... being an adulterer eventually kills him. Hawthorne's story begins in seventeenth-century Boston, then a Puritan settlement. A young woman, Hester Prynne, is led from the town prison with her infant daughter, Pearl, in her arms and the scarlet letter "A" on her breast. Hester's husband, a scholar much older than she is, sent her ahead to America, but he never arrived in Boston. While waiting ... for her husband, Hester has apparently had an affair, as she has given birth to a child and she will not reveal her lover's identity, which is actually the beloved and eloquent priest ... them to ...

• Word Count: 1146
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Guilt is a powerful feeling that evokes suffering of many souls. Dimmesdale's guilty conscience causes him much pain and results in his self-mutilation, periods of vigil, and deprivation of sleep. Hawthorne's use of omniscient narration creates a powerful image of Dimmesdale's feelings. With use of sympathetic tone Hawthorne creates an obscure atmosphere for the discussion of Dimmesdale's feelings of guilt and how he bears it. The feelings of torment and suffering experienced by Dimmesdale are delicately conveyed into the content of the novel by using complex diction and subordinate clauses. ...

• Word Count: 393
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... and Pearl to join him on the scaffold. As Dimmesdale calls himself "the one sinner of the world" , reveals the scars on his chest, and acquires a kiss from Pearl, he reverses the flow of events which he has followed thus far. Dimmesdale serves as his own prosecutor and judge as he exposes himself and seals his fate. The Scarlet Letter is a novel that exemplifies the significance of adherence to ... Puritan tradition, and the fate of those who ... deviate from their doctrine. Although Reverend Dimmesdale sins, thus defying these principles, he continues to abide to Puritan rules because ...

• Word Count: 1174
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate