... twilight of a dungeon, or other darksome apartment of the prison." This is how the reader is introduced to Hester Prynne, the main character in the Scarlet Letter. As one reads the novel we see how she develops as a person. The reader feels the conflicts that the characters go through as they go ... was: "Into my keeping, God gave her." His unique way of switching them around gave his writing style some interest, and variety. Hawthorne kept The Scarlet Letter with a very optimistic tone. Hester's glass was usually half full, as opposed to half empty. She was always trying to make the mos...

• Word Count: 914
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... attitudes of Puritan society are presented in such a reality that we can assume, safely, that the commonwealth acted as so, however, to a certain extent. In the introduction of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne writes about his various meetings with Ellery Channing, Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson (Hawthorne pg. 27). These people and their experiences must have sparked something into the ... , is the instrument of moral insight." Imagination is what creates moralistic intuition in the writer (Jacobsen pg. 34-33). Another example that may support morality in the production of The ...

• Word Count: 1014
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... her as an A herself Hester make her a beautiful red dress that is vaguely shaped like an A, and the townspeople see her as a little scarlet letter walking along side of Hester. Guilt leads to leads to Hester's isolation mentally, and through the law and banishment to the peninsula she becomes isolated ... and the description of her image as she looks into a breastplate of a suit of armor, "the peculiar effect of this convex mirror, the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance. In truth, she see...

• Word Count: 915
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... her as an A herself Hester make her a beautiful red dress that is vaguely shaped like an A, and the townspeople see her as a little scarlet letter walking along side of Hester. Guilt leads to leads to Hester's isolation mentally, and through the law and banishment to the peninsula she becomes isolated ... and the description of her image as she looks into a breastplate of a suit of armor,the peculiar effect of this convex mirror, the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance. In truth, she see...

• Word Count: 917
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... punishment, has she really changed from her sinful ways? If so, is she going to leave for Europe with Dimmesdale? Towards the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, we see Hester being punished publicly for the sin she has committed with Dimmesdale. In chapter 2, Hawthorne writes, "He laid his right hand ... ;Could it be true? She clutched the child so fiercely to her breast that it sent fourth a cry; she turned her eyes downward at 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 else ... ...

• Word Count: 944
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• Grade Level: High School

... she was very happy, joyful, and full of life and color but on other days she was "wilting" which brought Hester much grief. In The Scarlet Letter it shows how if a person sins against God, he/ she will pay for what they did, even through that particular sin. Pearl brought some joy ... According to chuckii.com "Hester's child, is symbolic of changing Puritan society." Pearl changes the puritan society because she is the outcome of the scarlet letter, and was rebellious to the Puritan way of life but not evil. Even though something can be really tough to cope with, Hawthorne suggests that ...

• Word Count: 647
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... townspeople. They are all hypocrites for being the same people who go to church weekly repenting their sins. Hawthorne uses many symbols throughout The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne uses the colors red, black, and white to represent Hester's emotions and the emotions of those around her. The most frequently used ... color symbol by Hawthorne is red. Red most obviously represents Hester's sin, as shown by her scarlet letter. Her scarlet letter, like her sin, is something she must always deal with and is something she can never escape. Pearl the product of Hester's sin, ... committed any great...

• Word Count: 1044
• Approx Pages: 4
• 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
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... a punishment for a sinful act, and as living reminders of human foibles. The symbols used in this book are the scarlet letter, Pearl, and the rosebush next to the rusted prison door. The scarlet letter was a stigma worn by someone who had committed a sinful act many Puritan settlements. The Puritans believed that public humiliation ... after some time had passed it began to stand for "Able." From the very beginning, the readers could see the significance of the letter because of Hawthorne's description: " that SCARLET LETTER, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom. It...

• Word Count: 843
• Approx Pages: 3
• 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

... 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

... while depicting women's societal standing suggests that women are becoming more feminine and compassionate. At first glance, Hester is considered to be a contemptible adulteress, but as the novel progresses, the scarlet letter on her chest takes on a new meaning. At the beginning of the novel, Hawthorne explains how women have become more feminine throughout generations: Morally, as well as maternally, there was ... a cap. Without complaining, Hester takes on tasks that better herself as an individual. The city of Boston, where the novel takes place, recognizes her charity work and give...

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... -self, his views on Puritans certainly show through the eyes of the narrator. Hawthorne criticized the Puritans and their society; he disagreed with many of their beliefs. He describes the scarlet letter as elaborate and ornate, almost like Hester Prynne herself. He describes her beautiful and young as opposite of the townspeople. Also she holds her baby high for all to see ... see the narrator also has these thoughts. "On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A." (The Scarlet Letter...

• Word Count: 673
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• Grade Level: High School

... does not believe that nature will reflect his positive accomplishments when he dies. Dead foliage also helps to represent the mindset of Hester. When Hester took the scarlet letter and, "threw it to a distance," it landed "among the withered leaves" (152). At this point in the book, her sin was dying ... ready for new growth. Living and wild or withering and dead plant symbols help to describe the characters" states throughout the novel. The forest in The Scarlet Letter brings out a different side of each character. The forest is first seen in the book as a place of evil. Mistress Hibbin...

• Word Count: 1017
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• Grade Level: High School

... different things. This is referred to as symbolism. One example is the S on Superman's uniform, which symbolizes him being "super." In "The Scarlet Letter," Hester Prynne is sent to America alone to wait for her husband to come back from Europe. While she is waiting she becomes pregnant with her ... . In the Puritan days the punishment for adultery was to wear a big, scarlet colored "A" on the chest. Nathaniel Hawthorne creates the symbol of the letter "A" to have meaning more than just adulterer. As the novel unfolds, the letter "A" on Hester Prynne's bosom changes many times. In the beg...

• Word Count: 571
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• Grade Level: High School

... religion, because this was the most forced element of Puritan fellowship. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Puritan New England, Hester Prynne was the main offender. The Scarlet Letter is an isolated drama of one woman's shame and guilt for her solitary sin. She is ridiculed and cast off from her community and the ... with wonder. His tone at the description of the crowd is sorrowful, irked. Although significant, tone is not Hawthorne's only weapon of choice. The Scarlet Letter was a novel filled with antagonism. Main conflicts include man versus man, man versus self, and man versus society. The ...

• Word Count: 1115
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... the 1800's, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote many novels illustrating romanticism. One of his most famous is The Scarlet Letter. In this unforgettable tragedy Hester Prynne is condemned to wear the scarlet letter "A" on her breast and to live with her daughter, Pearl: the proof of her adultery with Arthur Dimmesdale. Hawthorne depicts romanticism by using super naturals, mysteries, and intuitions. Hawthorne uses ... unexplained power that allows her to see the sin that other people hide. Whenever she faces these people she feels she can detect a certain reaction to the sight of the Scarlet Le...

• Word Count: 522
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... soundly and strongly. The themes of personal guilt and an individual's place in society are examined in this novel and the symbol of the scarlet letter A is used to illustrate the manner in which the main characters deal with this guilt. Hester Prynne bears this symbol on her chest ... and the community. In chapter five, Hawthorne writes "Another peculiar torture was felt in the gaze of a new eye. When strangers looked curiously at the scarlet letter, "and none ever failed to do so, "they branded it afresh into Hester's soul; so that, oftentimes, she could scarcely refrain ... reveal t...

• Word Count: 872
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, addresses sin in the book quiet frequently, this essay addresses how Hawthorne really thought about sin and it's aspects like punishment. The Scarlet Letter is a novel that deals with the theme of sin. Throughout history, people have committed all types of sins, and whether they are major or minor, ... based upon the severity of their crime. However, what many people overlook is the fact that in time, we all have committed sins. In The Scarlet Letter, the idea of sin and punishment is the main theme of the novel and how Hester Prynne, the main character, has b...

• Word Count: 802
• Approx Pages: 3
• 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
• 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
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• Grade Level: High School

... even contradict the obvious choice. The beginning scene shows a few very prominent views, which sets the tone of the story. The opening scene of The Scarlet Letter begins with the description of the Utopian's society with a prison. Just next to the prison, lies a rose bush in bloom. The rose bush is ... given. The women of the town also thought that Hester would try and disguise the "A" as much as possible. Contrarily, Hester creates a beautiful letter of scarlet and gold, which she mounts openly on her chest. Pearl is also another piece of irony. Children are supposed to be a blessing, b...

• Word Count: 512
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... society is too judgmental and it always has been. Even in the time Hawthorne wrote of in The Scarlet Letter and in "The Ministers Black Veil" people judged before they knew the truth. Objects were judged even though they had no relevance on what really happened. In " ... mission to show how superficial the people were. The ministers own fiancee left him because no one knew anything about the veil he wore. Again in The Scarlet Letter, I can think of two more major examples where an object was used as a sign or omen. The first is of course the ... letter, it meant evil, shame, and sin to...

• Word Count: 498
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... are many different themes portrayed throughout the book. Hawthorne develops these themes through many different symbols in his novel. Besides the obvious symbol being the Scarlet Letter, you can find many other examples of Hawthorne's use of color. The colors that he repeats in the book besides red are gray, gold, green, and black. Gray represents the ... a crumbling wall." The green moss is Hester's new life away from her husband, which is considered as the crumbling wall. Gold also played a role in the novel. Hester embroidered her scarlet letter with gold thread. She also sewed a dr...

• Word Count: 506
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School