In On the Scarlet Letter, D.H. Lawrence comments on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s controversial character, Hester Prynne. What makes Lawrence unique from other critics is that he criticizes Hester and Dimmesdale's’ sinful act, and he asserts negative opinions about the way Hester Prynne is conventionally perceived because of it. D.H. Lawrence presents a well written analysis that effectively castigates Hester Prynne’s characterization in the novel through biblical and literary allusions, harsh syntax, and a satirical tone.…
The Scarlet Letter is set in 17th century Massachusetts. It follows Hester Prynne and the consequences her “sin” has on her, her child, and the community as a whole. Most believe Hester is going to hell and that she gave birth to the devil because of having sex out of marriage. Her husband, Roger Chillingworth wants revenge on her and her unannounced partner in crime. Pearls involvement in Hawthorne's novel in crucial by bringing Hester's sin to life; therefore, creating challenges for her within the Puritan community.…
When one’s social roles are not valued or accepted by society, alienation is generally the solution. Whether one chooses to make oneself distant from society, or one is forced to be isolated, the emotional damage and effects are the same. In life, and in literature, one’s emotions are emphasized by how one is treated by society. Society has the power to decide whether one becomes rejected or welcomed. The Puritan society in the 16th century was a group of people who were very judgmental and forced isolation upon many citizens who may have committed some type of “sin”. The great American novelist, Nathaniel Hawthorne, exemplifies the Puritan religion in his novel The Scarlet Letter.…
Feminism is the support for equal rights for both men and women, in the areas that include but are not limited to politics, economics, and social norms. In a more general sense, a feminist seeks a justified, balanced amount of opportunity for both sexes. The topic of feminism has been prevalent in more recent years, but not a few centuries ago. The romance novel The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850, highlights a female protagonist named Hester Prynne who lived in the 17th century. She is portrayed as a strong feminist character throughout the novel by showing resilience, despite the lack of social equality during the Puritan times the novel takes place in. This novel displays acts of feminism as Hester Prynne lives her life with the stigma of adultery with the scarlet letter.…
The Scarlet Letter talks about a story of a woman called Hester wears an “A” which means “Adultery” in a strict society, through whole story, we can see how this “A” affect not only her but also the people around her. Pearl as Hester’s daughter, the youngest main role in the Scarlet Letter, author Nathaniel Hawthorne uses her to show us the most comprehensive analysis about different characters in this book. Because of how innocent and pure Pearl is, we also can see reactions of the society and people at that time as well as a little girl who grows up in a special environment how she deals with those treatments.…
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's acclaimed novel, The Scarlet Letter, numerous life-altering experiences affect the character of Hester Prynne over the course of time. Hawthorne intensely focuses on Hester's character development within his novel. In the story, the main character, Hester Prynne, shifts dramatically from a prideful woman to extremely isolated, secluded, and independent as an outcome of her shameful wrongdoing.…
“Yet one tombstone served for both.” This line in the novel acts as closure to Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale as well as the readers. Throughout the entirety of the novel Hester and Pearl live together alone, away from the rest of the town, including Arthur Dimmesdale. They live alone due to actions of Hester that result in the birth of Pearl. An adulterous woman, Hester Prynne, must now walk around town and face all of the townspeople with a scarlet letter ‘A’ on her bosom. She faces daily taunting and humiliation, along with her daughter Pearl. If this line were not present readers would not be able to get a glimpse of the struggles Hester and Arthur experience throughout the entirety of the novel. Hester and Arthur struggle to keep…
The Scarlet letter is a fiction and takes place in the 1850s, and written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The letter starts out with Hester Prynne trying to fit in society, which in this case was not working out at all for Hester. The book has many different themes too it throughout the story line like being an adulterer, sinning, and feeling guilty. Hester was being punished by everyone in society because of the child she has. The town people in the book just did not understand why this happened and they did not approve of it or no how to handle it, this is why Hester was treated so poorly.…
In The Scarlet Letter, the many townsfolk make assumptions about Hester Prynne. They assume that Hester Prynne is not fit to raise her daughter, Pearl, the right way. They make these assumptions against Hester because she wears a scarlet letter upon her bosom, which stands for adulterer. For example, in chapter eight Governor Bellingham brings up the people’s concerns about Hester raising a child. He says, “The point hath been much question concerning thee, of late. The point hath been weightily discussed, whether we, that are of authority and influence, do well discharge our consciences by trusting an immortal soul, such as there is in yonder child, to the guidance of one who hath stumbled and fallen, amid the pitfalls of this world” (Hawthorne, 99). This topic relates to me because people have made many…
In the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Hester Prynne's experiences and ability to persevere as well as the portrayal of the men in the story to convey feminist ideas and the strength of women throughout the book. The definition of feminism being that women and men are equal and therefore should be treated and looked upon with equality. In the scarlet letter Hawthorn shows how women can be strong and independent despite the fixated ideas that society is accustomed to. These ideas being that women are inferior to men. During this time, women did not have jobs and stayed home to take care of the children and were looked upon as unable to sustain themselves without the need of a man. As Hester Prynne overcomes these obstacles of old society,…
The Scarlet Letter is a classic American gothic novel that was published in1850, and was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It’s a novel that covers the story of Hester Prynne and her affair that leads to Roger Chillingworth’s, Hester Prynne’s husband, quest for revenge against his wife’s lover. This novel is a part of the collection of classic American Gothic novels that also include Moby Dick by Herman Melville published in 1851, and is a novel about a whaling boat and a captain named Ahab that is obsessed with his revenge against the white whale Moby Dick who had taken his leg on a previous voyage. Roger Chillingworth and Captain Ahab are two men trapped in their obsession of getting their revenge, however, even though they share similarities they have differences that set them apart from each other.…
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a novel that was written over a series of months and published in March 1850. The book is based on the Puritan movement in the early 1600’s as immigration to the new found land of America was becoming popular. The protagonist of this work is Hester Prynn. Prynn was sent to the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England with her three month old child. She is a strong woman for going to the new area with her own baby, which at the time women were meant to only take care of the home, not support a family. The antagonist of the novel is Roger Chillingworth. Mr. Chillingworth is a very persistent character who had a burning passion to bring turmoil to Hester Prynn. Chillingworth had convinced Hester…
The Scarlet Letter is about a woman, Hester Prynne, who commits adultery. She is forced to wear a scarlet letter A on her chest while the identity of her partner is kept a secret. Her husband, who has been gone, arrives and asks that his identity be kept a secret so he doesn’t have to deal with the consequences of Hester’s sin. He swears that he will find out who her partner is. Meanwhile her partner, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, is feeling the consequences of his actions. His guilt is eating at him and ruining his health.…
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne takes place in a small Puritan town in Boston, Massachusetts during the seventeenth century. Hester Prynne, the main character, commits adultery, which is frowned upon by Puritan religion, with the town’s minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. As public punishment she embroiders a red scarlet A with gold thread to wear on her bosom of all her dresses. Pearl, Hester’s daughter, is living proof of Hester’s sin; she continually mocks her mother’s scarlet letter. As The Scarlet Letter progresses over time, the author reveals how the significance of the scarlet letter “A” alters.…
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne reveals that although society attempts to confine people, those with inner strength are able to break free of their restrictive labels. Even though the public shunned Hester and forced her into solitude, she still, at the end of her “term of confinement”, found a way to overcome society’s stereotypes. Hester’s inner strength allowed her to rise above the negative connotations of the scarlet letter, and now viewed the symbol as a representation of “sacredness, which enabled her to walk securely amid all peril” (112). She, through her determination and toughness, turned the scarlet letter from a marking of shame into a symbol of charity and ability by also dedicating herself to being kind to her community. Hester’s generosity towards the people that shunned her despite their negative opinions regarding her “sinful” actions is representative of her ability to defy the stereotype that society has given her. Hester is now known to society as a woman “who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicted” (112). She assumed a “freedom of speculation”, allowing her to view the once burning symbol on her chest as a symbol of which she could be proud. Hester’s mental toughness and boldness was compared to that of “men of the sword overthrowing nobles and kings” (114), as she was fiercely determined to reconstruct the image denoted by the scarlet letter. By overcoming the restrictions society tries to place on her, such as solitary confinement and banishment, she allows herself to emerge an admirable public figure. Society now ceases to uphold a negative representation of Hester. Furthermore, Hester‘s mental strength allowed her to maintain the idea that “the world’s law was no law for her mind [114].” In other words, she believes that the stereotypes and labels that society puts on people are never…
