The Scarlet Letter There is much dispute as to whether or not The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, can be a viable document used to understand the 1600s during the time of Puritanism. ... Morality and what is ethical also plays a necessary part to the development in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. ... Well, if Hawthorne failed to do so then why does Gorman begin his analysis "The Scarlet Letter is the complete epitome of Hawthorne's genius," so sternly without doubt in his conviction (Gorman pg. 83)? ... As Gorman puts it, "The Scarlet Letter was a shadow of his...

• Word Count: 1014
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Hester's Isolation and Alienation in The Scarlet Letter In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale have committed adultery, an unacceptable sin during the Puritan times. ... Having a heart blinded by love Hester choose to stay in the town and wear the scarlet letter "A" instead of revealing the other adulterer. ... Assuming the encounters with the scarlet letter would have some kind of effect of immunity was quite the opposite of what truly happened. ... Small children would sneak up to catch a glimpse of the sca...

• Word Count: 833
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

There are many images of truth shown in Hawthorne's novel, "The Scarlet Letter." ... She shows the scarlet A on her chest for all to see, and braves their criticism. ... This scene is also important to the chraracterization of Hester because it is the first time that she is not in complete control of her emotions. ... She shows this through her scarlet letter, and she insists on it being exposed. To conclude, there are many situations in the Scarlet Letter where truth is shown, exposed and hidden. ...

• Word Count: 623
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Some sins are committed out of love, like that of Hester and Dimmesdale in "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. ... On the other hand, I must bear "H" (hate) in order to transform myself into a better person and to gain more knowledge of things that I wouldn't be able to see for myself without my Scarlet Letter. ... However, society's vision of salvation is based on the bad things and good deeds you have completed throughout your lifetime. ... Dimmesdale was a very cowardly person when it came to the sin and his very soul burned for he had no scarlet letter. ... In short, "...

• Word Count: 675
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale has a difficult time finding a way to relieve his sin. The Scarlet Letter's scaffold holds more importance than just somewhere to condemn prisoners, and, for Dimmesdale, it is a place to find peace. ... In The Scarlet Letter, the scaffold was viewed more as a place of judgment, "Meagre, indeed, and cold was the sympathy that a transgressor might look for from such by-standers, at the scaffold- (Hawthorne 63). ... It was the one place where Dimmesdale could find complete reconciliation. ... At one point, Dimmesdale la...

• Word Count: 723
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet Letter One belief that people live by is that evil is the nature of mankind, yet there are others that feel man has good intentions but those intentions can be overrun by the devil. Nathaniel Hawthorne points out that the former is true of all people in the novel The Scarlet Letter. ... In the novel, Hester received a scarlet letter, "A," for her sins, which she had to wear upon her chest for the rest of her life in Boston. ... By chapter 14, Chillingworth's transformation seems to be complete, and Chillingworth becomes aware of what has happened. ...

• Word Count: 1211
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

In the gothic novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorn carefully interlaces the theme of good and evil throughout the complex characters of Chillingworth, Hester, and Pearl. ... Pearl, from birth has a keen sense of the pain that the scarlet letter brings Hester. After Hester asks Pearl who her heavenly father is, Pearl, "whether moved by her normal freakishness, or because an evil spirit prompted her, she put up her small forefinger and touched the scarlet letter," and said, "I have no heavenly father!" ... Pearl shows no signs of emotional attachment to Hester, for this connection is ...

• Word Count: 1073
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• Grade Level: High School

Hester is plagued with more than just a letter "A"; she is given a child from her affair who is just as much a reminder of her sin as the scarlet letter. Ultimately Hester overcomes the shame associated the scarlet letter and creates a sense of family for herself and Pearl. ... Pearl is "the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with a millionfold the power of retribution- (p64) As a symbol of her sin, Hester dresses up Pearl to look nice just like she does to the scarlet letter itself. ... The scarlet letter matures into a symbol of Hester's perseverance, while Pear...

• Word Count: 765
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

This was surely the case in Nathaniel Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter, a novel set in Puritan times that describes what guilt and sin truly are. ... She was presented with a scarlet A to wear upon her bosom for the rest of her life. ... Her prison-door was thrown open, and she came forth into the sunshine, which, falling on all alike, seemed, to her sick and morbid heart, as if meant for no other purpose than to reveal the scarlet letter on her breast (72). ... they had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as the token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a...

• Word Count: 748
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, clearly shows the different ways a society and its members face sin. ... Because of this, the letter takes on a new meaning, no longer does it mean "adultery,"now it means "able.... A general inspection of The Scarlet Letter displays a requited love between Hester and Dimmesdale. ... He finishes completing this election sermon in a really good mental state, so the results can be well imagined: "never had man spoken in so wise, so high, and so holy a spirit, as he that spoke that day"(248); he realizes that his...

• Word Count: 1158
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Hester Prynne, the leading character of The Scarlet Letter, and Edna Pontellier of The Awakening, are both women with striking similarities and distinctions. ... Hester first lost her independence to the letter "A" stitched on her chest by the puritans and this left her unable love, but gradually as she became more independent of the culture and her emotions overran her she realized that she must be with Arthur. ... Edna needs her independence to become and individual because without complete freedom or independence one can not completely know themselves fully and become a true individual and ...

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"He is the complete type of man of the world, the social ideal,--courteous, quiet, well informed, imperturbably. ... I--a man of thought, the bookworm of great libraries...men call me wise...I might have foreseen all this...I might have beheld the bale-fire of that scarlet letter blazing at the end of our path!" ...

• Word Count: 1089
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

"He is the complete type of man of the world, the social ideal,--courteous, quiet, well informed, imperturbably. ... I--a man of thought, the bookworm of great libraries...men call me wise...I might have foreseen all this...I might have beheld the bale-fire of that scarlet letter blazing at the end of our path!" ...

• Word Count: 1075
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School