Pride, Isolation, And Guilt In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

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

The definition of integrity in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is a firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values. A character with integrity is willing to sacrifice anything of sentimental or physical value, even their life or reputation, to defend the moral system they govern themselves by. It takes someone of strong character to possess integrity, because the temptation to give in is every so often immensely appealing. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is a character of such integrity, because she upholds her promise with Chillingworth and refuses to flee from the punishment of the scarlet letter “A”. (Hawthorne 55) On the other hand, Dimmesdale was a man of low integrity, because he would not confess the truth about

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. Dimmesdale is an ironic character in the sense

Scarlet provides a remarkable insight into the specification and the 17th century, if the United States Puritan social behavior. The basic conflict, the main features of the problem, however, familiar to current readers. Heroine, she has borne a bastard, and had been detained for more than three months, a symbol of adultery and sentenced her to wear her clothes at all times a scarlet "A". It relates to the impact of the crime on the average person 's moral, emotional and psychological. This is not a simple love story, or the story of atonement. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne using red, a symbol of cruelty Puritan society, showing how their brand is the sinner 's life.

People 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.

Guilt is the fact of having committed a specified or implied offense or crime. We all have quilt weather it be from something we did or just having a nervous conscious. Guild is something that all human beings have and or will have to deal with. Hawthorne did a good job describing different scenes with how guilt was affecting the character at a specific time. In The Scarlet Letter, guilt is found variously throughout the book. Hawthorne uses guild to show the effect it has on certain characters and how they cope with it.

The 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.

In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, on June 1642, in the Puritan town of Boston, a crowd gathered to witness the punishment of a young woman, Hester Prynne. She has been found guilty of adultery and must wear a scarlet A on her dress as a sign of shame. Despite her mistakes, she was a classic independent hero to herself and her daughter. She works through the six stages of a hero journey through strength and perseverance. In The Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus goes through a hero’s journey just like Hester. Hester’s journey was a more personal journey, rather than the action packed journey of Odysseus, but both of these characters demonstrate strong heroic traits. They both survive through their hero’s journey valiantly.

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.

Life can be separated into two equal parts totally independent from one another. The inner self, being the innermost thoughts and feelings of the individual, and the outer self, how the individual decides to conduct itself around the others in society. Often times one of these parts takes control of the other, suppressing its partner. The suppression is often not of equal frequency because of the obligation humans feel to be liked and to fit in causes the outermost self to be given the most thought and worry. Eventually the suppression of the inner self builds a desire to express the individual’s true feelings. The urge to express oneself is at its core, a right, and is not unlike one of the most

Hawthorne uses symbolism throughout the Scarlet letter to display the sin and indecency people see Hester as. The detail represents ,the deep beauty Hester has inside although most people do not see her as a beutiful women. The deep red is a representation of adultery which shows her being an oncast from society. The symbol of the letter “A” is repetitive throughout the novel and grows with Hester and overcomes this with time as people start to see her as a person again and not just a adulterer.

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.

Literary devices are often used to capture a reader’s attention in a text. Nathaniel Hawthorne used many different types of literary devices in his book The Scarlet Letter. He uses symbolism to give hidden meaning to elements in the story, conflict to make the story interesting, and allusion to make references to historical events (ex. biblical references). While reading The Scarlet Letter, the literary devices did not jump out at me, but now as I reflect upon them they help me understand the book well. Literary devices can make a passage have a whole different meaning.

In The Scarlet Letter, the author sets a mood from the beginning of the book. The setting is old and beat up in front of an aged wooden prison with judgmental Puritans ready to tear a women apart. The Puritans are hypocrites and the author portrays that in the story. Nathaniel Hawthorne did not always speak positively toward the Puritans, but he has respect for the group. The main symbol that stands out is the scarlet letter “A” that was stuck on Hester Prynne for her actions of adultery which is a theme for this book. Another symbol is the rose bush that grew right outside of the old, rusty, decaying prison

Hawthorne described three things in The Scarlet Letter. Sin, guilt, and redemption. Hawthorne uses people to symbolize them. Hester Prynne was one. Hawthorne allows the reader to get a better understanding by using biblical references.