented as being angry and anxious because he wants to find out who the father of Pearl is. Chillingworth creates a false persona when, "h...

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

... as well as their weaknesses with symbolic names. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses evocative names to portray the characters' inner self and what they represent in the story. The most significant name belongs to the character Pearl. Hawthorne shows that this name has two meanings, but only one is used to describe the importance of Pearl's existence. "For so had Hester called her; not ... as a name expressive of her aspect, which had nothing of the calm, white, unimpassioned luster that would be indicated by the comparison. But she named the infant Pearl' as being of great price "pur...

• Word Count: 500
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... scaffold scene is Dimmesdale's release of his burden, which accumulates through the story. Dimmesdale's torture is stretched throughout the story in all three scaffold scenes. Another significant obstacle for Dimmesdale is to gain Pearl's acceptance, which is accomplished in the last scaffold scene. The minister's final speech is at last delivered, and pearl shows her acceptance when she "kisse[s] his lips" (pg. 233). All other times ... that Dimmesdale seeks Pearl's acceptance, she replies with references to the scaffold, further troubling him. The minister trembles at the thought of w...

• Word Count: 598
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... wondering in puzzlement if what he saw was the letter "A" engraved in his chest or not . These incidents are 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 her mother's blouse. Pearl doesn't know the meaning of it, but seems to have some ... sort of knowledge of the connection between the letter, her mother, and the preacher. She is determined to find out ... some truth of this mystifying letter. Pearl also seems to have foreknowle...

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

... , but his real intentions are revealed only to the reader. The underlying aspects of the characters in the book and their "twist of fate- will expose themselves in the novel. During the seven year span of the book, Chillingworth's kind fazade slowly becomes an evil obsession, the obsession being destroying his "closest friend,"" for Chillingworth suspects that Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl. Chillingworth becomes a type of parasite, and one ... '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 whe...

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

... she asks Dimmesdale to join her and her mother on the scaffold the following day, the narrator explains his feeling, " with the new energy of the moment, all the dread of public exposure that had so long been the anguish of his life had returned upon him - (137). Though she is but a young little girl, Pearl illuminates the limited nature of Dimmesdale's confession, and she solidifies ... his inability to reveal himself to the town. Examining Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth in the second scaffold scene, shows the development of honesty and deception at the very m...

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

... shows a love that cannot be. "Mother," said little Pearl, "the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. It will not flee from me, 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 is her husband ... , but then it would seem as if they were going to see the...

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

... , that is near a peninsula, because the setting doesn't play a major role in the story except when Hester and Pearl go into the forest, where Hester has a life-turning talk with Mr. Dimmesdale. The forest is like a dark and mysterious place where a dark creature, the "Black Man," lives. The time, however, cannot be changed because the story deals with the beliefs of people from the 1850's. For example people who committed ... lets others know about her sin. Hester, throughout her life, believes that she has to live with the scarlet letter on her bosom, so she will never forget about her....

• Word Count: 781
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... , 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 seven years the minister hides his secret while Hester lives with public shame. Dimmesdale lacks the courage to admit his guilt publicly, which ... could have admitted his sin and endured the wrath of the Puritan society as Hester does, but he lacks the courage. When Dimmesdale went to the scaffold during the night h...

• Word Count: 898
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... set in again and he would become unsure of himself (Male 68-69). Finally after a encounter with Hester and Pearl at the scaffold Dimmesdale decided that he would reveal himself because it was the right thing to-do instead of just letting Hester and Pearl take the suffering when he had just as big of a part in it as she did (Hawthorne 203-213). So ... then slowly made his way down from the podium. He walked from the podium and made his way to the scaffold. He stood up on it and called for Hester and Pearl, and then holding Pearls hand he confessed his sin to the public. After that he kne...

• Word Count: 1813
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... many images of truth shown in Hawthorne's novel, "The Scarlet Letter." These images give the reader a look into the minds of the characters and a different perspective on the situations at hand. Many of these images show a turning point in the novel, as well. Dimmesdale, Pearl and Hester show the different instances where truth was brought out in society. In the beginning of the novel, there is a scene in which Hester ... was forced to stand on the scaffold and have everyone ... suffered as Hester suffered for their hypocritical and ruthless punishment, even if they were conscious of i...

• Word Count: 623
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... part focuses on the symbolic meanings of the marketplace. The second part presents the allegorical meanings of the forest wilderness. The third part comes to a new view towards the two different settings in the novel. The conclusion restates the thesis of the paper. Outline An Analysis of the Marketplace and the Forest Wilderness of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter I. Introduction. 1. The background of Nathaniel Hawthorne. 2. The brief introduction of Hawthorne's the Scarlet Letter. 3. The view on the two settings that ... be the greatest ccomplishment of an author hailed as the master of...

• Word Count: 2453
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... 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 ... her husband, and she can not remain faithful. She commits the sin of adultery with a minister, Arthur Dimmesdale and has a child, Pearl. Roger Chillingworth is another character who does not recognize the consequences of his actions. Even though Hester tells him from the beginnin...

• Word Count: 1002
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... with pride and integrity, not caring about what others say or think. Showing a strong personality against the rude comments of the towns people, who say she has committed an act of the devil. Many saying that pearl is the "Devils child" and that Hester is related to the devil. Many see the "A" as something evil, as something for which Hester should be deeply ashamed about. But Hester ... "A" in a way, guides Hester and allows her to be who she is destined to be. It guides her to helping others, such as Dimmesdale, and to make the right choices. Helping her raise her child, Pearl, and to...

• Word Count: 1035
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... this point has invited Hester and her daughter Pearl up on the scaffold, Pearl asked if the three of them can stand together he tells her no but someday. At the great judgment day," whispered the minister; and, strangely enough, the sense that he was a professional teacher of the truth impelled him to answer the child so. "Then, and there, before the judgment-seat, thy mother, and thou, and I must ... stand together. But the daylight of this world shall not ... ...

• Word Count: 1308
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... however Randall Stewart has presented an argument that suggesur Dimmesdale as the Protagonist of the story. Hester Prynn is the character that the story focuses on, more then any other character. She is the mother of her only daughter, Pearl, who was conceived in sin with the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Arthur Dimmesdale is the reverend of the small puritan society, and Hester's partner in sin. This also ... and their brain at the same time, so saying that it was Dimmesdale's decision is almost entirely a lie. He waited with open arms and Hester, the protagonist, initiated the building o...

• Word Count: 855
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... with shame, and standing where Hester Prynne had stood" (136). Then, at least, his inner torment would cease. The minister, however, is not yet ready to confess. Hester and Pearl pass by the scaffold on their way home from watching at the governor's deathbed. To Pearl, Dimmesdale promises that he "shall, indeed, stand with thy mother and thee one day" (137) but that this will ... that he is not yet ready to do so. His midnight trip to the scaffold provides him with a choice to make, and his decision is to stay in the realm of moral darkness, instead of the alternative that Pearl gives h...

• Word Count: 891
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... because it reminds him of the sin and to ease his mind he physically abuses himself. Because of the guilt that Chillingworth has brought out of Dimmesdale, The Reverend becomes mentally unstable. He begins to have visions. In one of his visions he sees Hester and Pearl. Pearl first points to the scarlet letter on Hester's chest then she points to the reverend's chest. Although he knew ... that the visions were not real, he still had to ... deal with the guilt and shame that dwelled in his heart and mind. One night he had an idea ... ...

• Word Count: 735
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... become contrite or learn from her mistakes. Although her suffering is public, she experiences inward guilt comparable to Dimmesdale. The guilt is illustrated in the quote; "She never battled with the public, but submitted uncomplainingly to its worst usage- (127). At first, Hester only has penance because she has ... yet to be sorry for what she has done. She illustrates this in the making of her scarlet letter, " fantastically embroidered with gold thread, upon her bosom!" (45). She is very proud and dignified. This pride ... his hand upon his bosom, and thrust aside the vestment..." s...

• Word Count: 695
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... A on his chest to burden himself with guilt. Dimmesdale's life was a complete nightmare, and it was all thanks to his pent up guilt. In the following seven years, Dimmesdale's guilt had completely overrun his life. So, Dimmesdale decided with Hester to leave town, and start anew. However, Before Hester ... and Dimmesdale could leave, Dimmesdale had to make one last speech. On the day of this confession, it seemed that Dimmesdale was a changed man. He was confident, and no longer slouched like there was a weight pressing ... down on his shoulders. After his speech Dimmesdale became pale ...

• Word Count: 748
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... in meaning, standing for the sin of Adultery. To resonate the "A" in the mind of the reader Hawthorne displays the letter in a variety of altered profiles. Besides being the beacon from Hester's breast the letter "A" is presented in several forms. It is on the armor breastplate in Governor Bellingham's garden, in the sky on the night of Dimmesdale's scaffold vigil, continually little Pearl is pictured to be the scarlet letter personified, and ... the most dramatic of the "A"'s is that which ... ...

• Word Count: 661
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School