Two Faces In The Scarlet Letter

We are all sinners, no matter how hard we try to hide our faults, they always seem to come back, one way or another. Written in the 19th century, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows us Hester Prynne and how one sin can change her life completely. Hester Prynne changes a great deal throughout The Scarlet Letter. Through the view of the Puritans, Hester is an intense sinner; she has gone against the Puritan way of life committing the highest act of sin, adultery. For committing such a sinful act, Hester must wear the scarlet letter while also having to bear stares from those that gossip about her.

“[F]or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (New International Version, Romans 3:23). The evident tendency of all humans towards sin constitutes one of the central tenets of Christianity, and Christianity’s widespread influence has led to tremendous commentary surrounding the concept. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, from the patently vindictive and malicious Chillingworth to the archetypally pure and holy Dimmesdale, every character has sinned. Each character covers an angle at which Hawthorne presents his ideas about the consequences of sin and the methods of penance for sin. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne postulates sin gives feelings of regret and corruption of the soul to the point of misery yet captivation to the

In today’s society, guilt and sin are usually associated with negative connotations. People are under the impression that positive effects can’t result from bad situations. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter takes place in the 1700’s in Boston, Massachusetts. During this time, if someone was to commit a sin, the citizens of the Puritan community would completely shame and bash the person who was involved in the wrongdoing.

It is uncommon for readers to realize that among many famous works, there is Biblical symbolism implanted within. It does not matter what faith, or lack thereof, the reader or author identifies as, the symbolism is still present in several ways. The Scarlet Letter is set in the Puritan days where the protagonist, Hester Prynne, has been punished for the committing of adultery. Speak is a more contemporary book based on a high school girl, Melinda Sordino, who has been shunned due to a decision she made. Biblical symbolism is embedded in the content of these books through the punishment of The Scarlet Letter, the lack of faith in Speak, and the immorality in both novels.

Towards the end of chapter five in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne, in addition to her personal guilt as a result of her sin, is subjugated to humiliation due to the townspeople’s actions. Isolation caused by the behavior of people around her prompts Hester to reseed into herself, which leads Hester to a realization that not only disgusts her, but provides evidence of hypocrisy within the practice of beliefs that the Puritan town is structured. In this section, Hawthorn describes Hester’s submission to pain inflicted by humiliation cast upon her by townspeople: Hester resists the urge to fight back, instead pushing down her reaction and accepting the punishments doled out by her community. For example Hester “[schools] herself long and well”

In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne critiques on the Puritan society of the 1640’s. The Reverend Dimmesdale, a priest in the puritan community, commits the sin of adultery with Hester, a married woman. Dimmesdale, however, keeps his sin a secret and Hester soly takes the blame. Dimmesdale, being a priest, is the one who charges Hester with her sin and attempts to convince her to confess her companion.

People that are isolated and alone are often changed by the crushing weight of their seclusion. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester’s sphere of isolation plays a pivotal role in giving Hester influence in Puritan society which Hawthorne creates by employing feminist ideals in the novel. Since Hester was branded with the Scarlet Letter, she has often struggled with being isolated from the rest of Puritan society. This isolation is often represented by the symbol of spheres in the novel.

Keeping secrets gives you stress and guilt. A doctor known as Anita E. Kelly works at University of Notre Dame for psychology examined and took notes about secrets. She discovered that keeping things to yourself do show more stress, anxiety, and depression along with overall pain and aches throughout the body. She concluded that “secretive people tend to be sick people.” In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Dimmesdale is terrified of being shamed by the townspeople and does not confess; leading to the nature of guilt.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne 's Novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is punished for committing the crime of adultery. Hester must wear the letter "A" upon her bosom to represent the adultery she has committed with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. It is argued whether Hester is the culprit of her crime or if she has fallen victim of it. Early on in Hester 's life she becomes a victim when she is forced into an arranged marriage. Her parents arrange her to marry Roger Chillingworth, a wealthy yet infamous man.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne explores recurring themes of suffering surrounding the main characters, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester and Dimmesdale both commit adultery with each other, and, as a result of this, both experience gruesome and occasionally unbearable forms of suffering. Though they undergo different forms of pain, both of their experiences are highly reliant on how the Puritan society treats them. Hester 's pain stems from the shame and estrangement she receives from the community, while Dimmesdale’s is due to the reverence with which the community regards him. Although, in spite of the fact that both Hester and Dimmesdale receive harsh penalty for their sin, by the end of the book, Hawthorne shows how their suffering is, in fact, the key to their salvation.

guilt reflected by the letter’s nearness can only be achieved by the will of God, in contrast with Hester’s letter which only reaches her chest. Dimmesdale’s affliction resulting from his guiltiness affirms that the letter’s proximity reflects his guilt. “Gnawed and tortured” while “suffering under bodily disease,” Dimmesdale’s guilt subjects him to a wild and bestial pain (128). This intense suffering stems from “some black trouble of the soul” due to the darkness of his guilt spiritually afflicting him and perpetually agitating his heart. What is bothering him is tied to a spiritual level, expressing the idea that in a way the trouble has darkened his spirit.

Have you ever thought how blaming someone could cause problems for you and others? In The Scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne was blamed for being an adulteress and even took the blame for Dimmesdale, who didn’t say anything for seven years, which made him feel guilty about not revealing to truth. Many readers believe blame doesn’t affect anyone. Blame and guilt affected Dimmesdale’s life throughout the book, and you see countless amounts of blaming during the presidential debate. In my life I have blamed people for my mistakes and regretted it.