... eats away at Dimmesdale's weakening and slowly killing him As the Puritans would call Dimmesdale a sinner, the Romantics level him as a human. The Scarlet Letter is wrapped in a deluge of allegorical theories and philosophies. Ranging from Puritanical to Romantic, Nathaniel Hawthorne embodies his ideas to stress his Romantic ... Hester, and Dimmesdale throughout the whole of the novel. Nathaniel Hawthorne has a sufficient reason for repeatedly making reference to mirrors throughout his refined novel, The Scarlet Letter. The use of mirrors in the story serves a beneficial purpose of givin...

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... contribute to the main theme in the book. Sometimes referred to as "the first symbolic novel to be written in the United States", "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne contains many symbols that are apparent throughout the novel, and reoccur at many different places. While symbols are created, ... young woman who has cheated on her husband, Roger Prynne, with Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester bore a baby from this relationship, and was forced to wear a scarlet letter "A" for adultery. Hester uses the forest to bring out many hidden emotions, but mostly to use it as an outlet where she can...

• Word Count: 2041
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... is very prevalent throughout the entire story and helps to convey the mood of this society. The greatest amount of distortion goes to Hester Prynne's Scarlet Letter, which is her burden for her sin. The effect that this distortion of the letter produces is that the audience is left to try ... dull that this letter can actually be more beautiful then the people of this colony. Another line that shows the distortion of the letter is " The Scarlet Letter so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom. It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with hu...

• Word Count: 1455
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• Grade Level: High School

... and openly accepts Hester and Pearl, who have long suffered in silence. Ironically, Hester is "freed" by the confession, no longing bearing the Scarlet Letter alone. But Dimmesdale is also freed; although he dies after the confession, he is finally freed from the guilt of unconfessed, hidden sin ... her husband warns her never to utter the truth about who he really is. Hester gives him her pledge. Hester and Pearl move to a little thatched cottage on the outskirts of the town, where they live in isolation. She provides for their needs by sewing for both the rich and ... for his silenc...

• Word Count: 1929
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... character, plays the role of a sinner from the beginning of the book. She is characterized as a very strong, independent woman, who bears a beautiful scarlet A on her chest. The Puritan ideals of sin are shown at the beginning of the novel when Hester stands upon the scaffold with her newborn for three ... notices that her guilt will not pass until she makes penance. In addition to the public's humiliation, Hester also receives the punishment of wearing a red scarlet letter A on her chest, which stands for adultery. As beautiful as this symbol is, it "was red-hot with infernal fire" (Hawt...

• Word Count: 1253
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... , standards, or habits with respect to right or wrong in conduct," ("moral"). Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes characterization techniques of morality throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter. The qualities that Hester Prynne possesses shape her as a character. Hawthorne represents Hester Prynne as having moral flaws, but in the end she ... Viewpoints, "The character story emerges when some part of a character's role in life becomes unbearable." (53). This is apparent in The Scarlet Letter because Hester's life becomes unbearable through her trials as a sinner in the Puritan society. Although...

• Word Count: 1429
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... events some two-hundred years before the narrator's time. He later decides to write a fictional story based on the events from the manuscript and calls it The Scarlet Letter. The narrator then goes into his book which takes place in 17th century Boston which was a Puritan settlement. A young woman is guided out of ... aristocrat from Europe and they have a family of their own. When Hester dies, she is buried next to Dimmesdale and the two share a tombstone which bears a scarlet "A." This is known as a classic story by many. I found the story to be most definitely very interesting. It has...

• Word Count: 1497
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... 's novel is a story of adultery, social judgment, and moral redemption. Hester cannot hide the consequences of her mistake, so she is exposed to public judgment and forced to wear the scarlet letter. However, it is Dimmesdale's guilty conscience and struggle to rise above the sin that makes the essence of the narrative. The argument for Dimmesdale as a protagonist lies in the ... children of the puritans looked up from their play, - or what passed for play with those sombre little urchins, - and spake gravely one to another: -"Behold, verily, there is the woman of the scarlet letter; and...

• Word Count: 1627
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... comprehend wherefore this women so be shut out from the sphere of human charities coming forth along the pathway that lead town ward; and, discerning the scarlet letter on her breast, would scamper off with a strange, contagious fear" (85). The fact that the community went to so much trouble to never ... the community by caring for the poor. She barely gets by with the money she gets from her sewing skills, but still she shares what little she has with the indigent. Even though, the people that she gives food too still insult her, she continues anyway. "Except for that small ... in the ...

• Word Count: 1521
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• Grade Level: High School

... that led to the deadliest punishment - execution or corporal punishment. The letter A came to symbolize different things for each character. For Hester, the Scarlet Letter symbolizes her adultery and for Dimmesdale, it is a reminder of his hidden sin. The characters are given different punishments corresponding to their symbolisms ... punishment of hiding his guilt from the public. Hester became stronger from her punishment, but Dimmesdale becomes destructed from his sin. The Scarlet Letter portrays the idea that guilt is harsher and more destructive than public punishments. Hester is per...

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... a single mistake. The novel, first published in 1850, reveals the strict and severe ways of Puritan life that ruled New England two hundred years prior. At the same time, The Scarlet Letter, tells the story of one woman's struggle to find meaning in living after disobeying the highly regarded word of God. When dialogue is used in the novel, which is ... Puritans, as they relied heavily on the holy text. This type of language seems to stay consistent throughout the story, even when Mistress Hibbins and young Pearl are speaking. The Scarlet Letter uses dark romanticism as Hawthorne attemp...

• Word Count: 1296
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• Grade Level: High School

... judge, Hathorne, who presided over the Salem witchcraft trials in 1962. Puritan society had significant influence on Hawthorne's writing, especially in The Scarlet Letter: "Puritan society claimed to have based itself on the highest principal of moral idealism and filled with christian virtues of love and ... Hawthorne presents Puritan society as hypocritical. Hawthorne describes the inhumanity and intolerance that the Puritan society had set in date, especially for sinners. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne, a sinner, is mistreated by the Puritan society. Hester Prynne is publicly hu...

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... she has not "sinned alone," she knows that other feels the shame that she feels. In her public and private suffering, represented by the scarlet letter in her life, she remains a pillar of strength. Hester's selflessness also reflected in the services that she renders to the poor, needy and ... 150). Hester's strength of character in public her way of steeling herself against her inner wounds inflicted by her reputation and plague by the scarlet letter. Her weakness revealed in her private vent of her grief through tears. Her silent suffering eventually wins the sympathy of others but st...

• Word Count: 1594
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• Grade Level: High School

... and has a beautiful child whom she hopes will grow up to marry for love and not follow the path she did. Pearl is the living scarlet letter that was created by sin and to her, the letter worn around Hester's neck, is Pearl's way of saying that what Hester did ... . She was a beautiful woman who was strong and the other women crowded around her because of jealousy. In that remarkable forest scene in The Scarlet Letter, the long repressed/suppressed sexuality of Hester is suddenly exposed when she releases her hair. The reader immediately recognizes that the complex art of ... began to fa...

• Word Count: 1408
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• Grade Level: High School

The Metamorphosis of Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are many characters that transform; one of them is Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale committed a great sin of the puritan ... whips himself, has all night vigils and does not get much sleep. He also clutches his chest a lot in away that reminds Pearl of her mother, Hester's scarlet letter "A" By this point in time Hester Prynne's husband has found out about Dimmesdale's secret and has been tormenting Dimmesdale with it. Arthur Dimmesdale has become real ... also has told Dimmesdale ...

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• Grade Level: High School

According to Anne Marie MacNamara, Arthur Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter goes through several stages of spiritual growth; preparation, communication, transformation and finally revelation. To further understand why Dimmesdale is so hard on himself we must first Learn a little back ground on Puritanism. Puritanism was a move influenced by the Reformation, but whose ... people but he was not able to speak a word to them because he would freeze up in fear. Then he started to become a little more confident and was able to talk to the people of the town and see how they felt they felt about the ...

• Word Count: 1813
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School