Essay On Evil In The Scarlet Letter
We are all sinners. Although one may try hard not to sin, all humans eventually succumb at some time or another to sin. While people may not able to avoid the fate which awaits them, the power of free will allows people to decide how they will respond to sin. While some may respond with guilt and regret, others may react with a sense of redemption and a renewed sense of responsibility.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, an American author during the 19th century witnessed the power of sin to wreak havoc not only to an individual but a whole community. His novel The Scarlet Letter expresses this very idea by exposing the follies of mankind and the potentially detrimental effects of sin through Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth
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The townspeople “[began] to look upon the scarlet letter as a token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since.” This quote exemplifies how sin is not a death sentence for Hester. Through hard work and charity it allowed the rigid Puritan society to see her as something different, and as someone who would not let society define who she was.
Hester, thus, was not only able to change herself, but also the image in which society viewed her by working hard to benefit the public. Likewise, the scarlet letter which was supposed to represent sin was instead “fantastically embroidered with gold thread, upon her bosom.” Even though the Puritans may have designated the letter as a representation of sin, Hester’s renewed sense of pride does not want society to define the A for her. Rather Hester wants to define it herself and by doing so she develops responsibility and power over her own actions. Because Hester has the power to change who she is, she also has the power to change what the Scarlet Letter represents. By letting the letter be “embroidered with gold thread” readers are able to see how for Hester sin is not something to be fearful of; furthermore, it allows one to see how Hester has developed into an independent individual who accepts who she is and the situation she is presented with. Hester’s lover unfortunately
Scarlet Letter Sinful Quotes
1842 Words | 8 PagesAvenging and vengeful is the man who is wronged! This statement could be applied to several characters throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter, written by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. Sinful acts are inflicted upon many of the minute cast of characters, which impose a riveting journey for the reader to endure. Even more so are the reactions these prominent characters have toward their anguish and adversities as they heave themselves into the depths of solitariness, self-inflicted agony, and woe. Among these richly intriguing personalities is the town’s sinful stain, Hester Prynne, who has committed adultery; the demon-child, Pearl, who was a product to her mother’s adultery; the unholy clergyman, Arthur Dimmesdale, the other adulterer; and the implacable Doctor, Roger Chillingworth.
Who Is Hester A Shameful In The Scarlet Letter
632 Words | 3 PagesSin in puritan times was not taken lightly. Ignominy was how sinners were punished, and in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the protagonist Hester Prynne was no exception. She was publicly shamed, and forced to wear the letter “A” on her chest. Everything that was meant to be ugly in Hester’s life, turned into something beautiful.
Summary Of Zoellick's 'Mistakes In The Scarlet Letter'
1295 Words | 6 PagesIn puritan society, adultery is a severe sin worthy of heavy punishment. Despite receiving the harsh sentence of having to wear a scarlet letter A on her chest for the rest of her life, Hester’s sin is the least of those of the main characters in the novel. In chapter five, Hawthorne says this of Hester, “Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast, ⏤at her, the child of honorable parents, ⏤at her, the mother of a babe, that would hereafter be a woman, ⏤at her, who had once been innocent, ⏤as the figure, the body, the reality of sin” (71). Because of her crime of
Hardships In The Scarlet Letter
1050 Words | 5 PagesPeople in life go through many hardships and challenges, but it is in the way we handle those hardships in which our true character is shown. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, the author Nathaniel Hawthorne shows his audience many ways to people interpret hardships, and some people do not take them very well. For instance the Reverend Dimmesdale. Arthur Dimmesdale 's believes his actions of self-punishment and sin created a world in which he could no longer live a life of truth and holiness. Dimmesdale was a devout Puritan, and because of how hard they were on themselves he believed that he can no longer live a life of happiness.
Hester Prynne In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne
784 Words | 4 PagesLiving in a strict Puritan town in the 1800’s, Hester Prynne, a transcendentalist, is forced to wear a scarlet letter on her chest for the rest of her life as punishment for her sin of adultery. Because Hester is a Puritan, she understands that she participated in a horrible sin and can never be forgiven. She wears the letter without resisting because she knows she needs the punishment. She conforms to the Puritan ways but only because she grew up Puritan. Because it is the only belief she knows, it is hard for Hester
Scarlet Letter: Alienation And Corruption
997 Words | 4 PagesGenerally throughout society people are condemned, punished, and judged for their individual choices and flaws. This can depict the concept of alienation and the way it affects the relationship between an individual and their society. In Nathaniel Hawthorne 's, The Scarlet Letter, sin and guilt play a huge role in the Puritan society during the 17th century. The author uses Hester to show that people who make mistakes will often face consequences that isolate them from their society. Throughout the Scarlet Letter, Hester experiences the effects of isolation and the outcome of sin due to the corrupt rules and strict moral values in the society.
Separate Spheres
892 Words | 4 PagesShe was so strong and powerful she changed the symbol of iniquity itself. It was the “helpfulness found in [Hester]- so much power to do and power to sympathize- that many people refused to interpret the scarlet ‘A’ by its original signification. They said that it meant ‘Able;’ so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (Hawthorne 152). The scarlet letter was a mark of adultery meant to bring shame and guilt upon those who bore it. Hester lived her life with strength even under the weight of the public eye, that she altered the view of the scarlet letter.
Scarlet Letter Feminist Quotes
1139 Words | 5 PagesThe book the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a book about Hester Prynne a woman living in the 17th century. Hester commits the sinable act of adultery and is punished being forced to wear the scarlet letter A on her bosom. The symbol punishes her as an adultress and marks her shame, making her an outcast in the male dominated society, as she has gone against the strict restrictions society has imposed. So due to this, in regards to John Updikeś claim about Hester, I agree that she is “a mythic version of every woman’s attempt to integrate her sexuality with societal demands” through wearing the scarlet letter. Although the scarlet letter was meant to be a symbol of punishment, it gave Hester liberation from the social norms.
Inner Strength In The Scarlet Letter
1337 Words | 6 PagesBecause she came from a Puritan society, her punishment was especially harsh, but the shame that came as a result of her sin was even harsher. The whispers that she heard when walking through the town enveloped her, and reminded her of her adultery sin. However, by showing the townspeople her work ethic, and her powerful aura, she went from a woman of shame, to a woman of integrity and holiness. She was accepted, to the point where the villagers were able to completely change the perspective that they had about her. Not only did she change but so did the Scarlet letter, it went form meaning sin to “ Able, so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength.”
The Scarlett Letter: Sin Is Inevitable
496 Words | 2 PagesThe sin of adultery is punishable by death in early puritan colonies; however, Hester is sentenced to time in prison, public humility, and is forced to wear a badge of shame. Upon her release from prison and amid her punishment, Hester finds herself as "the figure, the body, the reality of sin" (...); thus, she is burdened with an overwhelming feeling of guilt. Hester had to accept and cope with the realizations of her sin; subsequently, she begins to divert her attention to performing practical and good deeds around the town. Hester's acquaintances slowly shift their view of her and the scarlet letter she bears. They begin to interpret the scarlet letter as standing for "able" as opposed to "adulterer" and it acts as a "softer pillow for the head that needed one" (133-134).
How Hester Prynne Changes In Scarlet Letter
941 Words | 4 PagesWe are all sinners, no matter how hard we try to hide our faults, they always seem to come back, one way or another. Written in the 19th century, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows us Hester Prynne and how one sin can change her life completely. Hester Prynne changes a great deal throughout The Scarlet Letter. Through the view of the Puritans, Hester is an intense sinner; she has gone against the Puritan way of life committing the highest act of sin, adultery. For committing such a sinful act, Hester must wear the scarlet letter while also having to bear stares from those that gossip about her.
Immorality In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne
199 Words | 1 PagesThe Puritan society believes that Hester also represents immorality because of her sin, which causes several townspeople to distance themselves. Whenever Hester enters town, many people notice the scarlet letter that she is forced to display on her breast, and so young "pure" children would soon learn that she was a representation of sin and passion, learning to not stay near her. Hester is unable to go into town without being ridiculed by the townspeople, as she is a living symbol of sin. Puritan children, despite being uninformed about the meaning of the scarlet letter and the sin Hester has committed, impose alienation on her, as the scarlet letter probably frightens and gives a burning sensation to children when near. The alienation that
Scarlet Letter Evil Vs Evil Essay
676 Words | 3 PagesA Life Undone with a Letter The plot of the Scarlet Letter is based on sin and faults of the characters in this book. Due to the mistakes of Hester and Dimmesdale a child was created and the child violated the law against infidelity. However, the real evil came from Roger Chillingworth, who was altered by his desire for revenge. The Puritans believed that sinning is the nature of mankind.
Hypocrisy Of The Puritan Society In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne
936 Words | 4 PagesIn the “Scarlet Letter,” Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays hypocrisy of the Puritan society, where the protagonist Hester Prynne face many consequences of her actions and the how she tries to redeem herself to the society. During the seventeenth puritans believe that it is their mission to punish the ones who do not follow God’s word and it is their job to stop those from sinning. Therefore, the hypercritical puritan society punishes Hester harshly for committing adultery, but in Hester’s mind, she believes that what she did was not a sin but acts of love for her man. Eventually, she redeems herself by turning her crime into an advantage to help those in need, yet the Puritan society still view her as a “naughty bagger.” (Hawthorne 78)
Hester Prynne Character Analysis
1336 Words | 6 PagesAfter the discovery of Hester’s sin of adultery, Hester is punished by being taken “out of the ordinary relations with humanity and enclosing her in a sphere by herself”, (Hawthorne, 51), by marking Hester with the Scarlet letter “A” upon her attire. The scarlet “A” is meant to label her as an “Adulterer”. The effect this letter had was significant. After being labeled as an adulterer and publicly humiliated,
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