Scarlet Letter Rhetorical Analysis Essay

In D.H. Lawrence’s critical analysis, On the Scarlet Letter, Lawrence examines Hester Prynne and the sin of adultery that she commits. Instead of discussing what the actual consequences were, he talks about his feelings of adultery and how horrible a person she is for committing it. Lawrence uses sarcastic allusions to historical/biblical events, choppy, short syntax, and harsh diction to analyze Hester Prynne. Lawrence frequently alludes to biblical events and another novel with similar situations throughout his analysis. These allusions show how Hester compares to the people who go through the same thing she does, showing how horrible she is when compared to others.

Many tend to focus on either the consequences of sins, or the causes of them. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, the protagonist Hester Prynne is widely considered as the most controversial character in the piece. D.H. Lawrence’s criticism “On the Scarlet Letter” displays his views of how Hester Prynne is depicted, as well as how she should have been depicted, in the novel. Lawrence utilizes the literary devices of choppy syntax, biblical allusions, and satirical tone to emphasize his opinions on the characterization of Hester Prynne.

In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain uses satire to bring attention to the problems in the society of that time period. These ideas include hypocrisy, government, and racism. All of these items were presented in the time period of which Huck Finn lived in, and Twain despised how people engaged in these acts on a daily basis. He used his satire to criticize society and its flaws for the greater good of human nature. First and foremost, Twain wrote these satirical scenes to bring attention to the problems of society in hopes they would try to correct them.

In the first paragraph, he begins by talking about men with “sad-colored garments”. This sets a gloomy tone because the word “sad” is blatantly used to describe the characters. Later on in the paragraph, Hawthorne begins to describe the prison door. He says that the door consists of

The tone of Obsession, however, is filled with anger, culminating in a sense of melancholic disappointment. Relating this to the broader themes of Songs of Experience and The Flowers of Evil as a whole, To Tirzah exemplifies Blake’s experience and Obsession epitomises Baudelaire’s spleen. Experience in To Tirzah and the Songs as a whole means a loss of innocence, while spleen in both Obsession and other works of Baudelaire is a sense of enmity. The technical differences and underlying values therefore add to both poems’ overarching attitudes toward mortality and sin, and contribute to the ultimate belief, or lack thereof, in religion and

Satire is one of the most eminent techniques that writers use to criticize a societal concept that they deem a flaw. Perhaps one of the greatest satirists, Mark Twain constantly denounces certain flaws about society in his writing. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain satirizes gullibility, hypocrisy, and mob mentality through the actions and thoughts of Huck and the other characters. In chapters one through eight, Twain satirizes superstition and the gullibility that comes along with it to prove that superstitions are foolish and unbelievable.

D.H. Lawrence criticizes Nathaniel Hawthorne’s character in The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne, in his essay, “On the Scarlet Letter.” Though Hawthorne praises Hester, Lawrence believes that Hester does not deserve any praise. D.H. Lawrence claims that Hester is at fault for her own sins and the tragedies in The Scarlet Letter. He utilizes terse syntax, mocking tone, and biblical allusions throughout his critical essay to strengthen his argument that Hester is dishonorable. From the start of his essay, Lawrence writes with choppy syntax to specifically target and criticize Hester’s sin, deriding Hawthorne’s opinion that Hester is praiseworthy.

I’ve realized that today people criticize you by your past when they should really criticize you on what you’ll do for the future. Like the greasers, they are criticized by how they look, and their past. They are being ruined and almost killed for their characteristics when really that should bring them closer together. In this classic novel, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, take a look as hatred from differences unravels in a compelling and mischievous way. Reading this book is like falling into a tunnel of excitement the deeper you get the better and more hectic it gets.

In addition the narrator states, “If you think me mad, you will think know longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body”(Poe3). Since, Poe uses these literary devices make the narrator feel self-accusation. By using repetition and literary irony Poe creates an insane character. What is even more insane is the fact that the narrator doesn’t believe that precautions he took to conceal a body is something an insane person would say.

Satire is a genre of literature in which individuals are ridiculed. It is used to point out the faults and stupidity of humanity. In the novel The Adventures in Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck gets introduced to the King, Duke, and the Phelps. Huck starts to notice the flaws of humanity. Twain reveals the faults of society and religion.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is set in a gloomy, distressed, religious atmosphere in Boston, Massachusetts with multiple main characters known for the sins they have done. One of those being a man named Arthur Dimmesdale who is known for being a sinful and hypocritical individual. He is part of the Puritan community who are very judgmental people, so readers can more likely see the conflict that will arise. Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates his theme that secrets that are hidden will have its consequences.

The Puritans were one of the first European settlers in the New World. After being persecuted for their religious beliefs in England, they sailed across the Atlantic in hopes of establishing a safe haven where they could practice their religion freely. Despite the fact that they were once victims of such intolerance, Puritan society was known for its cruel and unforgiving nature towards those who did not adhere to their beliefs. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne amplifies this irony by highlighting the inherent hypocrisy in Puritan society.

Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth all have sinned, although the question remains at the end of the book, has God forgiven the characters? Hawthorne writes where each side can be defended with points but the forgiven side exceeds the unforgiven. Whether or not from a biblical standpoint or an allegorical standpoint, there are a few signs in which the answer can be concluded. With all outlooks on the book and the story that it tells, they are forgiven.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ancestors were the very men who put the accused to death in the famous Salem Witch Trials. Hawthorne was very embarrassed to be the descendant of such people, so he clearly showed his distaste of Puritan customs and culture in his writings. As an example, in The House of the Seven Gables, Nathaniel revealed his repugnance at the ancient ancestors that put innocent people to death for witchery, as it is shown in the book in a symbolic way with his characters, such as Matthew Maule. Nathaniel was not a transcendentalist, but was definitely influenced by the transcendentalists of his time, while he was himself a Dark Romantic, just like other famous writers in his time, including Edgar Allen Poe and Lord Byron, among others. Nathaniel was born in Salem, Massachusetts,

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