... an effective character in illustrating the theme of conscience and redemption through truth. The Scarlet Letter is overflowing with symbolism. Understanding Hawthorne's symbols by themselves is key to understanding The Scarlet Letter as a novel. The Scarlet Letter "A" is the central symbol of the novel. It is intended to serve as a form of punishment for Hester Prynne's forbidden act of passion. It stands for "Adultery," and ... and it was even "looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too." ( Hawthorne 260). The scarlet letter also forges a link between the characters. Pearl, for instan...

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

... crowd want a harsher judgment impose upon her, while the town beadle proclaims the virtue of a society in which sin was exposed and punished. Hester Prune has sinned, and society places the scarlet letter on her breast as a reminder of this transgression. Hester Prune confesses to adultery in the marketplace. The scaffold as a place for confession is civilized and controlled by the townspeople. Ironically, it is ... an adulteress, she is forced to endure ignominy by her peers and is doomed to have the scarlet letter A bound to her heart. When she standing on the scaffold as punishment f...

• Word Count: 2453
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... reasons that the tone in The Scarlet Letter was generally positive and optimistic. Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter in third person, but being as Hester is the main character, he tells the story through her point of view and her standpoint on the situation. He also uses a lot of symbolism. For example, the character Pearl was mostly all symbolism. Pearl is a symbol of her parents' sin, her parents ... ' love, their passion, and their crime. Hawthorne carried the reader through the novel through the three Scaffold scenes. These scenes serve as a connection between the beginning, the midd...

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

... and the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale commit adultery. Hester's sin becomes publicly acknowledged when she has a child; she is forced face humiliation by standing on a scaffold in the center of town and must wear a scarlet letter "A" on her chest. At the same time, Dimmesdale suffers in secrecy and his guilt causes him endless misery. As the novel progresses, Hawthorne makes it ... clear that Dimmesdale's deceit is a much more severe form of punishment than that faced by Hester. Hawthorne's theme of honesty is supported by the events that take place on the scaffold and the symbolism of the...

• Word Count: 891
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Hawthorne's novel "The Scarlet Letter" was published in 1850 and when it was first released it did not do well. It was not until later that it became popular and a success as a book. Although Hawthorne wrote many novels, none of them were as successful as "The Scarlet Letter". It was set in Puritan Boston in the early years of a Massachusetts Bay Colony. Many things can affect what happens in a story and one of those things is setting. In the Scarlet Letter, there is the symbolic significance of various settings: the scaffold; the forest, which ironically becomes an oasis of freedom for Hester...

• Word Count: 1003
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Shame, Despair, Solitude! The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the great novels in American Literature. Hawthorne's 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 ... in the mind of the reader Hawthorne displays the letter in a variety of altered profiles. Besides being the beacon from Hester's breast the letter "A" is presented in several forms. It is o...

• Word Count: 661
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... Satan in The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter is a novel packed with religious symbolism, and Hawthorne subtly assigns the role of the devil to Roger Chillingworth. Throughout the novel, there are many references and associations that confirm the fact that Chillingworth is representative of the ultimate evil. First, Hawthorne sets Chillingworth up as the antithesis of Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, the obvious Christ-like symbol of the novel. Chillingworth ... words "Pitiless" and "Unforgiving" show that Chillingworth is the devil. Symbolically, on another more obvious note, Chillingworth...

• Word Count: 307
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School