... of the public, but also the deep burn that guilt evokes. The children in the village are taught to look at the woman who bears the scarlet letter "as the figure, the body, the reality of sin" (Hawthorne 74). Pearl, a very smart and curious, girl is described as ... because of her mother. As she grows, her personality changes in the reader's mind to be pure because of her amiable nature. Pearl symbolizes the scarlet letter on Hester's chest. When Hester stands on the scaffold and cannot bear the ridicule she "clasp[s] the infant closely to her bosom"( ... Hawthorne 48). She does this to t...

• Word Count: 1253
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... propitious consequences. Pearl, the product of Hester's adulterous relationship with Dimmesdale, embodies this theme. The child of sin becomes "her mother's only treasure... Man had marked [Hester's] sin by a scarlet letter, which had such potent and disastrous efficacy that no human sympathy could reach her, save it were sinful like herself. God, as a direct consequence of the sin which man thus ... 's torture. "But for [his] aid, [Dimmesdale's] life would have burned away in torments;" by prolonging his life, Chillingworth allows the minister to confess before his death (157). In The S...

• Word Count: 1485
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... act gross and brief, and brings loathing after it." This was said by St. Augustine, regarding immorality. This is discovered to be very true by the main characters in The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne's story of a woman (Hester) who lives with the Puritans and commits adultery with the local minister (Dimmesdale). In his novel, Hawthorne shows that sin, known or unknown to ... lines of dull red light" (Hawthorn). This is God's condemnation of the two sinners, most especially Dimmesdale. Hester has already been discovered and is receiving her punishment by wearing the scarlet lette...

• Word Count: 1118
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... Arthur Miller's The Crucible are both distinctly different works about the Puritan society. The Scarlet Letter is a novel and The Crucible 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 ... 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 the Massachusetts ...

• Word Count: 648
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• Grade Level: High School

... 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 ... at the end of chapter 10, when he finds the minister fallen asleep in his room and sees the scratch on the form of the letter A. "The physician advanced directly in front of his patient, laid his hand upon his bossom, and thrust aside the vestment, that, hitherto, ... w...

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

... story revolves around Hester, a bearer of the scarlet letter. She was condemned by the townspeople of execution for she committed adultery with an unknown man. Her husband Chillingworth, filled with anger, told the ... not, mother?" asked Pearl, stopping short. "Will it not come of its own accord, when I am a woman grown?" It is an explanation on the significance of the scarlet letter as a symbol and the bridge of the connection between sin and humanness. "Mother," said [Pearl], "was that the same minister that kissed me by the brook?" "Hold thy ... of that iron period would have impose...

• Word Count: 720
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• Grade Level: High School

... because of former jobs they occupied at the Salem Custom House. Hawthorne and Melville claim the credit for remarkable works such as the novels The Scarlet Letter and Moby Dick. As any other literature these two can be linked in many ways such as haste between characters, events such as a ... resurrection, and remarkable recoveries for a characters personality. In The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth shared an important similarity with Ahab and the whale, Moby Dick. Dimmesdale was a young, handsome reverend that was the secret lover ... not Christian like and God is not plea...

• Word Count: 768
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... face which they had not previously noticed, and which grew still the more obvious to sight, the oftener they looked upon him" (p124). This passage, taken from the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, shows the effect that evil has on the antagonist of the novel. The antagonist, Chillingworth, is the novel's villain, due to his numerous displays of evil throughout ... is willing to make Dimmesdale suffer and help Dimmesdale's guilt eat away at his soul in order to get the revenge he wants. One of Hawthorne's purposes in writing The Scarlet Letter is to show that "sin is evil,...

• Word Count: 670
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... accident. Some sins are committed out of love, like that of Hester and Dimmesdale in "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. While others commit the sin of hate just like Chillingworth. Hester was forced to bear the letter "A" (adultery) as punishment for committing her sin and for salvation. On the other hand, I ... hate) in order to transform myself into a better person and to gain more knowledge of things that I wouldn't be able to see for myself without my Scarlet Letter. Hate is such a strong word, but it is also a strong sin. Hate means to have evil thoughts or thoughts of inf...

• Word Count: 675
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... , adultery is one of the deadliest sins 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 ... has the 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 ...

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... a decision in life, big or small, people try to make the best choices. However, despite good intentions, people often make poor choices. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is the story about Hester Prynne, a woman who commits adultery and is filled with many feelings, including pride, surrounding that sin. ... to other wrong actions that reflect their guilt. Lack of insight leads people to make bad choices, and there are several examples in the book, The Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynne and Roger Chillingworth get married even though they knew it was not going to be a truthful love re...

• Word Count: 1002
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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
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Throughout the course of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne several occurrences of sin are recognized within each of the characters. The true identities of Hester and Dimmesdale are brought ... to the place where such significant events occurred in her life because of the overall effect it had on shaping her identity. Hester even continues to wear the scarlet letter, no longer because of its negative connotation, but because it played such a prominent part in her life that she does not wish to eliminate. Free ... by the end, it represents something else entirely. Hester has complete o...

• Word Count: 1347
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... and her daughter Pearl are on the scaffold enduring public persecution and humiliation. This is Hester's first public appearance with her child and the scarlet letter on her bosom. She maintains a confident poise about her, despite the judgement that comes along with standing on the scaffold. Hawthorne's usage ... Minister Dimmesdale is partaking in the persecution of Hester by repeatedly questioning who the father of the child is. Dimmesdale says she may remove the scarlet letter she bears upon her chest if she confesses. Hester refuses the proposition and says, "It is too deeply branded...

• Word Count: 587
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Stephanie Jensen "Sin and Its Engulfing Role in the Community" ~An Analytical Essay~ In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses significant themes and Puritan ideals, such as the concept of sin. In the first chapter, Hawthorne indicates that the colony set land ... glad it was not he or she. This closed-mindedness helped feed the hatred for Hester and the societies" need to identify her by describing her with the letter A. Hester is also a heroic figure because she accepts her sin. She is open about it, and she doesn't struggle for that fact that she is human ... and is susceptible...

• Word Count: 1128
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet Letter's characters made major transformations during the development of events. Chillingsworth made major transformations during the occurrence of the events. His pride was broken and consumed himself in seeking vengeance. Chillingsworth ... , the happy Chillingsworth she knew before he had left changed as soon as he saw her on the scaffold wearing the Scarlet "A- carrying the child. Hester realizes that she is somewhat at fault for Chillingsworth's hurt and obsession for vengeance. Hester says, "The Scarlet Letter burned on Hester's bosom. Here was another ruin, the responsibili...

• Word Count: 909
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• Grade Level: High School

... He could not be Pearl's actual father. "Individuals in private life, meanwhile, had quite forgiven Hester Prynne for her frailty; nay, more, they had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as the token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since " (147). The truth of ... Hester's scarlet letter changed; it no longer represented her weakness and evil, instead, she was now seen as a hardworking woman who is kind and humble. Larger part of the townspeople have forgiven her ... embodiment of Hester's sin and why her life is te...

• Word Count: 1931
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• Grade Level: High School

"The Scarlet Letter," is one of Nathaniel Hawthorne's most eminent masterpieces. This work distinguishes him and brought him to the forefront of American literature. Hawthorne narrates a sinful woman's life in the tradition new ... symbolical in the story in her features. The girl is the bad result of the adultery between her parents, who can be considered as the symbol of the sin and scarlet letter. "However, wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another."(p12) Just because of this, Hester worries about the girl's growth of ... the story, but she still t...

• Word Count: 830
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• Grade Level: High School

"The Scarlet Letter" tells the story of Hester Prynne's sin and all that came about from her daughter's being born because of adultery. The Puritan society, Dimmesdale's, and Hester's story takes place in a ... was one the puritans believed should have been punished by death. However, only Hester was punished as Dimmesdale kept his part of the sin a secret. Hester was forced to wear a scarlet letter "A" on all her clothing, as a symbol for her sin and shame. On the other side, Dimmesdale stayed away and was not punished at all. But, as he began to change ... drastically throughout the begin...

• Word Count: 854
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale has committed the sin of adultery with Hester Prynne. The story begins with Hester coming out of a jail and being put on the scaffold ... she refused to answer. Now, all the town shame and punishment is placed upon her. She is made an outcast and to show this he was forced to wear the letter "A" for adulterer upon her chest which forced her to live with the guilt and shame openly. On the contrary, Dimmesdale kept the guilt and shame inside of himself and those ... has brought out of Dimmesdale, The Reverend ...

• Word Count: 735
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... maintain their status, sometimes they fall. Lucifer had fallen from heaven to hell in the Bible due to his own sinning. He fell to shame as Hester had in The Scarlet Letter. If Dimmesdale were to fall from grace, what would the townspeople think? What truth is there if their own minister committed a heinous crime? Boston's angel is a sinner. As he sat ... from adulteress because of confessing, she is better off. With his mental state on the decline with the guilt he can only conceal, Dimmesdale is the worst off of the Scarlet Letter's protagonists....

• Word Count: 1021
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Secret Sin Leads to Guilt In "The Scarlet Letter", Hawthorne depicts a way of life that no longer exists in today's society. It was a society of fear in a strict moral code. The morals, which were based on religious beliefs, were ... Chillingworths" tormenting comments. Once secrets were out everyone in the community knew about it immediately. Hester cannot even bring herself to tell her own daughter the true reason for the scarlet letter, which seems everyone but Pearl knows. Hester states, "I will keep thy secret, as I have his" which shows her intent on keeping her secret (Hawthorne 45). ...

• Word Count: 558
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet letter is a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is about a woman who was convicted on a horrible crimes back in the 17th century. This story has many themes within its binding. One ... ...

• Word Count: 362
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... rather than by the heart. Forgiveness was not in their vocabulary. It was more important to consider justice served by outward ridicule, mockery, and branding the letter "A" on a person's garment, which stood for Adulterer, than to try to redeem the person through forgiveness, prayer and personal involvement. Because his act of ... that of her and Pearl, forces Hester to draw her own justification for her actions. These actions illustrate well in the fact that she unashamedly embroidered the letter "A" on her garment in a 5 very fancy and beautiful pattern. The embroidery was so detailed...

• Word Count: 2000
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet Letter In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses three scaffold scenes to demonstrate an underlying theme of sin revealed, sin concealed. If hidden, sin will destroy, but if revealed sin can make a person stronger. The ... ...

• Word Count: 541
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School