The Scarlet Letter essays

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7 Pages 2977 Words
Within the American novella, authors such as Hawthorne and Wharton value the presence of the wilderness in their respective narratives, but to differing levels. The representation of wilderness within the authors’ narratives is used to express the inner most feelings of their characters, whilst being simultaneously presented as a physical threat that shapes the lives of others. Wilderness poses as...
Ethan FromeNathaniel HawthorneThe Scarlet Letter
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2 Pages 1078 Words
Humans tend to change themselves in order to be like someone else, or fit in. Social media is a huge impact on this. For example, commercials about fit people being happy and enjoying life; while other people are envying them sitting on a couch thinking “why can’t I be like that.” Humanity is always trying to perfect the reality and...
FictionThe Scarlet Letter
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2 Pages 838 Words
The novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne shows the essence of morbidity quite adequately. The novel itself does a good job of showing a plethora of characters and the morbid nature of them, but the most morbid of them all is Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale has committed a grave sin, and the sin is wearing away at him throughout...
SinThe Scarlet Letter
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3 Pages 1252 Words
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne tells the story of an affair between Hester Prynne and Rev. -Arthur Dimmesdale two members of the Puritan community of Massachusetts Bay Colony during the 1640s. When Roger Chillingworth, Hester's long-lost husband, arrives in the colony and discovers the affair, he is consumed by a desire for revenge. For Hawthorne, revenge is an all consuming...
FictionNovelThe Scarlet Letter
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2 Pages 743 Words
In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne details the account of a tale of sin and redemption within a small Puritan community located in Boston during the seventeenth century. Hawthorne explores the entangled relationship between Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth through the scarlet letter and personal passions to illuminate the presence of hidden truths and motives within all aspects of society. A...
DeceptionHypocrisyThe Scarlet Letter
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3 Pages 1267 Words
Guilt, hypocrisy, love, pain, hidden secrets, these are just a few of the main points that Nathaniel Hawthorne seeks to bring to light in The Scarlet Letter. In a time when The Red Scare was sweeping the nation; Hawthorne dared to defy the groups of accusers in such a time. His use of Hester, Dimmesdale and the costly effect of...
HypocrisyThe Scarlet Letter
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1 Page 678 Words
Hawthorne had a revolving theme of the Puritans being intolerable and cruel. His particular views on the Puritans in the book 'The Scarlet Letter' shifts from harsh criticism, sympathy, and admiration. He had a more rooted connection with his puritan ancestors and underlined their strengths and weaknesses. While reprimanding Puritan ruling as a whole, he shows understanding for people like...
HypocrisyThe Scarlet Letter
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3 Pages 1299 Words
“Men are punished by their sins, not for them.” - Elbert Hubbard[HK]. Punishment is always caused by one’s sins whether that be public disgrace or being punished by their own conscience [BRG]. In Hawthorne’s classic, The Scarlet Letter, several characters receive punishment, both just and unjust, for their sins [TH]. Hester receives punishment both publicly and privately, Dimmesdale receives punishment...
PunishmentThe Scarlet Letter
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3 Pages 1246 Words
The Scarlet Letter ​mainly covers the sin of adultery, while ​The Crucible ​covers witchcraft. Both have obvious similarities like the setting and the crime, but both have major differences. The author of ​The Scarlet Letter ​is Nathenial Hawthorne and the playwright of ​The Crucible ​is Arthur Miller. ​The Scarlet Letter​ is about Hester Prynne committing adultery with Arthur Dimmesdale and...
AdulteryThe CrucibleThe Scarlet Letter
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2 Pages 1037 Words
Our identity is fictional, written by parents, relatives, education, and society. Parents and relatives form children to follow their principles. Society demands that we present an identity that can be comfortably cataloged. We are no longer accepted for ourselves. Judgment based on culture, religion and a plethora of other expectations has created a world filled with formidable situations, filling the...
FictionStereotypesThe Scarlet Letter
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2 Pages 1044 Words
People have come a long way to turn our society purely reliant on technology. When the ideas of Romanticism spread across America in the 18th century, people began to reject industrial and technological progress, and instead praise nature. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a renown Romantic philosopher, heavily glorified nature in his works. He states, “If the stars should appear one night...
Emancipation ProclamationThe Scarlet Letter
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1 Page 615 Words
In lots of novels, some characters’ functions in the story are being symbols. For instance, piggy in Lords of Flies and Gatsby in The Great Gatsby. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester’s daughter—Pearl not just play a simple child character in the story, she is also a constant reminder of the scarlet letter and Hester’s sin because Pearl’s dressing is similar...
SinThe Scarlet Letter
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3 Pages 1257 Words
In the world of literature, Roger Chillingworth stands, somewhat unceremoniously, as a symbol of true evil. In ‘The Scarlet Letter’ he is the living embodiment of the Black Man, who is, in the Puritan faith, a representation of the devil. He shares similar physical features to the Black Man and even shares similar desires. In ‘The Scarlet Letter’, the Black...
CharacterLiterary CriticismThe Scarlet Letter
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6 Pages 2819 Words
Explain how the setting and mood are immediately established within the first few pages of each novel. Cite specific words and phrases that situate the reader. In the novels, the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Awakening By Kate Chopin, the authors illustrate the mood and setting in the first chapter. In the Scarlet Letter, the mood had been...
The AwakeningThe Scarlet Letter
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2 Pages 857 Words
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, religion dominates society as the main element of life and work but nature can be seen attacking religion in many ways. Religion in the novel is a prominent factor in the feelings of society towards Hester. Nature, on the other hand, sympathizes with the main character and such, giving hope and God’s light. These...
Christian WorldviewSocietyThe Scarlet Letter
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3 Pages 1530 Words
Mapping the Plot Overview Mapping a plot reminds students that all narratives follow a predictable pattern and that identifying a climax, or turning point, requires that they first identify a major conflict. Students will use this worksheet to map the plot of The Scarlet Letter. There may be several possible climaxes, and students must defend their choice with textual evidence....
Book ReportThe Scarlet Letter
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2 Pages 780 Words
The novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne describes the life of a Puritan woman named Hester Prynne who commits adultery. Hawthorne uses the repetition of various motifs throughout the novel because he wants to convey to the reader that sin should not prevent a person from living. From the very beginning of the novel, Hawthorne employs the motifs of...
FictionLiterary DevicesThe Scarlet Letter
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2 Pages 951 Words
Hester Prynne is the most important character around whom all the events and incidents of the novel ‘The Scarlet Letter’ center. She committed the sin of adultery and fell a cruel victim to the stern Puritan law. The Puritan moralists find Hester guilty of an unpardonable sin. Hester, on the other hand, does not think herself guilty as she responded...
CharacterHester PrynneThe Scarlet Letter
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9 Pages 4152 Words
Mistress Hibbins is based on a historical figure, Ann Hibbins. Ann Hibbins was the sister-in-law of Governor Belligham and she was also executed in 1659 after being accused and found guilty of witchcraft. Her function in the novel is to be the exact opposite of the character of Hester. She symbolizes supernatural knowledge and evil powers. “Wilt thou go with...
Hester PrynneThe Scarlet Letter
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1 Page 579 Words
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famous The Scarlet Letter is a composition that held a lot of meaningful perspectives exploring the seventeenth century. The Scarlet Letter was originally published in 1850 by Hawthorne pointing out the hypocrisy that the Puritans did and the number of people who were condemned for life because of their sins. The novel The Scarlet Letter invokes the pretense...
FictionThe Scarlet LetterWoman
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2 Pages 952 Words
The Scarlet Letter, written in 1850 by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story based on the punishment of sin, exclusively, adultery. During this time Hawthorne was moved by the transcendentalist ideas and beliefs, which is evident in his work. The story analyzes Hester Prynn’s committed sin of adultery and the hardships she faced in the Puritan society. Hester went through many...
The Scarlet LetterTranscendentalism
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2 Pages 864 Words
In the iconic book The Scarlet Letter the reader comes across a vague understanding of what it means to be an adulterer. A person who truly represents and shows a sin that most believe to be the absolute uncrossable line that should not even be spoken of unless necessary. Very few readers and fans of the novel understand what it...
The Scarlet Letter
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2 Pages 1044 Words
Both The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Scarlet Letter written by Margaret Atwood, and Nathaniel Hawthorne respectively are novels that explore self-development within a dystopian society through a feminist lens. They also examine the idea of having self-consciousness under an extremely controlling and oppressive environments. Both of the protagonists, Offred from The Handmaid’s Tale and Hester from The Scarlet Letter derive...
FeminismThe Scarlet Letter
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3 Pages 1507 Words
Feminism is defined by Webster’s as organized activity on the behalf of women’s rights and interests aiming toward political, economic, and social equality of the sexes (“Feminism”). It would stand to reason an author of feminist works of literature would create characters and storylines based on struggles associated with these ideals. Feminist viewpoints and feminist works are quite common, if...
FeminismThe Scarlet Letter
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2 Pages 863 Words
Puritans aren’t anything like Americans today and there are many reasons as to why. Hester Prynne, a young Puritan unlike the rest, committed the sin of adultery. Throughout the book, “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the story of Hester unfolds. The struggles Hester faces of heartless punishments and publicly being shamed by wearing a letter on her chest for...
FictionPuritansThe Scarlet Letter
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5 Pages 2179 Words
Abstract The impact of the traditions of the sublime and the picturesque upon American painting and the literature of the Romantic period has been frequently examined, but the importance of these traditions in determining the structure and elements of The Scarlet Letter, one of the chief literary masterpieces of the age, has been little noticed. In the following essay, the...
FictionSocietyThe Scarlet Letter
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3 Pages 1209 Words
The fresco painting, The Fall and the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, created by Michelangelo and painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, depicts the biblical story of Adam and Eve and their sin against God, due to the temptation in the form of a forbidden apple tree known for granting knowledge. The painting presents the viewer with...
FictionGuiltThe Scarlet Letter
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3 Pages 1283 Words
Have you ever reminisced about a bad doing that you had committed? If so how did you deal with it? How did others around you react and treat you afterwards? In The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne uses the character Pearl as a representation of the sin that Hester had committed. Due to her actions the townspeople looked upon her with disgust...
The Scarlet Letter
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3 Pages 1196 Words
Reviewed double_ok
One of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s main purposes in writing The Scarlet Letter was to show that all people sin no matter who they are or what status they have. Hawthorne also makes it clear that people can learn from the consequences of their sin, and that sin can help a person change for the better. The Puritan community expects sinners to...
The Scarlet Letter
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4 Pages 1683 Words
Symbolism is a type of literary device that allows complex ideas to be explored and conveyed in a clear way for readers. As a result, it can have an impactful influence on the themes of a story. One author that utilizes this to enhance the themes of their novel is Nathaniel Hawthorne in his novel The Scarlet Letter. Through numerous...
The Scarlet Letter
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