... , are often times misused or misunderstood, resulting in the improper treatment of those who end up being discriminated against. In The Scarlet Letter, the introduction of the novel shows how the law, by the letter, is used against Hester Pryne. In The Scarlet Letter, we see how Hester Prynne admits to criminal action (according to the law), but refuses to admit any moral sin. In ... her moral sin from the law by showing how her action, although sinful, was better than the twisted guidelines put in place by the law. During the time of The Scarlet Letter, the government was a theocracy, w...

• Word Count: 1195
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... the historical people that were involved or that Hester Prynne was not hung also when the Native Americans take her husband captive. The Scarlet Letter portrays the religious aspect of a woman who was caught being unfaithful to her supposedly dead husband and committing adultery. The loyalty of ... As she's purchasing the servants the auctioneer asked her, "Shouldn't your husband or father be doing business with me?" (The Scarlet Letter). Women were allowed to conduct financial dealings and other matters if their fathers or husbands were absent or ill. Indentured servants were people who...

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• Grade Level: High School

... in simplicity and they never wore anything bright and gaudy "In sad colored garments and grey, steeple-crowned hats." (54). When Hawthorne describes the scarlet letter it is depicted to be something "gorgeous" and "fancy" which is showing that she crossed the puritan boundaries and went the extra mile to irritate ... up to her crime with "dignity" which no other puritan would have done. Once a symbol of suffrage and punishment now a symbol of redemption. The scarlet letter began to turn into something repelling the sense of selflessness, which is what Hester had become. "Hatred, by a gr...

• Word Count: 1185
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• Grade Level: High School

... 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
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... also an example of symbolism. Her name means she came of great cost; all Hester had. Pearl is the living image of the Scarlet Letter and, like the letter on Hester's bosom, causes her much pain and embarrassment by breaking nearly all moral codes of this Puritan community. Pearl's role was not ... Hester and Pearl before all Salem to confess his sin. At this moment, Pearl's role is complete. A final example of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter is the behavior of the sunshine. The sunshine is meant to represent purity or innocence. At one point in the novel, Hester tells young ... to the c...

• Word Count: 634
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• Grade Level: High School

... the fluff of the story. Throughout the story you are kept on edge and waiting for a point for just to relax. However, in the Scarlet Letter it does not climax until the very end. You are left with reading the rising action until almost the last chapter. This is not good ... for the reader to keep them on edge for this long. The Scarlet Letter is too complicated, nearly everything is allegorical symbolic, and ironic. The book is also extremely short if you exclude the custom house its even shorter ... precisely understand 1 symbolic/allegorical detail in the book you have missed out on o...

• Word Count: 424
• Approx Pages: 2
• 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 ...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... the law. The government of the United States produced a set of laws with the same intentions as the church back in the time of The Scarlet Letter, which were the right to live a happy and fulfilling life. The only real difference between the two, is that the government today isn't as ... intentions of the two are quite similar. People who break laws are always punished more seriously than those who break morals. They are labeled with that scarlet letter of being a murder, rapist, thieve, whatever law they broke that reputation stays with them for life, and people don't always forget abou...

• Word Count: 1073
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... 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
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• Grade Level: High School

... and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom" (175). Pearl's reference to the sunshine avoiding Hester because of the scarlet letter, is again telling of the child's intelligence beyond her age. It also symbolically indicates that Hester's life is dark and solemn, void of ... to absorb its warmth. Like the brook, Pearl also sings, but hers is a happy song. The physical allusion of Pearl to the scarlet letter appears in the way Hester dresses her daughter. Hester makes sure that her daughter dresses in only the finest of materials. In Chapter 7 ... the reader observe...

• Word Count: 790
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• Grade Level: High School

... through unanticipated events. The variety of characters in this novel helped construct a setting that would give a creepy feeling to any reader. The Scarlet Letter is wonderfully written and does not require any changes and meets all expectations by providing an incomparable window into the life of a Puritan sinner ... . Not enjoying this novel would be a sin in itself, perhaps requiring The Scarlet Letter for punishment. The unforeseen plots and twists in this novel kept reader's interest and reading word for word. "After a brief pause, the physician ... start a new life away from the cr...

• Word Count: 789
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... mother. Her unusual history and background is the cause of her curiosity, as well as her seclusion from the community. Pearl plays one of the most crucial roles in The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne uses Pearl as an effective and dynamic character; she is a constant reminder to Hester of her sin. When we were first introduced to Pearl, she was immediately drawn to ... the token which Hester Prynne was doomed to wear upon her bosom. It was the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letter endowed with life!" (93). Pearl is dressed in a scarlet dress with gold fringe exactly resembling th...

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• Grade Level: High School

... such as crime and life, a simpler time with simple thoughts and people. 1.b. Discuss how the setting contributes to the believability of the novel. In The Scarlet Letter, the setting of Boston is surrounded by a, " vast and dismal forest" (68). The story could of taken place in a different place that has ... How does he go about achieving his objective? What obstacles get in his way? How does he overcome them? In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter Arthur Dimmesdale, and old minister, deals with the pain caused by his sin and dies in the end. Throughout the story Dimmesdale wants to ...

• Word Count: 781
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... 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
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• 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
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... 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 ... ...

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... 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
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• 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
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... , and sinners are the least moral and basically useless to the Puritan community. From my perspective, Hester is the most moral character in the Scarlet Letter. For that she follows her own morals, she cares for others more than herself. She rather suffers than reveal Dimmesdale, saving him from disgrace ... in his name. She was even able to hold on to the scarlet letter so well; the original purpose had reversed itself. "Such helpfulness was found in her - so much power to do and power to sympathize ... strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength." Pg. 158. Roger Chillingworth, t...

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... 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...

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... . This punishment is intended to imprison Hester in cage of criticism and general bad feeling from the townspeople. Although this is accomplished for a short time, because of Hester's strength the scarlet letter she wears makes her more independent and eventually just as liked as the average person who shunned her in the first place, making her punishment very ironic. Hester's personal strength ... allows her to reverse the intended punishment of the scarlet letter. As Dimmesdale remarks about Hester in the first scaffold scene "Wondrous strength and generosity of a woman's heart! She wi...

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A Dissection of the Various Insignias Present within Masterpieces of the Written Word and Film The Scarlet Letter, The Scarlet Letter (movie version), and Chocolat all contain a conspicuous amount of symbolism that is peppered throughout these works. The Scarlet Letter serves as the central nexus for ideas of ostracism for the deviants from the norm, which both movies are partially based on ... , and relationships in these three works overflow with symbolism. The Scarlet Letter, being the inspiration for many of these later cinematic works, offers the most amount of symbolism. The Scarlet Let...

• Word Count: 397
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... . 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....

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... her mother, Hester Prynne, and Arthur Dimmesdale to accept and admit to their sin. Pearl is the beautiful daughter of Hester and Dimmesdale. She is the living symbol of the scarlet letter and has unique traits that make her sometimes appear as a demon. Her love for nature and freedom, her spirit, her wildness, her loneliness and separation from the world, her curiosity ... of their being"(Hawthorne 141). Pearl is a beautiful, misbehaved child. The first thing that Pearl ever notices is her mother's "A' across her chest. As a child, Pearl throws rocks at the scarlet letter, making a game...

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... 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