... 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
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... has absolutely set her mind to and does. Much like her resolution to not let the scarlet letter she must wear change her life, which she also accomplishes, to a degree. Her life changed in some ways, but the letter gives her newfound independence to keep her life normal. The scarlet letter Hester is forced to wear allows her to be more independent over time. As ... her new home and the scarlet letter she must wear, remove her mindset from one that must act in a society. In other words, "The world's law was no law for her mind." (170). Hester's independence would never have come if she ha...

• Word Count: 513
• Approx Pages: 2
• 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

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...

• Word Count: 1521
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... , while there are also specific parallels between characters, such as Abigail and Hester, and Parris and Dimmesdale. The settings in both The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible are similar in many ways. The Scarlet Letter takes place around the 1640s, as The Crucible occurs in 1692. The time period is very important in both pieces, because it is a time of religious intolerance and a conservative attitude pervades in New England, where both ... sinners is because of the Puritan beliefs of the time period. This is the driving force between the actions of the characters. The setting of a relig...

• Word Count: 578
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... be punished, but also that you can easily redeem yourself, like Hester did. How do you think God reacted to this cruel punishment? Did he approve of the "A" that at one point stood for "adulterer?" The scarlet letter was meant to be a symbol of shame, but instead it became a powerful symbol of identity for both Hester and Pearl. Pearl does not even recognize Hester ... as her mother without the letter safely secured to her bosom. Over time the meaning of the letter shifts and Hester, as well as the society, learns to see beyond the outward appearance and look within ... . As long as Pea...

• Word Count: 1200
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... 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 ... contact with those sinners, "As the two wayfares came within the precincts of the town, the children of the puritans looked up from their play, - or what passed for play with those somb...

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

... that we should all be our brother's keepers. That we should all look out for others that if suspected of doing wrong be brought out into the open to the judged. Since the Society in The Scarlet Letter was a puritan society the people were highly subjected to this concept. In our everyday society you can find this type of thinking lurking around many corners. Like for example ... hard to accept such radicals. The hippies on the other hard had a lot of courage to defend what they believed in so strongly. Just like when the Catholics were being prosecuted for their beliefs. The same thing ...

• Word Count: 956
• Approx Pages: 4
• 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 ... where she has come from. She knows that she is the product of her parents" "sin" and does not hide it. She shows this through her scarlet letter, and she insists o...

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

... decides to falsely confess to witch craft so that maybe others will follow and be saved from the lies of the judges. From what I see, Hester Pryne had a conflict mostly from society based on the way the town felt about her child and commitment of the sin she wears the scarlet letter for, adultry. Society cast her out as if she were not human and she suffered for ... for love because of his age and decided that Arthur was the man for her. The town saw the child she had as a symbol of her sin as well as the scarlet letter she wore upon her breast. That making her want Arthur to be in the ...

• Word Count: 616
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... romantic novel The Scarlet Letter. This allegorical novel depends heavily on symbol and character. The novel is chock full of symbolic dimension of images, characters, and descriptions. The Scarlet Letter defines the American Romanticist movement while using symbolic characters and places that give the book seemingly two different stories. The first story denotes the story going on in the book, including the characters. The other story ... has symbols that speak on morals, religious doctrine, and public mindset. Furthermore the novel can be defined as a romantic ... worthy to be quit of...

• Word Count: 1687
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... tell right from wrong is instinctive rather than taught by society. This can be verified from the novel the Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The ability to tell right from wrong is a quality valued and praised in every society of every time. This is also true in the Scarlet Letter. This ability to tell right from wrong, or making a decision that does not harm or offend anyone ... or their values is seen throughout the novel in the manifestation of the society's feelings for the character. From the beginning of the novel and through a large portion of the novel, Arthur Dim...

• Word Count: 721
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... and live to spread the knowledge to others. The second of the two novels was Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the novel unlike Fahrenheit 451, the destiny of the characters is described in the book due to the choices prior to the book, as opposed to describing the conditions that led to the decision and ending with the beginning of their destiny. In the novel, the setting was a major cause of the decision that Hester and ... Dimmesdale made that would lead to the rest ... ...

• Word Count: 1020
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... .IV.142-143) of those who hanged for witchcraft. Likewise, Hester Prynne was remorseful for her crime, and perhaps her guilt makes her such a strong character. Being forced to wear the scarlet letter built Hester's character with "Shame, Despair, [and] Solitude! These had been her teachers, -stern and wild ones, -and they made her strong." (ch.XVIII.175). Likewise Proctor's sins make him ... ?"(Act II.77) With this he causes others to wonder about the legitimacy of their beliefs. When Proctor's audacity leads him to be accused of serving the devil, he is torn between saving his life or hi...

• Word Count: 524
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Secret Sin Leads to Guilt In "The Scarlet Letter", Hawthorne depicts a way of life that no longer exists in today's society. It was a society of fear in a strict moral code. The morals, which were based on religious beliefs, were usually taken too seriously and gave birth to a generation of extremists known as puritans. Many puritans had ridiculously harsh punishments when a law ... had done for fear of punishment and rejection is clearly shown by Chillingworths" tormenting comments. Once secrets were out everyone in the community knew about it immediately. Hester cannot even bring herself t...

• Word Count: 558
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... 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 reality, Hester just learns to accept her sin as a part of hersel...

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

... Lord of the Flies, Crime and Punishment, The Scarlet Letter, and Pygmalion "The superficial nature of human moral systems" is a valid concern in society today. This has always been a factor in society that authors have felt the need to address. People see the hypocrisy in themselves and know that it exists in others. The manners that ... only do what is expected. If moral behavior is no longer expected, it will stop being practiced. A perfect example of this human hypocrisy lies in The Scarlet Letter's Arthur Dimmesdale. To his congregation, Dimmesdale is an icon of morality, but he kn...

• Word Count: 686
• 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 ... and be free." Hester takes advantage of this, when Dimmesdale appears. She talks to him about subjects which would never be mentioned in any place other than the forest. "What we did- she reminds him, "had a consecration of its own. We felt it ,We said to each oth...

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

THE BIGGEST SINNER In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, sin was a very evident factor throughout the novel. It heavily affected the lives of Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth, the three main characters. Though they were all sinners, Dimmesdale's sins stood out more boldly than that of Hester's or Chillingworth's, for his first sin with Hester lead him to commit other sins and in the end that made Dimmesdale the ... greatest sinner in the ... and unforgivable. In addition to being a sinful minister, Dimmesdale is also a coward. He allowed Hester to suffer the consequences of the ...

• Word Count: 869
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... Reading this novel now, I see it as something perfectly normal. Lefferts is disgusted by this prospect, but fails to see that it is the future and he is powerless to stop it. Society in 1870s New York was in decline. Previously society would only have accepted someone if they ... spirit, to make her fit in. He tries to talk her out of divorcing Count Olenski: "New York society is a very small world compared to the one youve lived in. And it's ruled, in spite of appearances, by a few people with v/s well, rather old-fashioned ideas." Ellen eventually becomes ... Ellen, could NOT keep up t...

• Word Count: 2558
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

... still returned to her haunting past where she died. Religion plays a big part in the Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynne wore the Scarlet Letter to remind her of the mistake ahe made. Instaed of taking Pearl away the people wanted her to wear the "A" for adultry. Hester brought up her child forcing the the thought of the heavenily father. Hester's whole lifestyle was altered. She obeyed everyone and for seven years ... was cursed by standing on the scaffold. The people's beliefs strongly enforced the idea that Hester would wear the Scarlet Letter, so she did. It constantly forced the tought of...

• Word Count: 727
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... he finally confesses, he is granted some peace, at least in death because he does not have to suffer anymore. However other symbols show that he is not redeemed because the scarlet letter was engraved into him, showing that it will always be a part of him and also when he talks to Hester about how they will not stay together in ... gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance." Pearl asks her mom to look at the statue because she sees the gigantic letter A appear in the reflection. Another time is when Pearl makes the letter A on the beach out o...

• Word Count: 1619
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... of this is when Hester peered into the convex mirror at Governor Bellingham's mansion. The first thing she saw was the scarlet letter, "represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions" (102). That shows how the scarlet letter is the most "prominent feature" (102) of Hester, and she is practically "hidden behind it." (102) Thus, the scarlet letter concealed who Hester really was. The last identity the "A" took on is the adjective able. On pages 241-242 ... , the Native Americans who came to watch the Election Day pageant thought the "A" marked Hester as a person ... ...

• Word Count: 636
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Originally, the scarlet letter was meant to be a sign of shame, but instead, as the story progresses, that scarlet letter becomes a dominant symbol of identity to Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingsworth. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne portrays the feeling of alienation through these characters. The hidden meaning of the letter "A" Hester wears on her dress, Dimmesdale on his chest, and Chillingsworth on his soul, signifies loneliness and alienation. In Puritanical views, Hester Prynne, a married ... of revenge. It is apparent that Chillingsworth is separated from his sole, because all the goo...

• Word Count: 970
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Humans are fascinated with real life situations, tagged in with fictional story line. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck all have social problem involving the main character. All of those novels describe real life situations in a fictional story line perfectly. These novels have been banned several times because they ... history, blacks have been discriminated for being a different color, or because of what they do not have, or how they act. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the issu...

• Word Count: 1717
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School