... Dimmesdale's heart, and Hawthorne writes that he acted, "how Satan comports himself when a precious human soul is lost to heaven and won into his kingdom." Chapter Eleven: The Interior of a Heart Summary Chillingworth, having figured out that Mr. Dimmesdale is the true father of Pearl, goes on a subtle campaign to hurt the minister as much as possible. Revenge consumes him to the ... sick and needy has given her access into almost every home, and people now interpret the "A" as meaning "Able" rather than "Adultery." Hawthorne goes so far as to state that, "the scarlet letter had the eff...

• Word Count: 5572
• Approx Pages: 22
• Grade Level: High School

... The people reading his literature at the time still had very strict and traditional beliefs. Avoiding the grim tone Hawthorne usually involved removing undesirable Elements and modifying others. It is interesting to note often contained such intense emotions as jealousy, lust, and revenge, Hawthorne never allows these to appear. Indeed, he often trivializes the negative drives of characters by referring to them as ... "naughty." The adult passions are also removed by making many of the characters much younger In this way Hawthorne was able to avoid discussing the sexual themes often foun...

• Word Count: 3188
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... reveal hers as his wife.   Seven years pass. Chillingworth, intent on revenge on Hester's lover, settles in Boston, while Hester, supporting her family by working as a seamstress, moves to a small cottage on the outskirts of town. Hester's daughter Pearl grows up into a capricious, precocious, and very observant child. Pearl delights in the scarlet letter and enjoys emphasizing the symbol on her mother's breast. In fact, it ... all its meaning and instead has become a legend. Hester is buried in a grave next to Dimmesdale's, and the two share a headstone, a scarlet letter "A" on a blac...

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

... "It is overdone at times, and becomes mechanical" (89). This may be true, but one symbol that is not overdone and is actually under considered is that of Hester as a heroine. The Scarlet Letter was brilliantly written, and without knowing it Hawthorne is still influencing writers to this day. Females are being portrayed as the heroine more and more as each decade passes by ... : Cornell University Press, 1879. Murfin, Ross, ed. Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism: Nathaniel Hawthorne "The Scarlet Letter". Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1991. Person, Leland. Aesthetic Head...

• Word Count: 3565
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... during the course of the novel. However, this is also the same gesture that Hester Prynne makes when remembering the scarlet letter upon her own bosom. Hawthorne brilliantly connects Hester Prynne's openly displayed shame with Reverend Dimmesdale's secret shame by having both characters touch the same spot where the scarlet letter is displayed. We see the same motion of weakness again when he comes forward, ... with his hand over his heart trying to hide his own scarlet letter which he feels on ... on this earth: Relaying God's word to the people. He feared that if found out, he would ...

• Word Count: 2932
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

... entrenched was this desire for the supernatural. Exasperated, Reverend Parris calls on Rev. Hale, who is an expert in the "demonic arts,"39 to evaluate the situation. The fact that they even have an expert of the demonic arts speaks volumes about their superstitious way of life. ... of hysterical paranoia from the Puritan era is The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This novel does not deal so much with witches as it does with the Black Man, which "is a traditional American name for the Devil."44 In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne commits adultery with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. ...

• Word Count: 3126
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... . He belongs to it" it nourishes or starves him, or poisons him; it gives him the substance of his life." Community plays a large role in everyone's life; Pearl and Hester of The Scarlet Letter, LeAlan Jones, Lloyd Newman, Eric Morse and his killers, of Ghetto Life 101 and Remorse, and the rest of the world. The four aspects of community are neighborhood, peers ... already grown up, her personality changed greatly after the labeling of her sin, adultery. Hester's town was very strict with the punishment of sins and the citizens frowned upon many things. Public displays of a person's crim...

• Word Count: 4111
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: High School