... because he is finally confessing his sin, but Hester shines out to me. Even Dimmesdale himself refers to Hester's strength when he says, "Thy strength Hester support me up yonder scaffold" (Hawthorne, 194). Reverend Dimmesdale is asking for her physical strength to support his failing body but when read more closely he is truly asking for the aura ... and laws or that time period. The legacy left to Pearl was that of a being a strong, passionate, and intelligent woman. Hester saved Pearl from receiving the legacy of the scarlet letter and never being able to crawl out from under the sha...

• Word Count: 3565
• Approx Pages: 14
• 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

... 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

... for quite some time, anonymous to the people of Salem. As a punishment for her sin, Hester must wear the Scarlet Letter "A" on her bosom for the remainder of her life. Hawthorne also uses many literary elements in The Scarlet Letter, such as symbolism and irony. The Scarlet Letter, pearl, and sunshine are examples of symbolism. What is ironic about The Scarlet Letter is that Hester holds both the role as ... of this Puritan community. Pearl's role was not to only further Hester's punishment for her sin, but she was also sent to give her father a name. Eventually, after pressuring her sup...

• Word Count: 634
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... often used to represent a moral or religious belief or value. Without symbolism literature is just a bunch of meaningless words on paper. The most symbolic piece of work in American Literature is Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne's use of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter is one of the most significant contributions to the rise of American Literature. Much of Hawthorne's symbolism is very hard to find but several symbols are also obvious. ... novel is undoubtedly the scarlet letter A. It initially symbolizes the immoral act of adultery but by the end of the novel the "A"...

• Word Count: 502
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... a single mistake. The novel, first published in 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 used in the novel, which is quite frequently, Hawthorne conveys ... Man" when Hibbins says, "Will thou [Pearl] ride with me, some fine night, to see thy father?" The mistress is even "present" in chapter 12 when Dimmesdale appears on the scaffold. Although Hawthorne wr...

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

... in natural scenes". Nathaniel Hawthorne was an anti-transcendentalist and believed in the dark side of man, hence his dark romantic novel The Scarlet Letter. This allegorical novel depends heavily on symbol and character. The novel is chock full of symbolic dimension of images, characters, and descriptions. The Scarlet Letter defines the American Romanticist movement while using symbolic characters and places that give the book ... characters Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale for their overall purpose to the story and the symbolism. An important concept of romanticism includes a close connec...

• Word Count: 1687
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... for her sin. Hawthorne used this scaffold as a symbol of the hypocrisy of the Puritans, for every spectator of the scaffold scene should have been, in reality, on the scaffold themselves. Hawthorne, through this symbol, allowed the readers to realize the Puritans were punishing and humiliating Hester for something they themselves possessed in their own life: sin. Also, Hawthorne used the scarlet letter itself, the elaborate cloth "A" which ... turned it into one for strength, endurance, and compassion. Hawthorne used this symbol to contradict the stubborn judgments of the Puritan leader...

• Word Count: 548
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... reading the book, you gather possible hidden meanings of Hester's scarlet letter. Although the sense of the meaning "adulteress" is constant, the metaphoric, emotional, and moralistic meanings of the scarlet letter vary from positive to negative interpretations throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter. The Puritan community was a dark, strict society, feeling indifferent to the humanity of the woman standing before them on the scaffold, with her infant daughter against her chest ... ordinary relations with humanity and inclosing her in a sphere by herself." (40) However, the people's att...

• Word Count: 1352
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School