... community. Hester Prynne's strength and determination provide the perfect attributes to conquer her sins and the sins of others. The "A" that Hester Prynne bears in The Scarlet Letter shifts in meaning at least two times to mirror the character changes of Hester throughout the progression of the novel and the town's acceptance of her. At the opening of the novel, Hester Prynne is portrayed as an adulterer that ... and love while her house is on the border of the two. This show of symbolism also moves to a deeper meaning of moral and immoral universes that Hester tries to simultaneously ...

• Word Count: 842
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Here Danforth demonstrates the emotion that puritans felt toward insubordination and defiance of Puritan lifestyle. Reverend Parris, one of characters who seek power within all the hysteria that has swept the town, is a prime example of a Puritan. Parris takes this time, now that every one is concerned with his daughter Abigail, to regain control over the townspeople and return their attention back towards the ... life of Puritanism. Puritan life is one of servitude to a higher calling that is ... that humans are. Dimmesdale is another character who plays a great role in the descriptio...

• Word Count: 710
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... , are now hypocrites in his eyes. "Men of dissolute lives and women of spotted fame, wretches given over to all mean and filthy vice and suspected of horrid crimes" (640). It is clear that in the absence of the understanding of the freewill of mankind, Goodman Brown sees only immoral, sanctimonious, mischief-makers all around him. Thus, throughout the course of his life, Brown is overwhelmed with the burden ... , he lost something he can never regain; his belief in the goodness of mankind. The metaphorical journey through the forest is an attempt by Goodman to encounter and conquer evil i...

• Word Count: 1164
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... ever given, "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."(King 2) In a nation whose Declaration of Independence states that "all men are created equal,"" one might be forgiven for wondering why that didn't seem obvious from the start. In many ... of the editorial introductions to the essays, stories, and songs found in "The Heath Anthology of American Literature," the editors seem to wonder the same thing and appear to have taken pains to consult ... a wide variety of ....

• Word Count: 1162
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... . Hawthorne uses Georgiana and her destruction to grandly reveal his belief that people must embrace their humanity and all its flaws. Georgiana is the most important character in "The Birthmark" because she is the carrier of the birthmark and all of its views, interpretations, and consequences. In "The Birthmark" Hawthorne exposes all the different views of Georgiana's birthmark. To some, including Georgiana at one point ... , the birthmark, according to Hawthorne, is a beauty mark that "[m]anywould ... ...

• Word Count: 1568
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... fear to face his society reflected his weak character. Dimmesdale was put into great pressure when he was notified by the public to persuade Hester to confess who the father of her baby was, this caused his constant wounding of heart, which also stresses on his weak character. Dimmesdale's health was lead to rapid deterioration, so he went to visit Roger Chillingworth, the real husband of the character Hester, ... and one of the few doctors in town; by that time, Chillingworth ... had already known that Dimmesdale was the one that committed adultery with his wife. Chillingworth made Di...

• Word Count: 328
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... his vulnerability. When Roger asks Dimmesdale, "You would tell me, then, that I know all?"(125), the Reverend's character is stirred and his irritability in response to the question suggests that he is hiding something that creates discomfort when asked about the matter. As a result of his illness and the inquiry by Chillingworth, Dimmesdale is seen in the chapters as weaker than ... in previous chapters. At the end of "The Leech and his Patient", Chillingworth's shows himself worthy of his name, giving the chills to Reverend Dimmesdale as he plots his imminently fatalistic plan glimpse...

• Word Count: 699
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... for this dismal novel. The ugliness and rust in the prison and cemetery seems like the last place for any kind of beauty to be. But the rosebush grows contrasting with the depressing backdrop offering a sort of sweetness to this tragic story. In this tale, practically every main character is faced with a dreadful sin or evilness, but within the malice, there is also a pleasant side ... upon her, Hester is described as being extremely graceful and brave. Even though Hester is labeled with an awful accusation, underneath all the sin, lies a young woman in love with a man. Chillingworth, H...

• Word Count: 561
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... a reproachful society that does not condone indulgences. As he uses expounding third-person omniscient perspective, employs the sinister character of Roger Chillingworth, and illustrates the dualistically ironic depictions of Arthur Dimmesdale, Hawthorne arouses the reader to understand the consequences of crime and shame. While using the omniscient third-person perspective, Hawthorne attempts incorporate the audience into the novel in ... came swarming back upon her, intermingled with recollections of whatever was gravest in her subsequent life"(11). Such vivid descriptions of the reme...

• Word Count: 855
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... great pressure when he was notified by the public to persuade Hester to confess who the father of her baby was, this caused his constant wounding of heart, which also stresses on his weak character. Dimmesdale's health was lead to rapid deterioration, so he went to visit Roger Chillingworth, the real husband of the character Hester, and one of the few doctors in town; by that time, ... made him recognizes the way Dimmesdale looked at Hester and Pearl, he also noticed the habit of Dimmesdale of putting his hand on his chest showing his physical pain, then cleverly, he manipulated his ob...

• Word Count: 746
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the other women advice on what not to do. Hester Prynne's life was a tragedy from the moment she committed the act of passion with Reverend Dimmesdale and accepted it as a decision that creates who she is instead of as a sinful act. Through most of her life all that she desired was to be with Dimmesdale. Her immense passion to feel affection with somebody is what ultimately lead ... to her feel isolation from her entire community. Her isolation creates the callous sense about her which is the ultimate downfall for ... the happy ending that the reader secretly hoped she would. Hester su...

• Word Count: 1733
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... war. The devil claiming that he has helped Young Goodman Brown's grandfather "when he lashed [a] Quaker woman through the streets of Salem" (67) and his father "to set fire on an Indian village, in King Philip's war" (68) is the occasion when we learn that Goodman Brown ... the forest and the village. In the forest the arising darkness by "all the gloomiest trees" (66) and the unknown of the wild woods where "the devil himself" (66) could be right in front of him, scares Goodman Brown. He is afraid that he might find " ... finding himself "in solitude" (70), he is unsure if the nigh...

• Word Count: 762
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... for ordinary men and women. However, Dimmesdale has an unusually active conscience. The fact that Hester takes all of the blame for their shared sin goads his conscience, and his resultant mental anguish and physical weakness open up his mind and allow him to empathize with others. Consequently, he becomes an eloquent and emotionally powerful speaker and a compassionate leader, and ... believe Dimmesdale's fate was an example of divine judgment. The Scarlet Letter defines the relationship between the individual and society through Hester's alienation from Puritan Boston caused by the si...

• Word Count: 968
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... without utilizing them is purely inexcusable and is deserving of punishment to Hawthorne. And punishment is what Dimmesdale receives. Yet again, Hawthorne insists that the lack of responsibility tarnishes relationships when Dimmesdale does try to manifest his guilt. Consequently the dubiousness of Dimmesdale's character endures to the second scaffold scene. There he finally wants to admit his guilt on the scaffold at night but ... cops-out because he still, deep inside, does not want to be frank to the matter. It has been many ... knows that he is not doing what he ought to or is oblig...

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

... the 17th Century, religion was the driving force that challenged people's freedom of thought. The Puritans of the 1630s added a new element of religious and social intolerance to America, expanding on the blueprint created by the Pilgrims. Known for their strict, repressive society, the Puritans barred all forms of deviation within their community, as described in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter ... for personal growth and independence. Nathaniel Hawthorne, portrayed as the Narrator, appears to be a deviant character himself. In "The Custom-House," he claims that he distrusts peo...

• Word Count: 789
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the sin not out of revenge or any such plan but out of love. Yet she deals with the sin, keeping her head held high as she walks the scaffold displaying her pride through such an action and through her choice of elegant clothing. Her clothing and her choice to accept her punishment and sin attribute to her pride and strength of character. Hawthorne's sympathetic ... attitude toward Prynne, a victim Puritan society, is best exemplified by having her associated to the rosebush, and the Puritans to the prison. It is such a contrast that allows a development of sympathy on Prynne's behalf. T...

• Word Count: 808
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... and "Rappaccini's Daughter,"" lived a life of solitude "devoting the majority of his existence to the acquisition of knowledge. Likewise, in these two short stories, a few characters also come about this misfortune, whether by choice or by obligation. Each story proves a unique point about the relationship between knowledge and the human character as well as the concept of isolation; yet, there are also many parallels ... in the existence thereof. In "Rappaccini's Daughter- the young, beautiful Beatrice is isolated "literally "as a result of the poison her father has instilled into her....

• Word Count: 673
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... ship was nonexistent in his mind. Delano shrugs off all of the abnormal happenings and Cereno's uninterested reaction to them, such as when a black boy inflicted a knife wound in a white boys head, muttering "that it was merely the sport of the lad" (16). The American captain fails to put all of the clues together until Cereno attempts to escape the San Dominick and into Delano's ship ... occur during the transatlantic slave trade, and Melville reveals what it might have been like to be aboard a ship that was overthrown. "Benito Cereno" can be compared to Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Go...

• Word Count: 1557
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... clue. On the contrary, if you have had a good relationship previously, let's say you notice someone you haven't seen in a while and want to say hello and catch up. You are sure they saw you. So you make a beeline toward them, but they do an about-face and walk ... society in The Scarlet Letter. Hester, after having committed adultery with Rev. Dimmesdale was shunned by all of Puritan society in the Massachusetts Bay colony. she was forced to stand on a scaffold in front of the townspeople for three hours wearing an embroided Scarlet letter "A" which stood for "Adultery" at that ... the ...

• Word Count: 1654
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... and what differentiates you from others.""(Jeffrey Weeks, The Value of difference, in J. Rutherford (ed.), Identity: Community, Culture, Difference, London, 1990). People are especially made aware of these discrepancies through the use of the huge amount of different markers which are bestowed to them, and which are all intimately linked to such categories as: social, physical appearance, personality, nationality, ... , under what circumstances and for how long are these markers associated to one's individuality, still remains a matter of relativity and contingence. In American literatu...

• Word Count: 2241
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate