... One night, in order to relieve his guilt, he walks to the scaffold and stands there openly like Hester did. He does this, however, in the pitch-black darkness of the night, so the situation is not exactly the same. As he stands on the scaffold, his fellow minister, Reverend Wilson, coming back from the house of late Governor Winthrop, passes him. He suddenly feels a great temptation ... mean, mother? and why dost thou wear it? and why does the minister keep his hand over his heart?" Hester is surprised by her daughter's ability to connect the scarlet letter to the minister's ailment; i...

• Word Count: 3653
• Approx Pages: 15
• Grade Level: High School

... her own Reverend Dimmesdale cries out, "She will not speak!" and places his hand, for the first time, over his heart. This gesture will reappear and grow in significance during the course of the novel. However, this is also the same gesture that Hester Prynne makes when remembering the scarlet letter upon her own bosom. Hawthorne brilliantly connects Hester Prynne's openly displayed shame with Reverend ... like them, in order to purify the body and render it the fitter medium of celestial illumination,--but rigorously, and until his knees trembled beneath him, as an act of penance. He ...

• Word Count: 2932
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

... affected by an "inward disease". Yet, the most noticeable sign of his corruption concerns his soul. Rappaccini loses his humanity in the course of pursuing scientific goals. This effect is reflected so clearly in the scientist's body that Giovanni notices from the first sight that he is devoid of any "warmth of heart". He is so dehumanized that he sacrifices his ... daughter for his experiments. He deprives her of any consideration except for the scientific one; she is a mere object of study for him. Rappaccini nourishes Beatrice with poison ... advises Giovanni to look out of the windo...

• Word Count: 9442
• Approx Pages: 38
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School