The Gruesome Specter Of Chillingworth In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter

In the Scarlet letter, the influence and characteristics of Pearl, Hester Prynne daughter is used to convey the theme of sin and hypocrisy in the novel. Hawthorne uses pearl to draw a parallel between forgiveness and punishment From the beginning of her life she is viewed as, a product of sin. The puritans shunned her, their treatments affected Pearl

Sin is a reoccurring and imperative theme in the Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne uses the theme of sin to weave the characters and the plot together. It is evident that Hester’s adulterous sin produces the plot in the remainder of the novel. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne displays the mental and physical affects of sin on individuals.

Pearl is seen as a devil child by the Puritan community, even making her own mother question her humanity. “...sometimes so malicious… that Hester could not help questioning, at such moments, whether Pearl was a human child” (Hawthorne 101). In the novel she is shown scaring away other children by throwing rocks at them. Described as, “An imp of evil, emblem and product of sin,” Pearl represents the scarlet A in a negative way (Hawthorne 102). Being the legitimate symbol of the scarlet letter herself, Pearl’s biggest symbolic representation is Hester’s sin.

Because he is hurt after his father and sister`s death. Profiting from his pain, Claudius convinces Laertes to avenge in such a dishonest way. In the end he agrees to Claudius`s plan to poison his sword

Jean Valjean caused the death of Javert by going against what Javert believed in his whole life by letting him go free when he had they chance to take revenge on him when Javert had been an enemy his whole life. This threw Javert for a loop because he had been chasing Valjean most of his life and took pride in his work, he was fine up until his life work lost all meaning because of Valjean and he had no other choice but to take his

The darkest character in The Scarlet Letter is Chillingworth. At the start of the book, Chillingworth knows who his wife had an affair with and tortures him through the book, Chillingworth exclaims “He will be mine!” (4). Another dark thing, how Chillingworth is described as “he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself, when a precious human soul is lost to Heaven” (10). Reading when a precious soul is lost to heaven, it gives chills.

Christopher’s reaction to the officer touching him does not aid him, instead it proves how when he reacts to conflict it results negatively. Since Christopher hit an officer, he now has to deal with all the charges that follow his action. Another external conflict that takes place in the novel is when Christopher is told who really killed Wellington. When his father explained that he murdered wellington, Chris lost his mind. He confesses, “QUOTE”(122).

The ghost of the king said, “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown.” To hamlets face. I believe that hamlets actions were not justified but one is, because revenge isn’t a good thing, but Claudius is not just a murderer he is a stealer too. Claudius killed Hamlets father with the easiest but the cleverest way. He poisoned Hamlets father himself, while Hamlets father was sleeping.

In Hamlet and False Pretense, the characters each struggle with a betrayal that befalls them. Hamlet is quick to note his once childhood friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have turned against him, saying, “[There’s letters sealed; and my two schoolfellows, Whom I will trust as I will adders fanged…” understanding that he can no longer rely on them (Shakespeare 3.4 225-226). Likewise, in False Pretense, the song’s narrator deals with a betrayal from someone close to them. The narrator’s disbelief is shown through their statement of “The world’s got a funny

In the “Scarlet Letter,” Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays hypocrisy of the Puritan society, where the protagonist Hester Prynne face many consequences of her actions and the how she tries to redeem herself to the society. During the seventeenth puritans believe that it is their mission to punish the ones who do not follow God’s word and it is their job to stop those from sinning. Therefore, the hypercritical puritan society punishes Hester harshly for committing adultery, but in Hester’s mind, she believes that what she did was not a sin but acts of love for her man. Eventually, she redeems herself by turning her crime into an advantage to help those in need, yet the Puritan society still view her as a “naughty bagger.” (Hawthorne 78)

Guilt is in everyone. Guilt is often to be seen within everybody, for it is a force that does not fail to capture even the mightiest of people. Guilt behaves as a reminder to let one know privately that he/she has committed a bad deed, after awhile people begin to give in and confess. However, there are those who refuse to accept the actions they have previously taken and hide it. Similarly, the act of act of concealed guilt apparent in the supposed antagonist, Roger Chillingworth, of The Scarlet Letter.

“Hester Prynne’s Case: Justice Then and Now” The Scarlet Letter, a book written by Nathaniel Hawthorne during the mid-1800s, is about an adulterous woman’s life in Boston; during the early mid-17th century in New England, the Puritans already had imposed strict laws for the people to acquiesce. Many centuries later, penalties for adultery became less severe; in fact twenty-nine out of fifty states of America don’t federally admonish their residents for adultery. If Hester Prynne, the adulterous from the novel, lived during the late nineties or the third millennium— now a more liberal society— she could have had a more lenient punishment or could have gotten off scot-free without having to endure the punishment and shame she endured during the 1750s.

"When he found the eyes of Hester Prynne fastened on his own, and saw that she appeared to recognize him, he slowly and calmly raised his finger, made a gesture with it in the air, and laid it on his lips." -The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Chapter 3, page This quote ties in together with the theme of the book because Hester Prynne’s husband had left her, leaving her clueless as to her not knowing if he would be back or not. As Chillingworth, Hester's husband, does this motion towards her, I feel like he is threatening her. Almost as if he is promising, “I know what you did and I’m here to make your life hell”, and as he moves his finger to his lips, he’s sealing the promise.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is heavily centered on showing diverse ways the Puritan people could face guilt and sin. As the plot develops, the four main characters: Hester Prynne, Pearl, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingsworth, all reach individual climaxes by dealing with the effects of guilt and sin differently. Hester confronts the guilt of adultery head on by flagrantly wearing a scarlet letter on her chest, Pearl deals with guilt and sin by being a living symbol of Hester’s egregious offense, Arthur Dimmesdale confronts the guilt of sin privately which leads to mental instability, and Roger Chillingsworth faces guilt and sin by being consumed by the darkness it causes. There are several climaxes in The Scarlet Letter due to the main characters facing the central conflict, the effects of guilt and sin, in various ways.

One of Edgar Allan Poe’s most known attributes is his use of fear in many of his stories. He used words and images to instill the fright into his readers. He strung together scenarios that happen to his characters that encapsulates real fears that a reader could have. Poe would use fear in his stories in multiple ways. A story could relate around a certain fear.