... One day as he is exploring the vacant second story of the erection he discovers a red and gold piece of fabric in the shape of the letter "A." After he examines the material, he uncovers a manuscript wrapped in the cloth, which he later reads. Jonathan Pue, a customs surveyor, wrote the ... small cottage on the outskirts of town. Hester's daughter Pearl grows up into a capricious, precocious, and very observant child. Pearl delights in the scarlet letter and enjoys emphasizing the symbol on her mother's breast. In fact, it is said that when Pearl was a baby, the first feature she noticed...

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

... thing. This object having the effect of a spell shows that people were practically mesmerized by the letter itself. Hawthorne creates this distortion of the appearance of the letter in order to show the reader that the letter itself is something to marvel at, where as her actions were very sinful of those days and ... 155) This line shows that the view of Hester had changed, and maybe the beliefs of the society that she lived in had changed a little. "The letter was a symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her "so much power to do and power to sympathize "that many people ...

• Word Count: 1455
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• Grade Level: High School

... this as favorite subject of Hawthorne's as he recalls "Dimmesdale's temptation to blight a young girl's innocence with a single word" (123) and compares it to Hawthorne considering "The Scarlet Letter "a triumphant success" because it had such an effect on [his wife] Sophia that it broke her heart and sent her to bed with a grevious headache" (122). Whether or not ... for someone (Hawthorne) to find so that people could know of her story and continue to advocate for bringing the world to a point of equality. References Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Boston: Ticknor, Reed & F...

• Word Count: 3565
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... historical people that were involved or that Hester Prynne was not hung also when the Native Americans take her husband captive. The Scarlet Letter portrays the religious aspect of a woman who was caught being unfaithful to her supposedly dead husband and committing adultery. The loyalty of ... she's purchasing the servants the auctioneer asked her, "Shouldn't your husband or father be doing business with me?" (The Scarlet Letter). Women were allowed to conduct financial dealings and other matters if their fathers or husbands were absent or ill. Indentured servants were people who had ...

• Word Count: 1182
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Both of them lead joyless lives. Dimmesdale, however, suffers much more intensely than Hester. Hester is made to publicly acknowledge her sin. A scarlet letter "A" is permanently placed on her dress to symbolize her adultery, and she is made to stand on the scaffold with her baby for several hours ... . Dimmesdale, however, suffers the most, for he is tortured by his hypocrisy and hidden guilt. PURITANISM IN THE NOVEL Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is set in the seventeenth century New England town of Boston, a staunch Puritanical town. It is a moralistic and gloomy place where ...

• Word Count: 1285
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• Grade Level: High School

... the main theme in the book. Sometimes referred to as "the first symbolic novel to be written in the United States", "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne contains many symbols that are apparent throughout the novel, and reoccur at many different places. While symbols are created, those ... who has cheated on her husband, Roger Prynne, with Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester bore a baby from this relationship, and was forced to wear a scarlet letter "A" for adultery. Hester uses the forest to bring out many hidden emotions, but mostly to use it as an outlet where she can convey her love .....

• Word Count: 2041
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... similar. They are both caused by the same thing, the excessively devout town in which the setting takes place. The conflict in The Scarlet Letter that occurs between Dimmesdale, Hester, and Chillingworth is caused by the townintolerance for sinners. Hesterlife is spent in complete loneliness because of the ... mainly accuses the people of being witches. Also, both works of literature include ignorant townspeople who contribute to the main conflict. In The Scarlet Letter, these people are the ones who loathe Hester, but love Reverend Dimmesdale. The people in Reverend Parris home while hi...

• Word Count: 1327
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... shed upon this question as Chillingworth uncovers the secret Arthur had tried to keep intact. It is visible to him as he pulls aside Arthur's ministerial robe and discovers a scarlet letter A upon his chest. Although Hawthorne lets this aspect of the novel remain unclear, this engraving on Arthur's chest suggests that the burden of his sin had seeped so deeply within ... generally associated with Chillingworth, and the cold acts of revenge he exacts on Dimmesdale. The light stands for truth and purity and Pearl's free nature. A major theme in the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is t...

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

... character. However, Aurther Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne are more significantly involved in the extraction of their revenge. Hawthorne's ultimate theme in The Scarlet Letter is vengeance amongst all of mankind. Since the moment Roger Chillingworth was introduced into the novel, revenge filled his mind. He first began gaining ... who was with his wife. It should be mentioned 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 Chillingwo...

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

... brought some joy to Hester, but she brought even more grief by being a constant reminder of her sin, by pestering Hester while she wore the letter, and by being a wilting flower, all of this shows how one sin can bring you much grief. Pearl also did many symbolic things that made ... According to chuckii.com "Hester's child, is symbolic of changing Puritan society." Pearl changes the puritan society because she is the outcome of the scarlet letter, and was rebellious to the Puritan way of life but not evil. Even though something can be really tough to cope with, Hawthorne suggests that ....

• Word Count: 647
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• Grade Level: High School

... know, the secret of theirs eats away at Dimmesdale's weakening and slowly killing him As the Puritans would call Dimmesdale a sinner, the Romantics level him as a human. The Scarlet Letter is wrapped in a deluge of allegorical theories and philosophies. Ranging from Puritanical to Romantic, Nathaniel Hawthorne embodies his ideas to stress his Romantic philosophies through Pearl, Hester, and Dimmesdale ... throughout the whole of the novel. Nathaniel Hawthorne has a sufficient reason for repeatedly making reference to mirrors throughout his refined novel, The Scarlet Letter. The use of mi...

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... attitudes of Puritan society are presented in such a reality that we can assume, safely, that the commonwealth acted as so, however, to a certain extent. In the introduction of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne writes about his various meetings with Ellery Channing, Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson (Hawthorne pg. 27). These people and their experiences must have sparked something into the ... the instrument of moral insight." Imagination is what creates moralistic intuition in the writer (Jacobsen pg. 34-33). Another example that may support morality in the production of The Sca...

• Word Count: 1014
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... still in the darkness of night. Ironically, while standing there, Dimmesdale notices a large meteor in the sky that appears in the shape of the letter A. Chillingworth sees it as well, for he has been watching the three of them on the scaffold. Dimmesdale's sin is a secret no more; ... accepts Hester and Pearl, who have long suffered in silence. Ironically, Hester is "freed" by the confession, no longing bearing the Scarlet Letter alone. But Dimmesdale is also freed; although he dies after the confession, he is finally freed from the guilt of unconfessed, hidden sin ... his silence, he...

• Word Count: 1929
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• Grade Level: High School

... had committed a sinful act many Puritan settlements. The Puritans believed that public humiliation was a just punishment for these offenders. Hester was forced to wear the letter "A" on her chest for the rest of her life, for having an affair with an unknown man, even though she and others believed her husband was ... long dead from a shipwreck. The letter was originally intended be a symbol of great sin, but after some time had passed it began to stand for "Able." From the very beginning, ... the readers could see the significance of the letter because of Hawthorne's description: " tha...

• Word Count: 843
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• Grade Level: High School

... the Puritan society becomes not only bigoted and joyless, but essentially evil. (Bloom 13-14, 97, 100) The person that is affected most by the scarlet letter is Hester Prynne, for many very obvious reasons. It is a large part of her daily life, and each of her actions is watched very closely by ... Dimmesdale is physically deteriorating and should repent through confession. In the center of the novel's action, a meteor passes across the sky in the shape of the letter "A". To Dimmesdale this implies that he should wear the mask of shame like Hester does, even though the community interpre...

• Word Count: 1366
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... name. "On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter "A"." pg. 51. Viewed from a Puritan perspective, she is a sinner, and sinners are the least moral and basically useless to the Puritan community ... . From my perspective, Hester is the most moral character in the Scarlet Letter. For that she follows her own morals, she cares for others more than herself. She rather suffers than reveal Dimmesdale, saving him from disgrace ... itself. "Such helpfulness was found in her - so much power to...

• Word Count: 833
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• Grade Level: High School

... as an A herself Hester make her a beautiful red dress that is vaguely shaped like an A, and the townspeople see her as a little scarlet letter walking along side of Hester. Guilt leads to leads to Hester's isolation mentally, and through the law and banishment to the peninsula she becomes isolated from ... and the description of her image as she looks into a breastplate of a suit of armor,the peculiar effect of this convex mirror, the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance. In truth, she see...

• Word Count: 917
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• Grade Level: High School

... cage of criticism and general bad feeling from the townspeople. Although this is accomplished for a short time, because of Hester's strength the scarlet letter she wears makes her more independent and eventually just as liked as the average person who shunned her in the first place, making her ... punishment very ironic. Hester's personal strength allows her to reverse the intended punishment of the scarlet letter. As Dimmesdale remarks about Hester in the first scaffold scene "Wondrous strength and generosity of a woman's heart! She will not speak!" (69 ... cast away the fragments of a ...

• Word Count: 513
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... different things. This is referred to as symbolism. One example is the S on Superman's uniform, which symbolizes him being "super." In "The Scarlet Letter," Hester Prynne is sent to America alone to wait for her husband to come back from Europe. While she is waiting she becomes pregnant with her minister ... him for a while. While the three of them are standing on the scaffold together a bright read meteor appeared in the sky, leaving behind a great letter "A." At first, the three of them interpreted it as meaning adultery. Dimmesdale was later informed that the town had made it out to ...

• Word Count: 571
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• Grade Level: High School

... the book and the symbols used to represent them. Hester Prynne, the town's seamstress, committed adultery and for her punishment she has to wear the scarlet letter. The "A" stands for her sin, but as the people come to know her over the years, they think of the "A" as her being able ... out of seaweed (p.163). Pearl knows that there is a connection between Hester and Dimmesdale, and she believes that it has to do with the scarlet letter. At the end of the story, when Dimmesdale lets everyone know that he is the father of Pearl, then she becomes complete. Dimmesdale, the town's ... , look...

• Word Count: 435
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• Grade Level: High School

... unanticipated events. The variety of characters in this novel helped construct a setting that would give a creepy feeling to any reader. The Scarlet Letter is wonderfully written and does not require any changes and meets all expectations by providing an incomparable window into the life of a Puritan sinner. ... Not enjoying this novel would be a sin in itself, perhaps requiring The Scarlet Letter for punishment. The unforeseen plots and twists in this novel kept reader's interest and reading word for word. "After a brief pause, the physician ... that proved that he was the one involve...

• Word Count: 789
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• Grade Level: High School

... . Among his most brilliant stories are "The Minister's Black Veil," "Roger Malvin's Burial," "Young Goodman Brown," "Rappaccini's Daughter," "The Great Stone Face," and "Ethan Brand." Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is considered by many to be the greatest ccomplishment of an author hailed as the master of the American short story. It is set in Salem, Massachusetts. In this strictly ... 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 ...

• Word Count: 2453
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... 's strength and determination provide the perfect attributes to conquer her sins and the sins of others. The "A" that Hester Prynne bears in The Scarlet Letter shifts in meaning at least two times to mirror the character changes of Hester throughout the progression of the novel and the town's acceptance of her ... puts in form all the secret crimes of the community that the inhabitants do not desire to be reminded of. As a consequence of the scarlet letter, Hester observes that what she is adorned with is a gateway into others furtive crimes. She has capability to recognize that those who...

• Word Count: 842
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... character. However, Aurther Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne are more significantly involved in the extraction of their revenge. Hawthorne's ultimate theme in The Scarlet Letter is vengeance amongst all of mankind. Since the moment Roger Chillingworth was introduced into the novel, revenge filled his mind. He first began gaining ... who was with his wife. It should be mentioned 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 Chillingwo...

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

... society. Hester Prynne holds herself with dignity although she wears and infamous title and lives in a world of public shame. She is sentenced to the scarlet letter 'A' which is known for "adulterer." This badge of humiliation serves as a constant reminder of her sin. Although this title is meant to bring shame upon ... in which no other person dares to go. Because of this, Hester is molded into a person that is to be reverenced. Instead of seeing the letter as adulterer, people begin to see it as "the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness [is] found in her...They said that it meant .....

• Word Count: 1053
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School