... reproductive organs 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 of the infrastructure of The Scarlet Letter. The story begins with Hester and Pearl alone in public, and ends with Hester and Pearl alone in public. In between the beginning and end, the plot follows her every action with ... mechanical precision. She allows the story to flow from start to finish flawlessly. Her role as ... ...

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

The Scarlet Letter is a book revealing lives of sin, social identity, and humanity. The story displays some of the darkest elements of the human soul: guilt, revenge, and evil. With its complex, emotional plot and its rich symbolism, this masterpiece has become a highly prized classic in American literature. The book opens with a chapter called "The Custom House," in which the narrator of the book writes a long description recalling his days as the ... the brook in the forest, and Pearl tries to catch some of the transitory sunshine in the forest. Strangely, the sunshine seems to avoid Hester...

• Word Count: 3653
• Approx Pages: 15
• Grade Level: High School

... awe, yet with reverence too." ( Hawthorne 260). The scarlet letter also forges a link between the characters. Pearl, for instance, can't see her mother without it; the scarlet letter had become a part of her mother. The scaffold is another important symbol in the novel. It symbolizes Judgment Day and repentance. Hawthorne uses it whenever the plot takes a shift, as a sort of turning point, "each of the scaffold scenes brings together in a moment of ... moral, emotional, and psychological tension the major characters and forces of the story" (Martin 109). At the beginning, the scaffold i...

• Word Count: 2338
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• 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...

• Word Count: 915
• Approx Pages: 4
• 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...

• Word Count: 917
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... law can deal with sin as distinct from crime, he makes a whole paragraph of the sentence: "The scarlet letter had not done its office." He seems to have felt that in placing it upon Hester's breast, the magistrates had blasphemously usurped the function of God, as Chillingworth later usurps it in his plot against Dimmesdale. Yet it serves her well in freeing her from all danger of ... trying to live such a lie as consumes her lover. She presents what she is to the ... Hester from punishing herself with torture as Dimmesdale had done. I agree with the statements that Wagenknecht made abo...

• Word Count: 942
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... , had quite forgiven Hester Prynne for her frailty; nay, more, they had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as the token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since " (147). The truth of Hester's scarlet letter changed; it no longer represented her weakness and evil, instead, she was now seen as ... to someone else. Are humans born innately good, evil or both? "Therefore, as a man who has not thought and philosophized in vain, I seek no vengeance, plot no evil against thee. Between thee and me, the scale hangs fairly bala...

• Word Count: 1931
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... a life ahead of her. The final scaffold scene is a powerful conclusion to the end of the novel. Hawthorne perfectly structures The Scarlet Letter around the three scaffold scenes. In each scene Dimmesdale is closer and closer to his confession. The first is the introduction to the novel, the second is the climax of the novel and the third is the conclusion to the novel. The first scene, located in the first few pages of the book, Hester reveals her ... Dimmesdale tries to tell her he sincerely wants her to reveal his name. She does this in the light of day in front of all the townspeopl...

• Word Count: 1498
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... father, only a heavenly one. Chillingworth vows to find out the father and get his revenge. Hawthorne also connects Hester's openly displayed shame with Dimmesdale's secret shame by having them both touch the stop where the scarlet letter is simultaneously. The second scaffold scene, also the climax of the plot, occurs in chapter 12. As a result of his guilt, Dimmesdale mounts the scaffold late one night, while Chillingworth cautiously watches in ... the darkness nearby. Hester and Pearl, who are out late because she had taken measurements for ... ...

• Word Count: 443
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The true villain in The Scarlet Letter would be Roger Chillingworth. Throughout the whole book, Chillingworth was portrayed as an evil, bitter man obsessed with revenge. He existed as an entity of evil, planning the destruction of Rev. Arthur Dimmsdale, because of the sin committed by Dimmsdale and Chillingworth's wife, Hester Prynne. As his name ... about Dimmsdale's aid; and, by offering to reside with him to supposedly cure him. Chillingway's evil plot for revenge had him tormenting Rev. Dimmsdale instead of helping him. Rev. Dimmsdale seemed to be getting worse instead of better because of...

• Word Count: 679
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School