For as long as humans have existed, they have had struggles with happiness. The Scarlet Letter outlines one common human struggle with happiness. This passage from the Scarlet Letter takes place in the forest after Hester has gone to tell Dimmesdale, her former lover, about Chillingworth, her ex-husband. Chillingworth has been torturing Dimmesdale for the past 7 years, in order to punish him for committing adultery with Hester, Chillingworth’s wife. Hester did not tell Dimmesdale about this fact and at first he does not forgive her for not disclosing the truth. After, he does forgive her and Hester takes off the Scarlet Letter. In this passage and at other instances in the novel, Hawthorne raises the question of where is happiness found. …show more content…
Previously to this passage, the sunlight would not shine on Hester when Hester was wearing the Scarlet Letter. As soon as Hester takes off the scarlet letter, a symbol of the Puritan community, her hair is described as “with at once a shadow and a light in its abundance”(186). The light is reclaiming Hester now that she has truly separated from the Puritan community. The last time that the sunlight claimed Hester in this way was when she was on the scaffold and separate from the Puritan community, however, she was not happy then. In the passage, Hester is described with words associated with light, such as “beamed”, “radiant”, and “glowing”(186). Hester is described as being a part of the light, which juxtaposes previous descriptions of the Puritans who are dark, somber, and extremely separated from the light. After Hester takes off the letter, she is not the only thing that changes. In reflective of Hester’s actions, “...forth burst the sunlight, pouring a flood into the obscure forest”(186). The sunlight is illuminating and overcoming the darker forest. Similarly, Hester overcame her struggles against Puritan oppression. The light imagery used by Nathaniel Hawthorne shows that after Hester escapes from Puritan social constructs and is in the wilderness, she is able to find
Prevention of Pleasure In the ignorant society in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Society is oblivious of their own thoughts. The government wants the society to deny their sadness. Society understands a misconception of happiness. The community thinks that listening to the government’s rules and regulations will help bring them happiness instead, it is preventing them from thinking or expressing happiness. Society finds contentment in obeying the government rather than displaying their feelings.
Being put in a time allotment where theocracies were plenteous, the novel contains numerous religious components that are then repudiated with the reason that it is being done for the sake of the Lord. All things considered, every one of the characters argued to be loyal adherents of the congregation and its statement, however all, yet Hester, ended up being to be deceiving themselves and the town. Hawthorne's incorporation of this incongruity is crucial to the section in light of the fact that it shows that regardless of how immaculate and honest one may show up, they might just be guarding a profound, dull mystery. Like the renowned saying goes, never judge a book by its
Every so often, sunshine flickers on the setting. But Pearl reminds her mother that the sun will not shine on the sinful Hester; it does shine, however, when Hester passionately lets down her hair. The sun is the symbol of untroubled, guilt-free happiness, or perhaps the approval of God and nature. It also seems to be, at times, the light of truth and
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, the forest symbolizes privacy, freedom and allows an opportunity for Hester to uncover her true identity. However, in Puritan Boston, the setting of the story, Hester is faced with humiliation and punishment on a daily basis. Hester is shunned for committing adultery, and having a child out of wedlock. In the forest, there is sunshine, and Hester is able to rip off the scarlet letter and literally, and figuratively ‘let her hair down.’ This escape allows Hester to be unconcerned with what the judgemental townspeople will think or say.
Penance vs. Penitence In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne writes of the hypocrisy of the Puritans in the 1600’s. He expresses the hardships of Hester Prynne and her adulterous lover, Authur Dimmesdale, who is also the town’s preacher. Because Reverend Dimmesdale is a very noble preacher, he has to persist with the guilt of his sin and continue to preach how one should live a holy and pure lifestyle.
Even though the Puritan community had exiled Hester, she was able, through her goodness, to turn their scorn into a sense of reverence and almost love, because as Hawthorne says, “Hatred, by a gradual and quiet process, will even be transformed to love, unless the change be impeded by a continually new irritation of the original feeling of hostility” (149). By the end of her life, the Puritan community views Hester’s scarlet letter with awe because through the alienation that it sentenced her to, she becomes stronger in her character and spirit. The scarlet letter invokes feelings of reverence because of the woman who wears
The Scarlet Letter “Suffering is the positive element in this world, indeed it is the only link between this world and the positive.” (Franz Kafka) In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, he uses examples that challenge this thought by portraying the suffrage of Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale and reasoning that suggests that Hester suffers worse. Though both Dimmesdale and Hester suffer in extremely different ways, that somehow relate in ways, Hester suffers more. Through the passionate descriptions in the beginning and impactful imagery, the profound language and juxtaposition of his writing, and the questionable logic as well as the encapsulating parallelism, Hawthorne proves that Hester faces more difficulty due to her
Happiness Finds You Finding happiness is a journey that many people call life. Being happy is a main goal of our world. Society tries to sell happiness as money, and pleasure, and feeling good all the time. However, it is impossible to control life.
While her punishment changes her physical appearance, it has a far more profound effect on her character. Hester seems much older and worn down with the scarlet letter on her bosom. To Hester, the scarlet letter is a
Guilt Obsession Within the novel The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathanial Hawthorne Reverend Dimmesdale drastically develops throughout the novel, from being a symbol of Puritan religion to displeasing the population of the Puritan expectations through his actions. His appearance as well as his privilege and prominence within the community alters radically. He begins the novel as the town reverend, and later, the shame of Hester accepting the entirety of the blame and the fact that he escaped with no punishment or shame from the town ultimately consumed him. Throughout the novel, it was revealed that he had a red mark on his chest in correlation to the “A” that was displayed on Hester’s chest.
The book “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a complex novel that has underlying themes of sin and the responsibility for sin. The novel takes place in a Puritanical society, but two people, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, fornicate with each other, even though Hester is married to someone else. Only Hester is punished, so Dimmesdale keeps his guilt inside, not revealing it to anyone. Hester’s husband, Chillingworth, then proceeds to ruin Hester’s partner in crime, corrupting his soul and being the ultimate cause for his death. Hester, on the other hand, leads a relatively happy life after she had repented for her sin.
It reveals how the character Dimmesdale evolves as time progresses, in the beginning he asks Hester to stand with him so he can confess his sins but only for a minute because he doesn't want to admit the sin. This adds to the guilt that increases with time but also foreshadows his final coming out with the truth and death caused by this action. Hester's past will always be apart of her although others have forgotten about the sin that tore her life apart. The scarlet letter becomes apart of her and also turns into a symbol of redemption and how she overcame the difficulties in her life. Although she was emotionally tormented as a young woman she was able to overcome and become a light to others.
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.”
Throughout the novel, Hester is fraught by the Puritan society and her suffering is an effect of how evil society is. Hester continues to believe that the crime she committed was not wrong and she should not be punished for it. Her desire to protect and love Dimmesdale, turn her into a stronger person and become a heroine in the book. Although society still views her as a “naughty baggage” (Hawthorne 73) and is punished for her wrongdoing, Hester never thought to take revenge on them, yet she gives everything she has to the unfortunate and leaves herself with very little. She continues to stay positive no matter what society has for her.
Receiving the scarlet letter changed every aspect of Hester’s life. Especially at the start of the story, the letter symbolized the solitude and great suffering Hester faced just because of a letter placed on her bosom. The “A” also depicted how no one viewed Hester the same way as before her peccant actions. “…she saw that, owing to 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” (Hawthorne 109). The pejorative community Hester lived in never saw Hester as the beautiful, young woman she was, but now, as a horrible fiend.