... as a reminder to all of her sin. Yet through all her troubles, she has received a great gift, her daughter Pearl. Pearl gives Hester the strength to survive through her conviction and persecution. Similarly the rose-bush outside the prison gives hope to the prisoners. The rose-bush is a positive image for those who have been persecuted. It is a symbol of survival for Hester who has ... - rather than "adulterer-. The narrator refers to Pearl as the moral blossom of the novel. She is the one that will teach the moral lesson of the story. This is revealed in chapter eight also when Pearl t...

• Word Count: 1487
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... when he places Pearl above the rest of the children in intelligence, free spirit, beauty and kindness. The traits of intelligence and free spirit are a direct link the ideals of the Romantic writers of the time. Pearl could always be found in the forest, "And she was gentler here [the forest] than in the grassy-margined streets of the settlement, or in her mother's cottage. The flowers appeared to ... know it," once again this shows the difference between Romanticism and Puritanism, as the Puritans felt that anything that came ... how to be merry among sad acquaintance and events of som...

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... cottage away from society. After Hester moves away from the village, the Puritans give her the job of making fine clothing for the upper class. With any extra material that Hester has, she makes Pearl's clothes. Pearl's clothes are extraordinarily elaborate, which separates Pearl from the other children. Hester never let the clothing be plain for Pearl. Pearl did not do anything wrong by being born. For ... for her lover, it is easy for her to hide the truth from the Puritans. Hester believes that actions based on love are not immoral. The scaffold scene in the beginning chapters of th...

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• Grade Level: High School

... , resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible. Sometimes referred to as "the first symbolic novel to be written in the United States", "The Scarlet Letter" contains many symbols that are apparent throughout the novel. As seen through the forest, Pearl, and the scarlet letter "A". The forest which symbolizes the freedom and solitude that someone can have, even in a Puritan society is a very promising thought from ... a consequence for Hester, but also is the un-flawed character in the novel. Finally, the letter "A" is the consequence of H...

• Word Count: 2041
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• Grade Level: High School

... Chillingworth who was a physician as well as Hester's husband, moves in with Reverend Dimmesdale because Dimmesdale was growing sick. While staying with Dimmesdale, he grows suspicious that Dimmesdale is the father of 2 Pearl and seeks revenge on him by hurting him more than curing him of his illness. But this was only a suspicion until one night, Chillingworth opened Dimmesdale's shirt while he ... together and Dimmesdale imagines people mocking him as they should have seven years ago. He apologizes to Pearl and Hester for not being with them on the Scaffold. While they are on the scaf...

• Word Count: 2338
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... story because it is centered on sin in the puritan society. Through out The Scarlet Letter, light is used to show happiness and goodness. One of the most happy and cheerful characters in the novel is Pearl, who is represented by the light. As Fogle (1969) states, "Pearl is the character most recognized for her presence in the sun" (p. 38). The sun is drawn to her as she is drawn ... to the sun. In one scene, while in the forest with her mother, Hester, Pearl realizes that sun does not shine ... nature, alone, than playing with children of her own age. She enjoys frolicking in the fores...

• Word Count: 1649
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... , which affects each character in a different way. The characters who are affected by the letter are Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth, Pearl, and Hester Prynne (Schneider). The scarlet letter is a sign by which the colonial authority seeks to fix the crime of adultery and the criminal, Hester Prynne. The "A" both indicates, yet hinders the Puritan community's authority over Hester's identity. As the novel progresses, the letter changes meaning from adultery to ability ... , in the eyes of the people around her. Through the scarlet letter, Hester become a sympathetic heroine ... ...

• Word Count: 1366
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• Grade Level: High School

... "A" patched against her breast. An elderly onlooker asks of what is going on and a man in the crowd explains that the lady is Hester Prynne who carries the child, Pearl, of an adulterer and is being charged for illicit sexual intercourse. The man explains to the elder that Hester was sent ahead to Boston by her husband, who is a scholar much older than she, but he ... years then pass by and Hester is then supporting herself as a seamstress and Pearl grows into a stubborn, naughty child. Since they are shunned by the community, they live on the outskirts of Boston. Later, community offic...

• Word Count: 1497
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• Grade Level: High School

... this guilt every day of his life. His emotions are characterized as anguish and anxiety like Hester, because he must rely on Hester not to give his name as the father of Pearl. Dimmesdale believes that God will never exonerate him for his hidden sin. This creates conflict and will cause Dimmesdale to torture himself later in his life, which is how ... feels a sense of vengeance towards his wife who has clearly betrayed him. His emotional state is represented as being angry and anxious because he wants to find out who the father of Pearl is. Chillingworth creates a false persona when, "h...

• Word Count: 1995
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• Grade Level: High School

... Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the author uses the scaffold scenes to depict the idea of private versus public sin. The first scaffold scene establishes the tone for the novel. Here, Hester Prynne is taken before her Puritan town from the prison. On her bosom she bears the scarlet A for "adultery" and in her arms she holds the creation of her sin, her daughter Pearl. She ascends the steps of the scaffold alone ... , Arthur has an ulterior motive for not wishing Hester to reveal the father in public, for the fact stands that he is the father of Pearl. Cleary, this shows that fo...

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... symbol is, it "was red-hot with infernal fire" (Hawthorne 82). The letter not only symbolizes the humiliation of the public, but also the deep burn that guilt evokes. The children in the village are taught to look at the woman who bears the scarlet letter "as the figure, the body, the reality of sin" (Hawthorne 74). Pearl, a very smart and curious, girl is described as elfish and ... the devil's child because of her mother. As she grows, her personality changes in the reader's mind ... last sermon he reveals that he partnered Hester in their sin of adultery. He calls himself "the one s...

• Word Count: 1253
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• Grade Level: High School

... herself as best a woman might." He looks past the reason for her situation and recognizes the good in the adulteress. This aspect also foreshadows later events as Hester is the strongest link in the relationship between her, Dimmesdale, and young Pearl. Also, Hawthorne's figurative style and his insight into the characters is shown. He writes, "Pearl looked as beautiful as the day, but was in one of those moods ... and pride. Though it is a part of her actual wardrobe, it comes up later as an abstract object. At the end, when many claim that they see it on Dimmesdale's chest, the letter...

• Word Count: 1296
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... that while Dimmesdale was asleep one day, Chillingworth opened up Dimmesdale's shirt to find the letter "A" across his heart. The scene finalized that Dimmesdale was the father of young pearl. It also caused Chillingworth to become even more infatuated with torturing his victim. Chillingworth attempted to keep the secret inside the minister so his self-conscience would eat at him until death. Over time, ... now become a part of her. Hester would not be the same person without it. Again, by wearing the "A" after she was asked to remove it, angered the community. The last and biggest way ...

• Word Count: 1589
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• Grade Level: High School

... that while Dimmesdale was asleep one day, Chillingworth opened up Dimmesdale's shirt to find the letter "A" across his heart. The scene finalized that Dimmesdale was the father of young pearl. It also caused Chillingworth to become even more infatuated with torturing his victim. Chillingworth attempted to keep the secret inside the minister so his self-conscience would eat at him until death. Over time, ... now become a part of her. Hester would not be the same person without it. Again, by wearing the "A" after she was asked to remove it, angered the community. The last and biggest way ...

• Word Count: 1480
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• Grade Level: High School

... set in again and he would become unsure of himself (Male 68-69). Finally after a encounter with Hester and Pearl at the scaffold Dimmesdale decided that he would reveal himself because it was the right thing to-do instead of just letting Hester and Pearl take the suffering when he had just as big of a part in it as she did (Hawthorne 203-213). So ... then slowly made his way down from the podium. He walked from the podium and made his way to the scaffold. He stood up on it and called for Hester and Pearl, and then holding Pearls hand he confessed his sin to the public. After that he kne...

• Word Count: 1813
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... part focuses on the symbolic meanings of the marketplace. The second part presents the allegorical meanings of the forest wilderness. The third part comes to a new view towards the two different settings in the novel. The conclusion restates the thesis of the paper. Outline An Analysis of the Marketplace and the Forest Wilderness of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter I. Introduction. 1. The background of Nathaniel Hawthorne. 2. The brief introduction of Hawthorne's the Scarlet Letter. 3. The view on the two settings that ... be the greatest ccomplishment of an author hailed as the master of...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... to be jealous of Hester Prynne's beauty. When Pearl is looking at Gov. Bellingham armor, all she can see is the letter. She can't see her own mother and this adds to the idea that the letter is bigger then life. The meaning of the Scarlet Letter is also something that gets distorted throughout the book. In the beginning of the book the "A- stands for adultery which is not something ... whenever Hester walked abroad in the night.""(P.90) This passage says that the letter would glow in the night but that is not possible and shows the use of distortion. "Then gasping for breath, did Hester...

• Word Count: 1455
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• Grade Level: High School

... this point has invited Hester and her daughter Pearl up on the scaffold, Pearl asked if the three of them can stand together he tells her no but someday. At the great judgment day," whispered the minister; and, strangely enough, the sense that he was a professional teacher of the truth impelled him to answer the child so. "Then, and there, before the judgment-seat, thy mother, and thou, and I must ... stand together. But the daylight of this world shall not ... ...

• Word Count: 1308
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... with him, under the same roof!"(215).After their conversation, Dimmesdale regains his lost power again and decides to confess. Although Dimmesdale is physically very sick at the end of the book, he seems to be quite clear mentally. Hester and Pearl have to help him, get onto the scaffold, to ... confess his sin. Although Dimmesdale is so sick that he will die shortly after the confession, he speaks "with a voice that ... on Dimmesdale. Chillingworth had suspected Dimmesdale of being Pearl's father for a long time but he knows it for sure at the end of chapter 10, when he finds the minist...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... it is important to visualize a few possible meanings for the color. There is the constant comparison to the rosebush that is vividly growing on the jail's door. This could represent the youth and freedom of Pearl. It also could represent the passion of Hester's affair. The red also could represent the A's place on Hester's heart. While the actual meanings of the letter A are main points, it is also important to recognize ... the burning color of the letter that appears on Hester. Hawthorne's tragic ... ...

• Word Count: 1352
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... were to confess that he committed adultery, everything he did would be gone. Still, if he doesn't confess, the guilt will destroy him from the inside. Dimmesdale persuades the clergymen to allow Hester to keep Pearl on terms that Pearl is a torture for her to keep because Pearl is a child born from sin. She defends Hester and does all she can to help her. We also ... gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance." Pearl asks her mom to look at the statue because she sees the gigantic letter A appear in the reflection. Another time is when Pearl m...

• Word Count: 1619
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• Grade Level: High School

... because all rose bushes have thorns which means that sin is about to come into place. After Hester committed her sin and wore the letter around her neck, the beauty began to fade away. Puritans began to criticize her and say Pearl was the daughter of the devil. The children of the Puritans would run away from her and throw mud at them. Priests would make Hester ... tried to give to her. This made Dimsdale feel nervous. Hester was trying to make the relationship between the two like it was between her own relationship with Pearl. Hester wants him to confess because he was involved in the...

• Word Count: 1408
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... sin, especially shame and guilt. It is to be noted that the sin of adultery is, in itself, not the subject matter of the novel. In fact, the novel opens after the sin has been committed and Pearl, the offspring of the sinful, but natural, union is three months old. As Hawthorne himself states in the opening chapter, the novel is about human weakness and its resulting sorrow. Hawthorne's focus ... of attention is the effect the sin has on Hester and Dimmesdale. They constantly ... Boston, never telling his congregation about his guilt. On Election Day, however, a change comes over him. ...

• Word Count: 1285
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... Hawthorne suggests how sin (symbolized in the scarlet letter) is responsible for the gloom that fills the lives of the protagonists. When the sin is unconfessed, as with Dimmesdale, the darkness turns to despair. Climax The climax occurs at the second scaffold scene, when Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl, finally divulging his secret, but still in the darkness of night. Ironically, while standing ... public and one private. Hester Prynne, the bearer of the scarlet letter in public, is the central character of the book. However, the suspense of the story revolves aro...

• Word Count: 1929
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• Grade Level: High School

... 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, some thought they had the right to sin and shame other. Sin was the major topic of Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter. Hester sin of adultery was ... , and her open rebellion make others wonder about her upbringing. "There was a fire in her [Pearl] and throughout her; she seemed the unpremeditated offshoot of a passionate moment" (93) When ...

• Word Count: 1594
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• Grade Level: High School