... later shed upon this question as Chillingworth uncovers the secret Arthur had tried to keep intact. It is visible to him as he pulls aside Arthur's ministerial robe and discovers a scarlet letter A upon his chest. Although Hawthorne lets this aspect of the novel remain unclear, this engraving on Arthur's chest suggests that the burden of his sin had seeped so deeply ... is generally associated with Chillingworth, and the cold acts of revenge he exacts on Dimmesdale. The light stands for truth and purity and Pearl's free nature. A major theme in the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne i...

• Word Count: 2338
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... time she never would have considered. Hester's emerging sense of identity begins with the imposition placed upon her to fashion her own punishment, the scarlet letter "A". She does not sew a piece of cloth that is dreary, colorless, plain or somber. This would have been fitting for a Puritan ... lasting and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore- Hester emerges from her confinement in the prison proud and defiant. Her fabrication of the Scarlet Letter evokes indignation and resentment from the townspeople. "She hath good skill at her needle, that's certain," remarked one of the...

• Word Count: 1295
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... 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

... defined according to the Catholic Catechism and modern definition as any unloving act and deliberate disobedience of the known will of God. Sin in The Scarlet Letter is not only committed by Chillingworth but by Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and also the Puritan society as a whole. Both Dimmesdale and ... because he felt guilty for his ancestors persecution of innocent people in the Salem Witch Trials. Decay and ugliness permeate the physical setting in The Scarlet Letter symbolizing the evil and sin in Puritan society that Hawthorn intends for us to see so that we regard the Puritan...

• Word Count: 2203
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... . Roger Chillingworth is clearly the most obviously revengeful character. However, Aurther Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne are more significantly involved in the extraction of their revenge. Hawthorne's ultimate theme in The Scarlet Letter is vengeance amongst all of mankind. Since the moment Roger Chillingworth was introduced into the novel, revenge filled his mind. He first began gaining information from a stranger in the crowd ... embarrassment, but a mark of beauty that stood out for everyone to see. "It was whispered, by those who peered after her, that the scarlet letter threw a lurid...

• Word Count: 1589
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... nature of evil. Every scaffold scene represents a time in which a character takes a step towards self-reliance and has changed in various ways. The Scarlet Letter begins with the three-hour punishment of Hester Prynne. The first scaffold scene takes place in the market place in front of society. Hester Prynne has ... Could it be true? She clutched the child so fiercely to her breast, that it sent forth 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...

• Word Count: 1995
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... . Roger Chillingworth is clearly the most obviously revengeful character. However, Aurther Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne are more significantly involved in the extraction of their revenge. Hawthorne's ultimate theme in The Scarlet Letter is vengeance amongst all of mankind. Since the moment Roger Chillingworth was introduced into the novel, revenge filled his mind. He first began gaining information from a stranger in the crowd ... embarrassment, but a mark of beauty that stood out for everyone to see. "It was whispered, by those who peered after her, that the scarlet letter threw a lurid...

• Word Count: 1480
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... and Concord, Massachusetts; late 1840. A young woman, Hester Pryne, is led from the town prison with her infant daughter, Pearl, in her arms and the scarlet letter "A" on her breast. A man in the crowd tells an elderly onlooker that Hester is being punished for adultery. Hester's husband, a scholar much older than ... Hester has apparently had an affair, as she has given birth to a child. She will not reveal her lover's identity, however, and the scarlet letter, along with her public shaming, is her punishment for her sin and her secrecy. On this day Hester is led to the town scafold an...

• Word Count: 1337
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... crucial scaffold scenes and many characters that are all related and tied together. The story is essentially about Hester Prynne who is sentenced to wear a scarlet letter as a symbol of her adultery. Hester's life is torn between two men, her husband, Roger Chillingworth, and Arthur Dimmesdale, the minister and ... and guilt leads Dimmesdale to create the novel's second scaffold scene. In this scene Dimmesdale mounts the scaffold, clutching his naked breast which held the scarlet letter, permanently etched there. On the scaffold he screamed aloud, without power to restrain himself. He th...

• Word Count: 1498
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... 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 ... 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 attempts to explain the sinfulness of human nature and why people act as they do. In a satirical ... even "present" in cha...

• Word Count: 1296
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... would often breakdown under the heavy burden of guilt, however, and we would realize the relative ease of time in our room. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne similarly develops the concepts of guilt and the freedom gained by confession. In the first of three distinct scaffold scenes, Hester Prynne ... sin. The embrace that she gives her baby is, thus, her own embrace of her sin. Hester also reveals that this embrace covered her scarlet letter, but that " wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm ... at the m...

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

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter, he describes the story as a "tale of human frailty and sorrow."" This is most likely due to the fact that all the main characters go through some sort ... negative affect on his life and the lives of others around him. Lastly, his fatal flaw led him to suffer dire consequences at the end of the novel. In the Scarlet Letter Roger Chillingworth's major flaw is revenge. He first vows to seek revenge on the father of Pearl during chapter 4 saying, "Thou wilt not reveal his name? Not the less ... he is mine. He bears no letter of infamy wrought into ...

• Word Count: 1529
• Approx Pages: 6
• 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
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

Good vs. Evil Within The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the contrast of good and evil through the Reverend Dimmesdale and through his physician, Roger Chillingworth.   He also emphasized the necessity to "Be true" through Hester's vow ... is some good, as Dimmesdale proved that even in the purest of beings, there is often corruption within. Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth represented two completely opposite poles in The Scarlet Letter, and yet, they did have some things in common.   For one, they both yearned for Hester to be true not to her word, but to their consc...

• Word Count: 1430
• Approx Pages: 6
• 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 ... ...

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

... 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 ... ). 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 still ...

• Word Count: 1594
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School