... actions, but also sinful actions. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Pryne realizes that her adulterous actions were criminal in nature, and therefore deserving of the punishment which the law imposed. However, she refuses to accept the moral implication of the scarlet "A" which the Church wished ... the scarlet "A" show a clear indication of her rejection of the moral implication of the letter. She clearly accepts the punishment for her crime (otherwise, she would simply have never worn the letter), but her reinterpretation of the letter raises the question of the ... true power of the law...

• Word Count: 1195
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... solemn way Puritans observe any act of punishment, from the execution of a hardened criminal to a child's whipping, all "solemnity of demeanour" and "meager and cold" The second scaffold scene focuses on Dimmesdale, the minister and Hester's lover. It occurred really early in the morning when the sun wasn't up and only few people awake. Nobody was aware of Dimmsdale's crime in this chapter. He had the ... sister". Nathaniel Hawthorne's message from these two scenes are punishment, shame, guilt, and regret. Hawthorne described the strictness of puritan's society from beginning to end of ...

• Word Count: 560
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... by Nathaniel Hawthorne many themes are presented .The Scarlet Letter is a very complex and can be interpreted in may ways. Hawthorn used many literary techniques; such as, metaphor, imagery, and very serious tone. Throughout the novel the theme of sin, punishment, and redemption was portrayed through Hester Prynne on many ways and on many levels. An element of this theme is sin. The whole bases ... leave Hester because she was forced to wear an "A" on her chest until the day she died. The second element of this theme is punishment. Hester's punishment for her crime was standing in a sca...

• Word Count: 611
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• Grade Level: High School

... dealt with this sin that they kept hush, and how it slowly killed them. Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale, is a young clergy man who is well respected in his harsh community of strict Puritans is to condemn the punishment of wearing a scarlet A on her breast to who ever committed such a crime as adultery. As he gives such a punishment to Hester Prynne, the adulterer, the town applauds ... him that much more for doing what is right and punishing the wrong. At first Dimmesdale gains a certain power, strength from doing this ... , but that strength is slowly burned out leaving Dimmesdale anything bu...

• Word Count: 798
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses symbols such as the scarlet letter A, that represent suffrage and punishment, but, as the novel progresses it begins to unfold and become a representation of redemption and truth. Hester Prynne's scarlet letter undoubtedly represents the sin of adultery and she must wear this 'A' as a symbol of punishment. From the beginning of the novel you can see that Hester does not let the ... the open air as if by her own free will." (59) Hester Prynne stood out like a sore thumb. She owned up to her crime with "dignity" which no other puritan would have done. On...

• Word Count: 1185
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... is a play. While The Scarlet Letter deals mainly with the sin of adultery, The Crucible deals mainly with false accusations of witchcraft. Both have obvious similarities like the setting and the crime, however, one of the greateset similarities between the two is the loyalty of the Puritan people to their appointed officials, the public supported them greatly, because in their theocratic society ... , the eyes of the officials were those of God. In the Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne's punishment was assigned to her by a highly prestigious panel of men from the churches and courts of ... ...

• Word Count: 648
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• Grade Level: High School

... effect of the novel. In essence, this is a story of sin, punishment and the importance of certainty and truthfulness. One theme which plays a big role in "The Scarlet Letter" is sin, judgment and its consequence. An extreme sinner through the eyes of the Puritans is ... grow stronger. Hester's soul is freed by her admission of her crime; by enduring her earthly punishment. Right from the start, Hester appears to be different from those around her, suggesting a rebellious approach to the traditions and customs of the Puritan society. She was a "figure of ... perfect elegance" compared to...

• Word Count: 778
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• Grade Level: High School

... thrown into agitation " (Hawthorne 115). Since he is a strong believer of the Puritan faith, his guilt weighs on him and appears to be contributing to his physical and mental illness. Dimmesdale acknowledges his wrong doings privately but cannot repent for it when in public. Although, the narrator points ... out indirectly that Dimmesdale is a person of self-harm as he explains that "Crime is for the iron-nerved, who have their ... choice either to endure it, or, if it press too hard, to exert their fierce and savage strength " (Hawthorne 274). It is evident that Dimmesdale is too altru...

• Word Count: 557
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... uses her crime as leverage for her own personal development. Arthur Dimmesdale, believed to be a pious reverend, is provided as an example of conformity. He rejects his sin and is constrained to what the puritanical society believes to be as orthodox. And Pearl, who is the offspring of Hester and Dimmesdale, ... good. Hester is given the opportunity to leave town and start a new life for her and her child, but she chooses stay for this "had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment" (Hawthorne 74). She believes that "perchance ... so strong was ...

• Word Count: 1053
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... Dimmesdale instead has to live "a life of cowardly and selfish meanness, that added tenfold disgrace and ignominy to his original crime" (Loring 185). He becomes weaker and weaker by time, "neither growing wiser nor stronger, but, day after day, paler and paler, more and more abject" (Loring 186). Their courage is also ... weak. The courage that those two share is quite similar, in that they have none. They both are afraid of the public and ... that they will be united in paradise" (Grander 8). In that Dimmesdale replies his belief of the afterlife, "we forgot our God God knows: and He ...

• Word Count: 706
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Puritan's enemies, as shown in a litany: "They [the Puritans] are Blind-hearted, Proud, Vaine-glorious; Deep Hypocrites, Hateful and Enuious; Malitious, in a full high excess, and full of all Uncharitableness."4 This was not quite the atmosphere that Hester was in, but helps to paint a picture of what it ... might have been like. However, because of this environment, she changed inwardly. Many people in that day had probably begun to strongly associate punishment with repentance ... return. This was shown when Mistress Hibbins said to Hester, "Wilt thou go with us tonight? There will be...

• Word Count: 1029
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• Grade Level: High School

... obvious. In the first chapter Hawthorne describes the prison as "the black flower of civilized society". The prison represents the crime and punishment that was incorporated in the early Puritan life. He also contrasts the prison with the tombstone at the end of the novel by suggesting that ... crime and punishment bring about the end of civilized life. In the same chapter he describes the overgrown vegetation of weeds around the prison. The ... has a variety of meanings. Originally standing for the sin of adultery it has a different meaning for each character. The Puritan community cons...

• Word Count: 502
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• Grade Level: High School

Guilt in Puritan Society The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, deals with crime, punishment, and guilt in Puritan society. The main characters include Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, and Reverend Dimmesdale. All of the characters undergo a certain degree of crime, guilt, and punishment. Each of the characters either share the same amount of guilt, or are less guilty then the other. Most of the sins the characters commit ... , another main character in the story. Dimmesdale also commits the sin of adultery. Unlike Hester, his crime does not reach the public's knowledge until t...

• Word Count: 757
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• Grade Level: High School

The first few chapters introduce the theme of sin, when they tell the reader about the prison, the scaffold, and how 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 ... 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 realit...

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

... matter how little the wrongdoing was. Others feel that a person's punishment should be based upon the severity of their crime. However, what many people overlook is the fact that in time, we all have committed sins. In The Scarlet Letter, the idea of sin and punishment is the main theme of the novel and how Hester Prynne, the main character, has been punished for her ... often feels that Hester's sin is somewhat out of necessity. She has nobody in her life. Her husband is lost at sea and she lives alone. Dimmesdale was the first man Hester really loved, and he feels that because of thes...

• Word Count: 802
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the use of symbols highlights the similarities and differences between the Puritans and today's society. These differences are apparent in the type of punishment used then and now. The many of the symbols in this book deal with sin, punishment and redemption. Hawthorne uses symbols to represent a forgiving nature, a punishment for a sinful act, and as living reminders of human foibles. The symbols used in this ... because the governor allowed her to keep Pearl. Many times during the novel, Hawthorne has the readers wondering if Pearl is "human" or not, and during...

• Word Count: 843
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• Grade Level: High School

... for anyone in such a situation. The reactions of the people were interesting to me; their strong feelings against Hester being permitted to live startled me. I realized what a sort of culture and religion ruled in those times. Also, I couldn't quite imagine being in Hester's position with the kind of disgrace she was faced with. The narrator describes Hester as totally losing her ... have tried to seek revenge against Hester, but then came to the conclusion that he viewed her public disgrace as more punishment than he could ever have managed. Chillingworth's revenge was very clever. Eve...

• Word Count: 1043
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... were executed" (Guiley, Rosemary Ellen, 2010). The crime in The Scarlet Letter was Hester committing adultery and fornication. In the movie Hester was jailed. "Jails were used mainly to hold people for trial or until they paid their debts" (Ramsey, Carolyn B., 1998). Then came punishment for their crimes. The punishment used in the movie was making her wear the letter ... of being a witch they would have been hanged. The movie shows the minister saving the women from their punishment. In the sixteenth century this would have never occurred because witches were killed. The Scarlet Letter...

• Word Count: 1182
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... of the Puritan society. Although adultery, in the eyes of Puritans, is seen as a horrendous crime, if it is out of love it contradicts the actual crime, which is to go against one's spouse as an act of spite. Hester follows her heart and so is therefore innocent of all sins. Hester never regrets what she did with Dimmesdale. She does not consider ... furious with the way Hester behaves with her scarlet letter. "Why, gossips, what is it but to laugh in the faces of our godly magistrates, and make pride out of what they, worthy gentlemen, meant for punishment?" (p. 47). Even though she is...

• Word Count: 694
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• Grade Level: High School

... . In addition to being a sinful minister, Dimmesdale is also a coward. He allowed Hester to suffer the consequences of the crime that he also took part in. Hester was sentenced to wear the letter A and had to stand on the scaffold while he took not a single ounce of punishment for his crime. Hester knew that Dimmesdale was the man who she had committed adultery with ... and she knew that if she told everyone what she knew, her punishment wouldn't have been as harsh as it was and yet Hester decided not to tell. Dimmesdale at this point should have admitted to ... his crime. Hester had sh...

• Word Count: 869
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... theme of sin. Hester Prynne was a young woman living in a Puritan community in Salem, Massachusetts. Her husband, Roger Chillingworth, was said t be lost at sea, and Hester assumed he was dead. Upon this assumption, Hester committed a crime of adultery with her fellow minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. The result of this affair was the birth of a daughter named Pearl. When the townspeople became aware ... of what Hester has done, they forced her to wear a sign of punishment, the scarlet letter. This letter "A," which stands for adultery, had to be worn at ... dies because he has nothing to l...

• Word Count: 512
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

In Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Man, His Tales and Romances, published by the Continuum in 1989, Edward Wagenknecht gives the following analysis of The Scarlet Letter: "Because Hawthorne did not believe that 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 ... nothing left to fester inwardly." I believe that Wagenknecht's observations are correct. He says that the punishment given to Hester Prynne by the Puritan people was not the punishment of God, that it was not the resp...

• Word Count: 942
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... for condemning her. An argument can be made in favor of society insisting that adultery is a crime deserving of a punishment. What Hester and Dimmesdale did was wrong, both of them admit to it, and it was up to society to enact full authority over the criminals. Hester's not wanting to identify ... Dimmesdale as her accomplice is strictly done by her own will, without contribution from society. Hester's condemnation and alienation ... was forced to wear. Actions taken to remove Pearl from Hester's care are an ideal example of society overstepping the boundaries of regular punishment sim...

• Word Count: 568
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... bosom for the remainder of her life as a punishment for her sin. This Scarlet Letter lets the people of Salem know Hester has committed adultery and is therefore subjected to public rejection and cruelty. Hester Pyrne is also the "saint" of The Scarlet Letter because she was willing to endure pain and punishment for her crime and then give back to the community that gave her ... nothing. Hester becomes helpful to others and her Puritan community as a whole, even counseling other ... unfaithful women. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story about sin and punishment. Heste...

• Word Count: 634
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• Grade Level: High School

... for rhetorical speech, Dimmesdale's congregation generally interprets his sermons allegorically rather than as expressions of any personal guilt. This drives Dimmesdale to further internalize his guilt and self-punishment and leads to still more deterioration in his physical and spiritual condition. The town's idolization of him reaches new heights after his Election Day sermon, which is his last. In his death, Dimmesdale becomes ... Hester's nonconformist attitude, society had reasons for condemning her. An argument can be made in favor of society insisting that adultery is a crime des...

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