In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess “That outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions.” In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is a character who outwardly conforms while question inwardly. Prynne is humiliated and is publicly shamed by wearing the scarlet letter upon her bosom for seven years by everyone. Going through that horrible journey she begins to question Pearl inwardly. Although some may claim that Roger Chillingworth is the best character represented by this statement, Prynne would most definitely relate more especially with the forceful marriage.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a novel that focuses on sin in the Puritan society. Hawthorne revolves the theme around the four main characters Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth., and Pearl. Hester Prynne is forced to wear the scarlet letter ‘A’ after committing adultery against her husband Roger Chillingworth, with the minister Arthur Dimmesdale. As a result an odd child is born. Dimmesdale never admits that he is a father of the child, and is forced to suffer alone in guilt, while Roger Chillingworth seeks revenge. Hawthorne is known for his incorporation of symbolism into his writing. One of the most complex and misunderstood symbols is Pearl. She is a unique character. Often known as the product of her
In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Pearl changes when different characters thoughts and believes are portrayed through voice or objects. This leads her to be very malleable to and be ever evolving. The townspeople, Hester, and Dimmesdale now play a key role in shaping Pearl from a product of sin into a god like child.
The syntax in The Scarlet Letter mimics the previously mentioned dark yet romantic and descriptive tone of the novel. Maintaining its seriousness and formality, Hawthorne uses additions such as imagery, personification, metaphor, and symbolism to keep the book’s underlying flowery and romantic storyline. This complex writing style required Hawthorne to utilize very long and illustrative sentence structure. His dedication to detail is seen in his use of comparison to portray both beauty and ugliness. In fact, the only time we see short and choppy sentences is character dialogue and conversation. The effect that Hawthorne is attempting to create is one of dramatic story-telling. Almost over describing every aspect, Hawthorne preserves his fluidity
The Scarlet Letter has a lot of symbols throughout the book, a symbol is used to represent something. Symbols are used in literature, it is used to have a deeper meaning in the book. One of those symbols is Pearl. She is a strange and unusual child, but she is very pretty. Although there are many symbols in the novel, Pearl stands out because she symbols Hester’s sin, love and passion, and she symbolizes good and evil.
Janie Crawford is the main character of Their Eyes Were Were Watching God. Their Eyes Were Were Watching God is set in the early 20th century in Southern Florida. Janie being a Half Black woman experiences colorism, racism, and misogyny. These social disadvantages lead to Janie facing adversity and discrimination throughout the book. Similarly, in The Scarlet Letter, the main character Hester Prynne is an adulterer in a Puritan society that outcasts her after she was driven into another mans arms by her neglectful husband. Each of these characters are similar in their pursuit of independence in their individual circumstances, but they have many notable physical and societal differences.
By analyzing Hawthorne’s use of the juxtaposition of Pearl’s mannerisms and the symbolism of the weeds, it is evident that he conveys a disapproval of the rigidity of the Puritans, which establishes his blatant romanticism as an author. Preceding the following passage, Hester Prynne, an adulteress, is given a punishment by the inflexible Puritans of public shame in the form of a red A, which is then represented in the product of that sin, her daughter, Pearl. Hawthorne, after using the symbolism of the rigid, solemn trees and Pearl’s disdain for them, goes on to compare the weeds to Pearl; “...the ugliest weeds of the garden were [the Puritan] children, whom Pearl smote down and uprooted unmercifully” (Hawthorne 98). Pearl exemplifies wildness
Hester Prynne is first introduced as a tall, dark haired woman with perfect elegance. Described as beautiful and ladylike, Hester appears more graceful than ever. I think Hester seems scared and apprehensive, but also willing to take responsibility for her actions and do anything necessary to protect her baby. The fact that Hester’s scarlet letter is so beautifully designed suggests that she accepts her consequences and this symbol as a part of herself and her new life moving forward. Hawthorne notes that Hester and her babe are similar due to the fact that they are both outcasts from society. In contrast, however, Hester has sinned and Pearl is pure, but now they are both paying the consequences of Hester’s adultery. Overall, the response
The oxymoron of death and celebration often occurred in Puritan societies as Puritans viewed public punishment and executions as joyful entertainment. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne examines the concept of guilt and how it negatively affects the human soul. As he reveals a dark and gloomy Puritan society, Hawthorne introduces Hester Prynne, mother of young Pearl, who has recently committed adultery and is being publicly shamed for her punishment. Betwixt and hidden beneath this conflict, is Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester’s partner in crime, who struggles with the guilt of his sin. As the town begins to forgive Hester Prynne, Dimmesdale’s distraught soul causes his physical and mental health to decline. Hawthorne utilizes detailed characterization,
How does wearing an A for the rest of your life because of a sin sound? Not only can it be traumatizing and cause effects of guilt and sin. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are many characters that experience effects of guilt and sin, but mostly Hester Prynne and Dimmesdale are the ones that experience it the worst. Not only is there internal guilt, but the effects can also take a toll on the overall appearance of someone. Throughout "The Scarlet Letter," there are many obvious effects of sin and guilt throughout the book, where if might affect a person in a bad way.
Throughout life, people go through varying stages of innocence. Babies are born innocent and, despite any intermittent questioning, by the end of one’s life he comes full circle and die with an innocence recovered within him. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, the plot revolves around individuals’ representations of that characteristic. The ideas that are introduced in Lee’s novel are not only revolutionary to her time period but still relevant today. The protagonist of this story is Scout Finch, a tomboy growing up in a prejudiced, Southern town. She is raised by Atticus Finch, a man trying to instill his own righteous qualities into his children as well. Scout faces many
The Puritans, or also called precisionists, were a reform group from the sixteenth century, who fled England to escape persecution and traveled to the New World. When they landed in Massachusetts Bay Colony all they had was their beliefs and faith. The Puritans shared two beliefs; their society was the predestination, the Elect, and to be self-disciplined with continual hard work. They had very strict rules as a result of their beliefs, such as their rule adultery; which when committed came with a harsh punishment. In 1636, adultery became a capital crime. In 1658, a law was passed which added on two other punishments for adulterers; the punishments were either a public whipping or a scarlet letter sewn onto a piece of clothing.
The deceptive nature of silence and secrecy has long been an integral focus in literature, psychology, and medical fields. For years, scholars have regarded aspects of secrecy and deception, yet these concepts require further attention. Thus, drawing on literary criticisms and psychological research, this paper examines Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter so as to offer critical analysis of silence and secrecy. Additionally, this document presents a psychoanalytic focus on the unconscious of the main characters and the effects of their repressed feelings and desires on their actions in order to provide data for readers to perceive the inner world of the characters and how their inner worlds, their repressed desires, and feelings are revealed
Towards the end of chapter five in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne, in addition to her personal guilt as a result of her sin, is subjugated to humiliation due to the townspeople’s actions. Isolation caused by the behavior of people around her prompts Hester to reseed into herself, which leads Hester to a realization that not only disgusts her, but provides evidence of hypocrisy within the practice of beliefs that the Puritan town is structured.
No matter our ethnicity, our beliefs, or any other distinction, we are all human. Part of which includes being imperfect and making mistakes. However what keeps us together is empathy and forgiveness. Seeing as we are all far from perfect and are in no position to judge one another, as we are no better than the next flawed individual. In The Scarlet Letter, a young women by Hester Prynne is outcasted by the entire village due to the child her had out of wedlock. The hate she comes to face is one of little to compare. Though after time she comes to earn respect for her charitableness, as seen in the quote “‘Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge?’ they would say to strangers. "It is our Hester, —the town 's own Hester, —who is so kind