Scarlet Letter Symbolism

Throughout the novel, Hester is fraught by the Puritan society and her suffering is an effect of how evil society is. Hester continues to believe that the crime she committed was not wrong and she should not be punished for it. Her desire to protect and love Dimmesdale, turn her into a stronger person and become a heroine in the book. Although society still views her as a “naughty baggage” (Hawthorne 73) and is punished for her wrongdoing, Hester never thought to take revenge on them, yet she gives everything she has to the unfortunate and leaves herself with very little. She continues to stay positive no matter what society has for her.

How the Scarlet Letter Transforms Hester In The Scarlet Letter, when Hester is first brought out on the scaffold to by publically shamed for her ignominy, Arthur Dimmesdale pleads with her to name him as her fellow sinner so that he will not have to reveal himself when he exclaims, "Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life.” Hester refuses him and Dimmesdale goes unnamed and unpunished until the very end of the story. While Dimmesdale refuses to accept responsibility for his sin, Hester embraces the shame of the community. It is this difference which causes Dimmesdale enormous amounts of guilt and pain while Hester in able to find peace with herself and with her situation.

We will forget Him!” uses not only the words but the punctuation to comment upon the effect of emotion and logic, alluding to Dickinson’s own struggle with anger and love. The narrator expresses her anger through the use of exclamation points, demanding “Heart! We will forget him!”(1). There is a clear indication that the narrator is wanting intellect to win over her emotions, but that is almost never the case.

What if the people of today were punished for all the wrong, but small actions that they did. In the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne does an outstanding job of expressing the true of his characters. In the story adults are constrained by societal expectations. Hester Prynne, the main character of the The Scarlet Letter, is accused of adultery, and has to wear the scarlet “A” on her chest. Hester, even after her punishment and the town forgiving her, she still kept the scarlet letter “A” on her chest.

The narrator points out that he hated being wrong, but still tries to reach out to his sister. When Lucy does not answer, he unfairly imagines her “sulking somewhere” One his way back, he meets Lucy and he only tells her that he had been looking for her instead of apologizing. He does not genuinely ask for forgiveness. When Lucy tells Edmund that the White Witch is evil and untrustworthy, he disregards her opinion and convinces himself that she is

As men decided if she should keep her child, she pleaded that her daughter was a living reminder of her sin and a constant punishment. Meanwhile her companion of sin, Dimmesdale, was keeping quiet with a secret all his own. He did not find public penitence due to his cowardliness but he soon

The illness should attend it” (1.1.15-20). This soliloquy is written about the ambition of her intentions. She knows her husband isn’t capable of violence and crime to achieve what he wants so she explains that he is to soft-hearted. This quote has to do with the ruthlessness that is needed to obtain status which is revealed through her characterization and her husband 's soliloquy. Macbeth later discovers which she says to her husband “This is the very painting of your fear/

In addition, he is not capable of committing murder, but his wife is the one who encourages him to do it, saying that “he needs to be a man”. Lady Macbeth is the whisper that convinces Macbeth when he is not sure of it. That is why her wife is seen to a large extent as evil during the

The townspeople all look at Hester as an example for a sinner. Hawthorne composes, “ Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast,—at her, the child of honorable parents,—at her, the mother of a babe, that would hereafter be a woman, —at her, who had once been innocent, —as the figure, the body, the reality of sin” (Hawthorne 69). The little kids, and the woman will see Hester as an example as what would happen if they were to commit a sin. Seabrook addresses, “She 's forced to stand in shame before the mass of Puritan citizens, enduring their stares, their whispers and their contempt. In the self-righteous eyes of the townspeople, she is the ultimate example of sin” (Seabrook 1).

Hawthorne portrays Hester's perspective: "Hester had vainly imagined that she herself might be destined prophetess, but had long since recognized the impossibility that any mission of divine and mysterious truth should be confided to a woman stained with sin, bowed down with shame, or even burdened with a life-long sorrow" (274). The transformation of Hester being degraded to the Puritans respecting her actions is a confusing concept. It creates uncertainty of the character and the overall message of the

”- (dictionary). Sir Gawain expresses his thoughts and advices his audience that it is ok to love woman but never believe their stories nor fall for for their seduction otherwise a permanent scar will be carried upon sinners. Not just a scar

The Scarlet Letter shows a world of discrimination and judgement not unlike the world we live in today, just with different symbols of shame. Hester Prynne had to wear a large scarlet letter on her chest to show that she was an adulteress while Dimmesdale hid his symbol beneath his clothing. In today’s society, there are symbols that can be hidden and there are symbols that simply cannot be hidden. The symbol that I chose to compare Hester’s scarlet letter to was the symbol of the LGBTQIA community.