... the most significant writers of the romantic period in American literature was Nathaniel Hawthorne. He was born on July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts into an old Puritan family (Moore). Hawthorne's guilt of wrong committed by his Puritan ancestors was paramount in the development of his literary career. Nathaniel Hawthorne ... situations. Sin frequently changes a character and affects his/her thoughts, feelings, and perceptions. In "The Scarlet Letter," the sin of adultery has had an enormous effect on two main characters in the book, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmsdale. The sin has a po...

• Word Count: 1373
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... most significant writers of the romantic period in American literature was Nathaniel Hawthorne. He was born on July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts into an old Puritan family (Moore). Hawthorne's guilt of wrong committed by his Puritan ancestors was paramount in the development of his literary career. Nathaniel ... situations. Sin frequently changes a character and affects his/her thoughts, feelings, and perceptions. In "The Scarlet Letter," the sin of adultery has had an enormous effect on two main characters in the book, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmsdale. The sin has a positive affect...

• Word Count: 1442
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... taking control of her punishment and conveying a message to her community that she is aware of her sin, and she is taking full responsibility for that sin.  As Hester grows and changes over the course of the novel, the 'A' on her chest that once labeled her as an adulterer starts to change in the eye of the public. Many people see the A as "able ", because ... she has turned her life around by dedicating hours of service to the sick ... and poor of the community.  Even though the perception of the letter changes, Hester carries it the same way throughout, the same way she carries he...

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

... up alive. Hester on the other hand, has had time to adjust to her mortal sin, getting use to the fact that she must be punished. Throughout the seven years that have pasted, Hester goes form being the most looked down person in the town to becoming looked upon. ... Because she dealt with her sin upfront, and didn't try to hide it, unlike Dimmesdale, she is rewarded with an early repentance of forgiveness. By her wearing her A on the outside of her heart, it does not ... with her town. By Hester publicly repenting for her sin, she earns a certain respect from her peers. By Dimmesdale hi...

• Word Count: 798
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... so much breadth and intensity of effect, that it made Hester Prynne feel as if it could not be the image of her own child, but of an imp who was seeking to mold itself into Pearl's shape." Pearl's image is a reminder of Hester's sin, "Once this freakish, elvish cast came ... looking at her own image in them. . . . she fancied that she beheld, not her own miniature portrait, but another face, in the small black mirror of Pearl's eye. It was a face, fiendlike, full of smiling malice, yet bearing the resemblance of features that she had known full well, through seldom with a smile, and nev...

• Word Count: 2043
• Approx Pages: 8

The main characters each had to face their wrongdoing in the light or dark. Roger Chillingworth, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale and Pearl Prynne come full circle with the birth and death of the figures. The actions of the sinners put a shadow on the lives of those around them. All view their effrontery in different ways, ... ] earthly one," only her "heavenly Father" show her determination to stay faithful and loyal to Dimmesdale (Hawthorne 63). A woman full of motherly love that she showers on her daughter, her love and concerns for her product makes her wonder if her offspring abnormal. ...

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

... , Pearl herself completely rejects the Puritan community. Since Hester decided to stay in her town even though she was given the option of moving away, as an attempted of redemption she stayed at the eye of where she could face all of her guilt and humility. Hester chooses to live in the outskirts of town, ... watch over her and protect her. Most children in the Puritan era grew up with a family. As Pearl gleans on who her real father is, she constantly encouraging her mother to reunite with him. Pearl knows that her parents are each others support and stability, therefore pushes them to...

• Word Count: 1245
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet Letter To the naked eye, the story of The Scarlet Letter appears to just be a well-written love story within a puritan society full of unexpected flips and turns. Upon closer examination, The Scarlet Letter is really filled with obsession, guilt, and morals. The author, ... puritan community. Letting her be killed for the sin would give him no thrill in his mindset for revenge. Although the strictly religious community was full of straightedge, godly people, they also contributed to Hawthorne's theme of revenge. By shaming Hester with evil looks, crude comments, and disrespect, .....

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

The Scarlet Letter To the naked eye, the story of The Scarlet Letter appears to just be a well-written love story within a puritan society full of unexpected flips and turns. Upon closer examination, The Scarlet Letter is really filled with obsession, guilt, and morals. The author, ... puritan community. Letting her be killed for the sin would give him no thrill in his mindset for revenge. Although the strictly religious community was full of straightedge, godly people, they also contributed to Hawthorne's theme of revenge. By shaming Hester with evil looks, crude comments, and disrespect, ....

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

... the work. The past always comes back to haunt us in our lives. A Puritan society is highly based upon a person's reputation. Without an honorable reputation a person is not worthy of respect from others in that society. Characters in this novel go through their lives struggling with themselves ... Hester has to assume full responsibility, because she is responsible for the proper upbringing of this child. Hester loves Pearl because she is her daughter, but she is also a symbol of Hester's sin (Ziff 38). This is very difficult for Hester because she sees a child that she loves and then s...

• Word Count: 1828
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... and the world in terms of an individual; - the structure of the universe literally duplicates the structure of the individual self-all knowledge, therefore, begins with self-knowledge. This is similar to Aristotle's dictum "know thyself"; - transcendentalists accepted the neo-Platonic conception of nature as a living mystery, full of signs - nature is symbolic; - the belief that individual virtue and ... work into each other's hands for the profit of man" and "the endless circulation of divine charity nourish man." Nature's beauty comes through "the plastic power of the human eye" which...

• Word Count: 1093
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate