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Journal Entries For The Scarlet Letter

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From Adultery to Able: The Meaning Behind the Scarlet A Prompt #1 One significant plot point to The Scarlet Letter was the backlash received by Hester for wearing it on her chest. This letter that she is forced to wear signifies that she has committed a sin and she must now wear the shame upon her bosom for the rest of her life. Despite the horrible connotations attached to this piece of garment, there is a shift of its meaning as the story progresses. It is due to Hester actions and behavior within the story that causes this positive shift. From her attitude involving her punishment, her contributions to society as a seamstress and a giver to the poor, to finally Arthur’s confessional on the scaffold, all of these actions contributed to switch …show more content…

The reception for her return is all but positive and that the meaning of the letter had changed drastically as “the scarlet letter was the object of love and interest with some inhabitants of another land (203).” Hester’s work becoming so popular that the letter was used on seals and clothing for the wealthy. It is because of Hester’s behavior during her days with the scarlet letter, her refusal to backdown despite all of the backlash, her will to continue to try and do good even if everyone viewed her as an adulterer that caused the letter to be “looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too (203).” One must not forget that did not mean that adultery sudden became a forgivable offense but the letter itself no longer signified that, Hester owned up to the act and instead, along with Arthur, used this letter as a message to others: that she was never just an adulterer, that she was more than just the symbol on her chest. Despite everything that happened, she still returned to Boston and wore the letter for the rest of her life, demonstrating to the people that the letter no longer scorned her. Hawthorne ends this piece by mentioning that there is a scarlet A lying upon their shared graves but no longer as a mark of

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    In the beginning of the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne introduces the main character Hester Prynne, a young, beautiful member of a Puritan society being punished for her sin of love, not lust. The opening chapters introduce the reader to gossips who deem her original punishment, death, too harsh and contrary to Puritan beliefs that unborn babies should be given a chance at life. Instead, Hester and her child are to be alienated and shunned. In addition she is to wear the letter ‘A’ (which stands for ‘adultery’) on her chest which will forever display her as a symbol of shame for her sin. Though a very resilient figure who soon overcomes this pain, Hester’s isolation takes a negative toll on her life.

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  • Scarlet Letter Fate Quotes

    1153 Words  | 5 Pages

    This shows how ungrateful and judgemental her society is. All things considered, through these many skills Hester accomplishes, the meaning of the scarlet letter, embroidered on her chest, changes in meaning from ‘adulterer’ to ‘able.’ This eventually leads to women looking up to her and going to her for advice. As a result, “the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world’s scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too” (Hawthorne 257). Hester’s experiences living with society, as they looked down upon her, eventually changes the way society looks at people and the choices they make.

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  • Figurative Language In The Scarlet Letter

    659 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nathiel Hawthorne states, “ ‘It was debated whether or no, with safety to the common weal, yonder scarlet letter might be taken off your bosom.’ “, to which Hester replies, “ ‘Were I worthy to be quit of it, it would fall away of its own nature, or be transformed into something that should speak a different purport.’ “ Hester has made some serious character development when it comes to her letter. Nathaniel Hawthorne made it clear that she has figuratively shaped the scarlet letter into something of admirability and bravery and it is simply not just a reminder of an

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  • Moral Ambiguity In Scarlet Letter And The Outcasts Of Poker Flat

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    In The Scarlet Letter, Hester is exiled from her community because of her sins. Although everyone in the town sins, it is the way Hester’s were presented to them that makes her seem so wrong. They could not accept their faults, so instead, oppressed Hester and Pearl. “Thus the young and pure Would be taught to look At her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast,... -as the figure I the body.

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  • Embracing Vulnerability In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

    2062 Words  | 9 Pages

    Throughout all of her life, Hester has been seen as a symbol of the devil by her Christian community, one that loathes sinners and praises the teachings of God. So, Hester must live with this burden and somehow achieve redemption for herself. When Hester finally removes the scarlet letter, “the stigma is gone, [and] Hester heaved a long, deep sigh, in which the burden of shame and anguish departed from her spirit” and “she had not known the weight, until she felt the freedom!” (Hawthorne 122). The moment Hester takes off the scarlet letter serves as a monumental moment in the novel as the letter was Hester’s identity up to this point.

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  • Strength In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    588 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Never after did it quit her bosom. But, in the lapse of the toilsome, thoughtful, and self-devoted years that made up Hester’s life, the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world’s scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon in awe, yet with

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  • Scarlet Letter Symbolism

    1322 Words  | 6 Pages

    The scarlet letter has different meanings throughout the story and to each of the characters. The original meaning of the scarlet “A” is “Adultery”, but later in the story the townspeople and other characters begin to interpret it in different ways, each of them with their own idea and belief. Hester starts being more active in society and that makes the townspeople think differently about the scarlet “A”. The scarlet letter doesn´t keep the same meaning throughout the whole story, it changes with Hester´s actions and the Puritans beliefs. Hester starts being more active in society, she starts helping the poor and nursing the sick.

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  • Scarlet Letter Evil Essay

    2358 Words  | 10 Pages

    And over her grave, the infamy that she must carry thither would be her only monument” (Hawthorne 91). This excerpt displays how the sin and evil Prynne committed would be the only way people would know her. The scarlet letter “A” can be represented as evil through the Puritans act of making Prynne wear the emblem, and the symbolism of the letter itself through the evil acts Prynne

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  • The Scarlet Letter Rhetorical Analysis

    1014 Words  | 5 Pages

    Hester has to wear a letter A on her chest for her punishment of adultery. In The Scarlet Letter, the meaning and significance of the letter A is altered as the novel goes on. Hester, the townspeople, and Pearl all have views of the letter that change. Through their views of the letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author, reveals what his view on the letter is. Hester’s view of

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  • Analysis Of Hester Prynne In The Scarlet Letter

    896 Words  | 4 Pages

    The letter gave Hester a new power to sympathize with and be charitable to others. Townspeople even began to interpret the letter very differently from its original meaning. They began to believe that the symbol no longer meant adultery, however, its new significance was to mean “Able” (111). Her selfless acts of kindness attracted the attention of the community as she did needlework for the poor in her spare time. The community did not know the true reason of why Hester did this, but the act caused her true character and natural instinct to be generous to be reflected.

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  • How Hester Prynne Changes In Scarlet Letter

    941 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

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  • Hester Prynne Punishment In Scarlet Letter

    791 Words  | 4 Pages

    Although the community originally knew Hester as a disgrace, the town’s opinion of her changed over time as she began to do work for the poor and needy. After this shift in the town’s view of Hester, “many people refused to interpret the scarlet [letter] by its original signification” (111). Instead of Hester’s scarlet letter serving as a reminder of her scandalous sin, her peers “ had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as a token . . . of [Hester’s] many good deeds” (111). She became known for her charity and generosity, which caused the civilians to overlook her sinful behavior.

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  • Essay On Evil In The Scarlet Letter

    719 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.”

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  • The Symbolism Of 'A' In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

    959 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

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  • Theme Of Adultery In The Scarlet Letter

    813 Words  | 4 Pages

    The meaning of the scarlet letter and the way people view Hester changes throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The scarlet letter was originally suppose to represent adultery and was there to show everyone the sin Hester Prynne had committed. Hester had to

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