In Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Man, His Tales and Romances, published by the Continuum in 1989, Edward Wagenknecht gives the following analysis of The Scarlet Letter: "Because Hawthorne did not believe that law can deal with sin as distinct from crime, he makes a whole paragraph of the sentence: "The scarlet letter had not done its office." ... He says that the punishment given to Hester Prynne by the Puritan people was not the punishment of God, that it was not the responsibility of Chillingworth and those who punished Hester to give punishment to a sinner, and that Hester saved herself from ...

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• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

This item was worn by Hester Prynne, as punishment for her crime of adultery for the rest of her life. ... The scarlet letter is imposed on Hester as an act of punishment. ... Analysis * Infant Pearl reaches her arms towards Dimmesdale at the end of his speech, in which he implored Hester to name the man who made her pregnant.Pearl reaches her hand out toward Dimmesdale? ... Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold during the darkness of midnight, thus concealing his crime. ... When Hester steps out of the dark jail into the blinding sunlight at the beginning of the novel, her crime and her shame b...

• Word Count: 1015
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Hester Pryness, a young, tall, and beautiful woman of the Boston community does not believe that her sin is actually a crime (Eldritch Press). ... Hester, who has grown up in Europe, does not see eye to eye with the Puritans; they are angered by her beauty, and feel that her punishment is not sufficient for the nature of the crime. ... Hawthorne shows us that Hester grows strong from her punishment, and has learned to live and learn from what she did as well. ... The writing of Hawthorne is marked by subtle imagination, curious power of analysis, and exquisite purity of diction (Themes). ...

• Word Count: 1373
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Hester Pryness, a young, tall, and beautiful woman of the Boston community does not believe that her sin is actually a crime (Eldritch Press). ... Hester, who has grown up in Europe, does not see eye to eye with the Puritans; they are angered by her beauty, and feel that her punishment is not sufficient for the nature of the crime. ... Hawthorne shows us that Hester grows strong from her punishment, and has learned to live and learn from what she did as well. ... The writing of Hawthorne is marked by subtle imagination, curious power of analysis, and exquisite purity of diction (Themes). ...

• Word Count: 1442
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

He questioned members of the crowd on Hester's crime and when he found it to be adultery was outraged. ... "This unhappy person had effected such a transformation by devoting himself, for seven years, to the constant analysis of a heart full of torture." (166) Hester meets with Chillingworth to ask to reveal his true identity to Dimsdale. ... "The real agony of sin, as Chillingworth perceived, lies not in its commission nor in its punishment, but in the dread of its disco. ...

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

He questioned members of the crowd on Hester's crime and when he found it to be adultery was outraged. ... "This unhappy person had effected such a transformation by devoting himself, for seven years, to the constant analysis of a heart full of torture." (166) Hester meets with Chillingworth to ask to reveal his true identity to Dimsdale. ... "The real agony of sin, as Chillingworth perceived, lies not in its commission nor in its punishment, but in the dread of its disco. ...

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