Hester's Isolation and Alienation in The Scarlet Letter In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale have committed adultery, an unacceptable sin during the Puritan times. As a result of their sin, a child is born, whom the mother names Pearl. Out of her own free will Hester has to face major punishments. She has to serve many months in prison, stand on the scaffold for three hours under ... was alienated was her objection to revealing the other adulterer. When Hester is released from prison and put on the scaffold, she was asked to reveal the name of whom...

• Word Count: 833
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... her. She shows the scarlet A on her chest for all to see, and braves their criticism. Although Hester is one with a great sin, according to the Puritan society she lives in, she also shows the truth these situation because she is letting the people recognize her sin and acknowledge it. She chooses not to hide the truth from them, unlike reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. At one point during the novel, Dimmesdale ... is so fixed on his sin that it has caused his downfall and worn him away. In this scene, he goes to the ... does not hide it. She shows this through her scarlet letter, and she in...

• Word Count: 623
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale has many opportunities to acknowledge his wrongdoing. He could have confessed during the first scaffold scene as Hester stood in front of the townspeople. Dimmesdale preached to her about her sin, although he was her co-sinner. He could have admitted his sin and endured the wrath of the Puritan society as Hester does, but he lacks the courage. When Dimmesdale went to the scaffold during the ... sinner because she admitted her sin and took her assigned punishment. She wore the scarlet letter, only once in seven years lying about its meaning. To repen...

• Word Count: 898
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... emphasize suffering and torment in Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. Throughout the book, the scaffold has been the symbol of puritan society's harsh punishment for sinners. The three scaffold scenes in The Scarlet Letter convey the theme of sin not being tolerated whatsoever in Puritan Society. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is tormented throughout the story and in all three scenes with the scaffold. In the second scaffold scene, Dimmesdale is "overwhelmed with shame, and stand[s] where ... Hester Prynne had stood" (pg. 139). He "shriek[s] aloud" (pg. 136) as he remembers the torture he...

• Word Count: 598
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... let their readers make their own decisions about the events or characters in the story. The ambiguousness of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne leaves many of the actions, events, and issues involving the characters up to the reader's own assumption. One of the issues posed by Hawthorne during the story is that of responsibility. Hawthorne illustrates that the lack of responsibility is harmful and should be ... they respect him so highly. While a person might think that the shock of the ministers secret life provokes the crowd to consider their castigatory organization. But, sad...

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

... of having done something wrong, improper or immodest. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale struggles to overcome sin, guilt, and public shame in Puritan society. Arthur Dimmesdale reveals his guilt and shame towards the end of the novel when Hester and Pearl stand with him on the scaffold while he confesses his sin to the townspeople. To feel shame or guilt, one must have a clean conscience ... if one behaves according to one's own beliefs or instincts. Dimmesdale's mentality is affected severely by shame. Mentality affected by shame is caused because whe...

• Word Count: 939
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School