In the book, "The Scarlet Letter," Nathaniel Hawthorne creates a character who is so loving, passionate, and mistreated that the reader cannot help but feel badly for her. ... She is reminded of her sin every day with her child, Pearl, and the scarlet letter. ... Throughout the story of "The Scarlet Letter," Hawthorne tips off the reader that Hester Prynne is destined for a downfall because her character is written a classic tragic heroine. ... It is evident that "Hester's story will not and cannot end happily" (Guy-A Critical Review of The Scarlet Letter-Website), because her tragedy is ...

• Word Count: 1733
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Two works of literature that display both aspects of this society very accurately are The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. The Scarlet Letter displays a society that treats two people very differently who commit the sin of adultery together. The woman, Hester Prynne, admits her sin, is forced to always wear a scarlet letter A on her bosom, and is ostracized from society. ... Hawthorne illustrates how insensitive a Puritan society can be t! ... Both demonstrate the true aspects of a Puritan society very accurately. ...

• Word Count: 1327
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Usage of signs is important to Hawthorne because it allows him to show the values and ideals of Puritan society in his work. ... In Puritan society, adultery was clearly unacceptable and looked down upon. ... Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne, is the symbol of the illegitimate relationship Hester had and is considered a sin in Puritan society. Pearl is the "the animate letter, the child dressed in gold-embroidered scarlet" and "the scarlet letter in another form, the scarlet letter endowed with life.... The scarlet letter is Pearl's comfort zone. ...

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• Has Bibliography

She becomes a social outcast of the Puritan society and lives in isolation on the outskirts of town. ... Since their sin is committed in the strict, moralistic Puritan society, their suffering is made even greater. ... PURITANISM IN THE NOVEL Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is set in the seventeenth century New England town of Boston, a staunch Puritanical town. ... To Pearl, the scarlet letter is simply part of her mother. ... The significance of the scarlet letter in the life of Dimmesdale, whose guilt remains hidden, is suggested by a hidden scarlet letter on his hea...

• Word Count: 1285
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Nathaniel Hawthorne used his writing skills to appropriately show the strict intolerant ways of the disciplined Puritan America of 1850, with his novel The Scarlet Letter. ... The Scarlet Letter is a novel that is set in Salem, Massachusetts, the Puritan New England of the seventeenth century. ... She continues to wear the scarlet letter there. ... The Scarlet Letter is overflowing with symbolism. ... Later on, the letter comes to stand for "Able," as Hester is "Able" to Talbert 5 overcome hardship, Talbert 5 live through the shame, and thrive in the hypocritical Purita...

• Word Count: 2338
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes characterization techniques of morality throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter. ... This is apparent in The Scarlet Letter because Hester's life becomes unbearable through her trials as a sinner in the Puritan society. ... Hester takes the scarlet letter off her breast, and throws her ignominy into the dirt. ... Arthur Dimmesdale is "the main tragic problem" of The Scarlet Letter, according to Theodore L. ... In fact, because of the great things that Hester accomplishes, the scarlet letter "A" comes to mean something completely different to the Puritans who c...

• Word Count: 1429
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Symbolism in "The Scarlet Letter", whoa just gave one away! ... In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter," life is in the center of a stiff Puritan society in which no one is able to freely express their deepest thoughts. Puritan society does not allow its people to show how they really feel, and if they do, society extremely looks down upon it. ... On one hand, Pearl is a child who is born from adultery, out of pleasure, and out of lust, which is completely against the laws of Puritan society. ... The scarlet letter now attracts hearts looking for love rather t...

• Word Count: 2041
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

The following pages will examine the way sin affected the Puritan Community in the Scarlet Letter. ... Nathaniel Hawthorne, born in Salem, Massachusetts, July 4, 1804 and died May 11, 1864, was the first American writer to apply artistic judgment to Puritan society. ... Hawthorne's sensitivity to guilt is clearly present in the Scarlet Letter, as well as some of his other works. ... It wasn't until the publication of his novel The Scarlet Letter in 1850 that Hawthorne became a well-known writer. ... The town first requires Hester to wear the scarlet letter and stand in ignominy...

• Word Count: 1751
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

"The Scarlet Letter" Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote "The Scarlet Letter" in 1850 in the highly religious area of New England. ... "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne has many different themes contained in the novel, but the themes of Puritanism vs. ... The Scarlet Letter is chock full of symbolism. ... The Scarlet Letter is wrapped in a deluge of allegorical theories and philosophies. ... Hester, once looked at as a beautiful woman is no longer looked in the same light in society, and in the mirror, "she seemed absolutely hidden behind it (the scarlet letter)." ...

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Hester derives her sense of self-identity from the Scarlet Letter. ... This would have been fitting for a Puritan society concerned with propriety and decency. ... Her fabrication of the Scarlet Letter evokes indignation and resentment from the townspeople. ... - The Scarlet Letter served to separate Hester from the rest of the Puritan society in which she lived and had formerly been a part. ... Why did she not leave and begin her life anew without the stigma of the Scarlet Letter? ...

• Word Count: 1295
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet Letter To the naked eye, the story of The Scarlet Letter appears to just be a well-written love story within a puritan society full of unexpected flips and turns. Upon closer examination, The Scarlet Letter is really filled with obsession, guilt, and morals. ... Hawthorne's ultimate theme in The Scarlet Letter is vengeance amongst all of mankind. ... "It was whispered, by those who peered after her, that the scarlet letter threw a lurid gleam along the dark passage-way of the interior"(48). ... Pearl was just a smaller version of the scarlet letter. ...

• Word Count: 1589
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet letter: In the world of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, he shows the audience a 1600 Puritan society. ... The Scarlet Letter is very distorted in its depiction of the appearance of the letter, the meaning of the letter, and the affect that the letter has on other people. The appearance of the Scarlet Letter is very mysterious. ... People view this lady with the "A- as being evil and just not a good Puritan person. ... The Scarlet Letter is very distorted in the appearance of the letter, the meaning of the letter, and the affect that the letter has on other peop...

• Word Count: 1455
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Dimmesdale: The Bearer of the Scarlet letter Who should bear the stigma of sin? ... Hester cannot hide the consequences of her mistake, so she is exposed to public judgment and forced to wear the scarlet letter. ... The townspeople, who represent the Puritan society, play a decisive role as the second antagonist in the story. ... If we can a parallel between the townspeople and the Puritan society as a whole, we can also draw a parallel between that Puritan society and our society today. ... In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter Hester P...

• Word Count: 1627
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The first thing her darling Pearl noticed when she was born was the scarlet letter on her mother's chest. ... "'Behold, verily, there is the woman of the scarlet letter; and, of a truth, moreover, there is the likeness of the scarlet letter running along by her side! ... Even the daughter she treasures more than anything considers the scarlet letter her second mother, if not her first. ... The way she dressed shows her defiance of the strict and unreasonable Puritan society. ... She lived out her punishment by wearing the scarlet letter to the very day of her death. ...

• Word Count: 1678
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author attempts to show the way society casts out individuals simply because their ideas and deeds differ from the common values. ... Fear was the motivation that drove the Puritans to exclude Hester Prynne from society. ... "Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast as the figure, the body, the reality of sin" (83). ... "It was debated whether or not the scarlet letter was to be taken off her bosom" (163). ... Over time the fact the Hester didn't crumble and in fact s...

• Word Count: 1521
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Darkness is used to portray hatred and punishment, or in the puritan society sin. The novel The Scarlet Letter is mainly a gloomy, dark story because it is centered on sin in the puritan society. Through out The Scarlet Letter, light is used to show happiness and goodness. ... In the puritan society and in the novel the devil is called the black man. ... In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the literary theme light versus dark plays a very important role. ...

• Word Count: 1649
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Symbolism in the Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne contains abundant symbolism, which is used to unify the novel and add deeper meaning. ... Through the scarlet letter, Hester become a sympathetic heroine, and the Puritan society becomes not only bigoted and joyless, but essentially evil. ... This in turn causes the Puritan view of her letter "A" to change from adultery to ability. ... (Bloom 91-92) Pearl is also greatly affected by the scarlet letter, but in another way. ... (Novelguide) Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbols very well in his novel The Scarlet Letter....

• Word Count: 1366
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, is a classic tale of human frailty and sin and the hardships that are caused by a single mistake. ... At the same time, The Scarlet Letter, tells the story of one woman's struggle to find meaning in living after disobeying the highly regarded word of God. ... The Scarlet Letter uses dark romanticism as Hawthorne attempts to explain the sinfulness of human nature and why people act as they do. ... It [the letter] was revealed!" ... The scaffold scenes are most important, as it represents the harshness of the Puritan society and the...

• Word Count: 1296
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Freud's ideas and assumptions can be perfectly linked in a psychoanalysis of The Scarlet Letter. ... His ideas about the id, the ego, and the superego are extremely significant when taking a look at characters in The Scarlet Letter. ... The forest in this case represents the subconscious mind of the Puritan society because to them the forest is the place of the devil and witches. ... Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! ... Freud's theories are especially interesting when applying them to The Scarlet Letter and their characters because it...

• Word Count: 1596
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the letter A is given to the characters Hester and Dimmesdale. According to the law of the Puritan society and the strict interpretation of the Bible, adultery is one of the deadliest sins that led to the deadliest punishment - execution or corporal punishment. ... For Hester, the Scarlet Letter symbolizes her adultery and for Dimmesdale, it is a reminder of his hidden sin. ... The Scarlet Letter portrays the idea that guilt is harsher and more destructive than public punishments. ... Afraid of revealing his sin to the Puritan society, ...

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Nathaniel Hawthorne was an anti-transcendentalist and believed in the dark side of man, hence his dark romantic novel The Scarlet Letter. ... The Scarlet Letter defines the American Romanticist movement while using symbolic characters and places that give the book seemingly two different stories. ... In a strict society, such as the Puritans, Hester disobeys the laws. ... Being "natural" in the Puritan society can be a very hard thing to do, and a hard thing to get away with. ... Without having done anything to the Puritans she is already, like her mother, pushed into the society. ...

• Word Count: 1687
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

The Scarlet Letter To the naked eye, the story of The Scarlet Letter appears to just be a well-written love story within a puritan society full of unexpected flips and turns. Upon closer examination, The Scarlet Letter is really filled with obsession, guilt, and morals. ... Hawthorne's ultimate theme in The Scarlet Letter is vengeance amongst all of mankind. ... "It was whispered, by those who peered after her, that the scarlet letter threw a lurid gleam along the dark passage-way of the interior"(48). ... Pearl was just a smaller version of the scarlet letter. ...

• Word Count: 1480
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Nathaniel Hawthorn, the author of "The Scarlet Letter," lived from 1804 to 1864. ... The way in which women were thought of during that time explains the subject of "The Scarlet Letter.... The writing in "The Scarlet Letter" was not only based upon narrative, but also on data. ... Historians, because of books such as "The Scarlet Letter," are able to answer questions related to how Puritan society differs from the American society that we now live in. ... Overall, using "The Scarlet Letter" as a primary source can be beneficial to historical scholar...

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• Has Bibliography

The Puritan community was a dark, strict society, feeling indifferent to the humanity of the woman standing before them on the scaffold, with her infant daughter against her chest. ... The symbolism of the scarlet letter is expanded in Chapter Five, Hester at Her Needle. ... Although Hester is clearly not a Puritan, she does show respect for the Puritan code. ... Hester and her scarlet letter never achieve simplicity. ... Another vision of Hester's letter is that of its color, scarlet. ...

• Word Count: 1352
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Freud's ideas and assumptions can be perfectly linked in a psychoanalysis of The Scarlet Letter. ... His ideas about the id, the ego, and the superego are extremely significant when taking a look at characters in The Scarlet Letter. ... The forest in this case represents the subconscious mind of the Puritan society because to them the forest is the place of the devil and witches. ... Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! ... Freud's theories are especially interesting when applying them to The Scarlet Letter and their characters because it...

• Word Count: 1599
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School