... the book and the symbols used to represent them. Hester Prynne, the town's seamstress, committed adultery and for her punishment she has to wear the scarlet letter. The "A" stands for her sin, but as the people come to know her over the years, they think of the "A" as her being able ... out of seaweed (p.163). Pearl knows that there is a connection between Hester and Dimmesdale, and she believes that it has to do with the scarlet letter. At the end of the story, when Dimmesdale lets everyone know that he is the father of Pearl, then she becomes complete. Dimmesdale, the town ... minister...

• Word Count: 435
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... use of symbolism in the novel is very significant. Many symbols are underlying and hard to find, but symbols such as the letter "A" could not be more obvious. "The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! Those had been her teachers -- stern ... and wild ones -- and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss." The scarlet letter "A" is Hester Prynne's American Express card, she cannot leave home without it. With the exception of one occasion, Hester is true to her badge. ... breastplate in Governor Bellingham's g...

• Word Count: 661
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• Grade Level: High School

... . His punishment is guilt and self-condemnation, increased by the torture by Roger Chillingsworth; Hester's undisclosed husband and the town's physician. "Happy are you, Hester," says Dimmesdale, "that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret!" (188). As his shame and inner guilt increases, he suffers total decline, both mentally and physically. By this he underwent self-torture ... Chillingsworth's hold over him, which allows him to die peacefully. Dimmesdale can finally die peacefully because he has redeemed his penance by freeing himself of his inner guilt....

• Word Count: 1175
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• Grade Level: High School

... she says: "What we did had a consecration of its own. We felt it so! We said so to each other!" Her love is immortalized in a contrasted way that just the scarlet letter "A" as a representation of sin in this situation. She sees their actions in a different perspective than the community does. It is a glorified action in her eyes. The way Hester views the ... scarlet letter is completely different than that of the townspeople. She wears the scarlet letter with no shame. The scarlet letter is extravagantly sewn and placed on her bosom. "That Scarlet Letter, fantastically embroidered and ...

• Word Count: 694
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• Grade Level: High School

... and ideals. Women of this time were not thought of as able to overcome hardships and trials because they were considered weak, but Hawthorne showed to the world with The Scarlet Letter what women, in actuality, were like. The embodiment of Hawthorne's feminist ideals, Hester, was an unusual character for that time period. Women weren't considered very important. Yet, "so strong was ... be powerless, was held in high esteem by the public. It isn't a coincidence that Hester was given a task as great as overcoming the burden of the scarlet letter and that she emerged triumphant. Overcoming...

• Word Count: 1087
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• Grade Level: High School

... a society. Hester Prynne holds herself with dignity although she wears and infamous title and lives in a world of public shame. She is sentenced to the scarlet letter 'A' which is known for "adulterer." This badge of humiliation serves as a constant reminder of her sin. Although this title is meant to bring shame ... but he is ambivalent because he also fears that his reputation will be ruined. Through his internal suffering, it is believed that his own scarlet letter is formed. His mark of shame is a symbol of his pain that is involved with going against his identity causing him to con...

• Word Count: 1053
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• Grade Level: High School

... humiliation, her unwillingness to leave the town may seem puzzling. She is not physically imprisoned, and leaving the colony would allow her to remove the scarlet letter and resume a normal life elsewhere. So why does Hester choose to stay in a place were she will constantly be reminded my by her past ... imposed it,""resumed the symbol of which we have related so dark a tale. Never afterwards did it quit her bosom. But . . . the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world's scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with a...

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... changing. Pearl's involvement in the complex history of her parents inadvertently forced her to be viewed as different and is shunned because of her mother's sin. Pearl is a living scarlet letter to Hester, Dimmesdale and finally the reader, acting as a constant reminder of Hester's, as well as humanity's shortcomings. Hawthorne uses vivid descriptions to characterize Pearl, as he ... , and the end of a great novel. (i personeally take no responcibiliaty for this essay nor do i clame it to be compleetley myne) Bibliography Baym, Nina. Introduction. The Scarlet Letter. By Nathaniel Hawtho...

• Word Count: 1158
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Hester Prynne, the young adultress, is punished for her sins by being forced to wear a bright red letter A on her chest at all times. It is a symbol of shame and disgrace. However, the Scarlet Letter raises the question of whether or not public humiliation is an appropriate and effective form of retribution for ... some are not certain that drunk driver's will learn from their mistakes, even if they are made public. In the Scarlet Letter, Hester was forced to live her life with a symbol of shame on her chest, although that symbol eventually took on other meanings. Hester sees the ... o...

• Word Count: 402
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Symbolism is very evident throughout The Scarlet Letter. The most apparent use of symbolism is the scarlet letter itself. It signifies a number of different things, most obviously adultery and ability. The forest and the things that occur in the forest are ... sunlight (happiness). The darkness in the forest disappears when Hester and Dimmesdale meet and talk about their plans. Hester then takes off her scarlet letter and takes down her hair as a symbol of her freedom. As she does this, beams of sunlight light up the forest. The ... scarlet letter is a symbol of shame and punishment for Hes...

• Word Count: 361
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... when Hester dresses her daughter for the interview with Governor Bellingham. Pearl wears " a crimson velvet tunic embroidered in flourishes of gold thread It was the scarlet letter endowed with life."" (Hawthorne 78) As Pearl intended, the red letter of adultery was brought to life in the bright red dress. But also, Pearl symbolized a way of punishing Hester for her adultery. The way Hester ... is this being which I have brought into the world?" (Hawthorne 73) One final way in which Pearl symbolized something in the novel was with her connection with the scarlet letter. Pearl really was...

• Word Count: 320
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses many different objects and people as symbols to express his message throughout the book. He begins using a plant, then the ... complex symbol in the book is the most obvious and prevalent one, the books namesake, The Scarlet Letter itself. At its first entrance, the letter is used as a symbol of shame, or grief. The magistrates of the town have placed the letter on Hester's breast as a way to let everyone in the town know of her adulterous act ... . After being a complete outcast from the town and all its inhabitants, being respected by her peer...

• Word Count: 777
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... and understood her consequences. Does this recognition not redeem her? Does she not deserve a second chance? Must she ultimately pay for it by wearing her scarlet letter and becoming a social outcast for eternity? She was stared at, laughed at, talked about, and despised by her fellow peers: "This woman has ... did. How do you think God reacted to this cruel punishment? Did he approve of the "A" that at one point stood for "adulterer?" The scarlet letter was meant to be a symbol of shame, but instead it became a powerful symbol of identity for both Hester and Pearl. Pearl does not even ...

• Word Count: 1200
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• Grade Level: High School

... one. He it was whom the sorrows of death encompassed . His public confession is one of the noblest climaxes of tragic literature." The argument over the protagonist role in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne runs undeniably deep. At first glance it appears that the protagonist of the story is Hester Prynn, however Randall Stewart has presented an argument that suggesur Dimmesdale ... same time, so saying that it was Dimmesdale's decision is almost entirely a lie. He waited with open arms and Hester, the protagonist, initiated the building of the infrastructure of The Scarlet Lett...

• Word Count: 855
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• Grade Level: High School

The scaffold scenes are one of the most important events in "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The first scaffold scene occurred in the beginning of the story which was about Hester and the second scaffold scene ... can never get away after committing crime, in the end they get punished and pays for what they did and regrets it. The first scaffold scene in the scarlet letter focuses on Hester Prynne. The scene occurred in the morning sunlight. Hester on the scaffold with Pearl in her hand. Townspeople gathered to watch her on the ... Chilligworth disguise of an Indian. When the gov...

• Word Count: 560
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• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet Letter In the center of a town, a scaffold sits for sinners to undergo public humiliation, but in the end, it serves as a step towards an Emersonian ... People such as Emerson and Thoreau changed the views of the public, with words and actions. The scaffold similarly served as a link for the characters in the Scarlet Letter to separate their ideals from the ideological society in which they lived. Though the role of the scaffold was different, some sort of absolution was always the outcome ... scaffold scene resolves all of the unsettled matters, and Dimmesdale allows his own dea...

• Word Count: 917
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• Grade Level: High School

The letter "A" in the Scarlet Letter is not just a letter, it is a symbol in which the whole book revolves around and establishes a theme that develops throughout the story. The letter "A" changes throughout the novel and goes from something evil to something good, in this case being "angel." The letter gives Hester, the main character, her personality ... still in England, and decide to punish her, not knowing who the lover is. The town decides to punish her by making her wear a scarlet letter on her chest, which she has to wear everyday for the rest of her life, to symbolize that she is an "...

• Word Count: 1035
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• Grade Level: High School

The character of Hester Prynne changed significantly throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hester Prynne, through the eyes of the Puritans, is an extreme sinner. She has gone against the ... young woman who has sinned, but is forgiven. Hawthorne describes Hester as "divine maternity" (49) and she can do no wrong. Not only Hester, but the physical scarlet letter, a Puritanical sign of disownment, is shown through the author's tone and diction as a beautiful, gold and colorful piece. From the beginning, we see that Hester ... is a young and beautiful woman who has bro...

• Word Count: 461
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• Grade Level: High School

... love, for truth, for honor, or for justice." One work of literature that I feel truly does illuminate several of these great quests is The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This work is based in a small, Puritan community where a woman named Hester Prynne dwells. This woman has committed the sin ... of adultery and is forced to wear a scarlet A upon her bosom to constantly remind her and the rest of the community of her terrible sin. The fruit of this sin however was her little ... their honor within the community. After Dimmesdale's death, he was thought of as a strong and honorab...

• Word Count: 566
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• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet Letter was the story of Hester Prynne, an adulteress who lived during the Puritan era, and the pain and shame she endured because of her sin. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, was ... , Massachusetts. Through Hawthorne's research of the Puritans, he beccame ashamed to be related to such a people, and developed a strong dislike for their ideas and their hypocrisy. In his novel The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne used diction and certain symbols to display his disgust of the Puritan society. Hawthorne's specific word choice helped show his feelings toward the Puritans. First, Hawthorne de...

• Word Count: 548
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Hester Prynne could mean a number of things when she says that the scarlet letter has been too deeply branded. She responded in this manner, when she was told that if she were to tell of the baby's father, her letter would be removed. Firstly, and most likely, she could have meant that since she was made publicly known that she committed an act of ... being remembered after her life with her descendants carrying the shame as well. If this were true, then she felt that it didn't matter if she were to wear the scarlet letter or to have it taken off, for the people would still remember who she ...

• Word Count: 326
• Approx Pages: 1
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In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale commits adultery with Hester Prynne. The townspeople find out about Hester, but she doesn't tell anyone that Dimmesdale was involved. Since the townspeople knew Hester committed adultery she had to wear a scarlet "A" on her chest and went through public humiliation. The townspeople didn't even suspect Dimmesdale of committing any kind of sin ... ...

• Word Count: 391
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Puritans intended to create a "Utopian" society, but it can be 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 reality, Hester ... ...

• Word Count: 295
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... Pearl is as much, or more, a symbolic function as she is a representation of a human child" (56). Pearl's significance in the novel is portrayed best through her mirror image of the scarlet letter itself. In more ways than one, she is analogous to her mother, Hester Prynne. Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale are also severely affected by the presence of Pearl. In an ... ambience of guilt, Pearl serves as innocence. When comparing the actual scarlet letter to Pearl, numerous similarities are established. Pearl is "its [the scarlet letter's] symbol, its double, its agent: "it was t...

• Word Count: 1115
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... used as a way to alienate Hester from the people of the community and cause her further pain. "She turned her eyes downward to the scarlet letter, and even touched it with her finger, to assure herself that the infant and the shame were real. Yes!- these were her realities-all ... the sick and needy and her fine sewing skills, give her access to almost every person in the community. People now interpret the scarlet letter "A- meaning able instead of adultery. "The scarlet letter had the effect of a cross on a nun's bosom. It imparted her to walk securely amid all peril."" (p. 149) Hest...

• Word Count: 764
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• Grade Level: High School