Scarlet Letter Hester's Challenge

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is a twisted romance based on the strong-willed Hester Prynne and her lover Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale; although she is continuously persecuted for her sinful love, Hester Prynne's pride would not let her perish (Stone 26). The Scarlet Letter was written by Hawthorne as a reflection of his Protestant background (Unger 224). The story is based around one of the biblical Ten Commandments: "Thou shall not commit adultery". Hester Prynne broke the commandment when she and Dimmesdale had a child out of wedlock; Hester was married to a man who had not been seen for years, therefore, she believed he was dead. The townspeople knew that Hester had not seen her husband, so when she became pregnant they knew that

Symbolizing Sunlight Secrets are like a personal, private jailer. They keep you locked away from others, isolated and alone in darkness. Every passing day makes your cell more condensed slowly trapping you between promises and morals. Secrets steal your freedom. Likewise, in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne refuses to expose the name of her husband and the name of her partner in sin; by not revealing the entire truth, Hester becomes a trapped soul in her own mind.

Despite its demeaning purpose, the scarlet letter ultimately had a positive impact on Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s timeless classic The Scarlet Letter. Although the scarlet letter was meant to mark Hester for her sinful acts and announce them to the world, she never lets herself be defined by the letter on her dress. She even utilizes her needle skills to decorate the A, which is “surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread” (50). Even though Hester has been made to wear the scarlet letter, she makes the best of it and turns it into something beautiful, showcasing her artistic talent.

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne explores the relationship between the individual and society within a strict puritanical community. After committing adultery, Hester is stripped of her humanity and forced to wear an “A” for “adulterer” in order to appease the community. Her ignominy was lead by Dimmesdale, a minister for the community and later revealed to be the father of her daughter, Pearl. From the beginning of the novel, Hester maintains a commitment to her set of personal values. This is exhibited through her refusal to reveal Dimmesdale’s name, thriving outside the values of the community, and accepting the letter as a part of her identity.

Society has, and always will be, a never ending cycle of change. Society always has a way of pressuring people into things and of controlling lives. Religion has been a big part in almost every society to ever exist. It also finds ways to make people second guess themselves and can throw common logic out the window at times. In this essay I plan shedding some light on the subject of how religion can control society, and vice versa through my eyes and the eyes of three authors.

Outdated novels that include topics such as adultery and the pressure of society, can be used to help high school students learn important morals, including how to overcome prejudice, and the mistake in using stereotypes to judge a person's character. All of these morals and issues can be easily related to a high school students everyday life, thus allowing the students to make a personal connection. These are only a select amount of morals that can be taught through outdated books. Books such as The Scarlet Letter have used their hard to swallow topics and their "outdated" issues such as adultery to help reach out to a relatable audience. The importance of including these novels in high school curriculums is to help expose the students

Naiara Senra wrote The following book report for Mr. Samuel Jaja's writing and composition class at Notre Dame School. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter a 1850s novel. Published in 1850 by Ticknor & Fields, it began Hawthorne's most lucrative period and consists of two hundred and seventy-two pages. The Scarlet Letter has inspired many films, novels, and stage adaptations. I read this book not only because it was on a required reading list for one of my school classes, but also because it had been recommended to me by a friend a while ago.

In the film, Hester is a feminist icon in the village long before the A is placed on her. Before any sexual component is introduced, she exerts her independence through living by herself, well separated from the rest of the town. She also spends money on indentured servants and a slave, asking if her money “is good enough” (The Scarlet Letter). She is also well-read, having read Milton due to her husband’s library. And, when Reverend Dimmesdale asks if her tongue follows any rules, she quickly and bluntly responds with, “if it did, what purpose would it serve?”

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.

In the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, the forest was negatively portrayed as an equivalent to hell. The townspeople never spoke of it, but it was a mutual understanding that it was filled with evil. The mysterious forest was the home of the Black Man, a symbol of Satan. In the Puritan mindset, the Black Man was evil and their pristine lifestyles struggled with allowing such darkness to be spoken in their lives.