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Comparing Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter: Book And Movie

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The majority of the movie version of The Scarlet Letter and the novel version where very similar, but there were several differences between the two. The Scarlet Letter centers around the tale of a young and beautiful women named Hester Prynne, who live in Puritan times. Hester is accused of adultery, a sin according to the bible, and is sentenced to time in prison and public shame. Her partner in the affair, the well-loved Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, hadn 't been revealed. Hester 's husband, Roger Chillingworth, becomes Dimmesdale 's personal doctor. Over several years, Hester 's daughter, Pearl, grows up, and Dimmesdale 's health begins to fail. On the election day of the village, Dimmesdale confesses to being Pearl 's father before dying on the scaffold in front of the townspeople. The movie version follows the novels telling of this story …show more content…

Despite the movie following the book very closely, there were several obvious and notable differences between the movie interpretation and the novel version of The Scarlet Letter. The most noticeable difference was the absence of the character, Mistress Hibbins. Mistress Hibbins appeared several times in the novel, acting as a temptation for Hester, and is often described as a witch or agent of the Devil. The second most major difference in the movie, was the lack of energy in Pearl. In the novel, Pearl Prynne was described as a "demon child" on several occasions. She often had a lot of energy and was very excitable. In the movie, this energy is missing from Pearl, and she seems far less energetic than described in the novel. The last major difference between the movie and the novel is when Hester goes to meet Dimmesdale in the forest. In the novel, Hester is said to have removed her Scarlet Letter during a portion of the scene. In the movie, Hester only ever removed her letter at the very end of the movie. There were several other differences, but these were the most easily noticeable differences between the movie and

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