Characterization is a literary element used by the author to present qualities of characters in a literary piece, the purpose of characterization is to make characters credible and make them suitable for the role they play in the work. Authors present various characters possessing dissimilar qualities, to emphasize different aspects of the work. In the novel "The Scarlet Letter", the author Nathaneil Hawthorn's depiction of the two male characters, Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth, emphasizes the moral problems of the seventeenth century puritan society. ...

• Word Count: 328
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Throughout the passage from the scarlet Letter, Author Nathaniel Hawthorne's emotions about the Puritans and the Puritan community are deeply expressed with a sense of critisism and mockery. ... This passage indicates that the attitude the author implies is that Puritans, although said to be pure and honorable, can be just as unjust as any other. ...

• Word Count: 398
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Literature, as a whole, would be much more appealing if authors let their readers make their own decisions about the events or characters in the story. The ambiguousness of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne leaves many of the actions, events, and issues involving the characters up to the reader's own assumption. ... A young woman, Hester Prynne, is led from the town prison with her infant daughter, Pearl, in her arms and the scarlet letter "A" on her breast. ... Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter, is a means of presenting an issue on not taking responsibility. ...

• Word Count: 1146
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

His most popular book, The Scarlet Letter, earned Hawthorne international fame. ... Many of the authors of the period were influenced by the transcendental movement, which was flourishing at the time. ... This is very evident in The Scarlet Letter where he uses setting and characterization to create an image of the various characters who each symbolize a different human trait. ... Terence Martin sums up the meaning of Hawthorne's best known book, The Scarlet Letter in three sentences: "Taking its form in Hawthorne's imagination, the total context of The Scarlet Letter inheres in the ...

• Word Count: 855
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

If the steps and concept of symbolism are then applied to the Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, we would find a multitude of example of symbols in the characters' lives, objects and the characters themselves. ... We see light and dark represented though out The Scarlet Letter from seeing Hester in the dark to Pearl in the light. ... Seemingly well informed, Pearl explains this occurrence being caused by the fact that "the sunshine does not love her" mother and it is afraid of something on her chest (Hawthorne 160); the scarlet letter. ... The role of a charac...

• Word Count: 1244
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In the novel The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne takes a very biased side against the Puritans he writes about. ... Hawthorne's presentation of the Puritans throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter is not much different from my own opinion, though he leaves out even the slightest amount of good characteristics that they might possess. ... Hawthorne was indeed, as one author claims "harsher than his Puritans" by leaving out the good qualities they were supposed to hold. Even though he wrote The Scarlet Letter subjectively against the Puritan culture, one should not overlook the pos...

• Word Count: 513
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

American Renaissance Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter," belongs to the period known as American romanticism, the period called, by F.O. ... Recent texts have challenged Matthiessen's notion of an American Renaissance, pointing out that the work of major American authors of this period did not occur in a vacuum. ... Reynolds points out that a subversive literature existed prior to the work of the major authors of the American Renaissance, in the form of sensational crime novels, erotic writings, humor writing, etc. ... Herman Melville: an author of romantic fiction as was Ha...

• Word Count: 917
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American writer who today is considered one of the most extraordinary fiction authors in the history of American Literature. ... So, I don't see that there is anything left for me but to be an author (qt. in "Nathaniel Hawthorne - Biography")." ... He was not fond of the job and was relieved in 1848 when he was fired, giving him time to write his most famous work The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850 (Turner, 137). After The Scarlet Letter was published, Hawthorne who had never truly felt comfortable in Salem moved the family to Lenox. ... His deep infatuatio...

• Word Count: 1129
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate