Kayla Lang 1/21/14 Sin Victimizes the Innocent In the novel The Scarlet Letter‚ Nathaniel Hawthorne explores the idea of sin and how it affected those in the Puritan era. Hester Prynne‚ with her baby in her arms‚ is ridiculed in front of the entire town. Hester and her daughter are shunned to a house on the outskirts of town‚ isolating them from the Puritan community. Pearl and Hester grow up in the town alone as social outcasts‚ but they do have each other. Pearl is raised by her single mother
Premium The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne Puritan
The puritan era was a time of strife for many early American settlers. They felt the world was at war between the forces of good and the forces of evil. This contention was made evident in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter as the author combines the physical‚ moral and mental state of Roger Chillingworth to highlight the theme of revenge and the evil obsession that takes over Chillingworth’s soul. Hawthorne’s use of figurative language connects Chillingworth’s misshapen form with
Premium The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Symbolic meaning of the letter “A” In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel‚ The Scarlet Letter‚ the meaning of the letter "A" stands for “adulterer”‚ but the symbolic meaning of the “A” changes throughout the book. This change is significant as it indicates the personal growth of the characters as well as the enlightenment of the townspeople. When the novel begins‚ the letter "A" is a symbol of sin. In the puritan village Hester resides in‚ a person that commits adultery is to be condemned to death
Free Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne
” A Parasitic Worm-Leech The uses of blood-sucking leeches as medical tools are prevalent‚ but a lot of people still detest “leeches” and in The Scarlet Letter‚ Hawthorne used both characteristics of a leech to epitomize Roger Chillingworth‚ the husband of Hester‚ the protagonist. In the story‚ to find the man who gave birth to Hester’s child‚ Chillingworth entered the Puritan town‚ where Hester and Dimmesdale lived in. In the town‚ people considered doctors as “leeches” and Chillingworth lived
Premium The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne Nathaniel Hawthorne
Critical Perspective Kate Chopin frequently uses stories showing a desire for freedom. In the story‚ “The Story of an Hour” wanting freedom is on display. This is Chopin’s sense of uncertainty and her difficult way of seeing life. Freedom is being expressed by the character Louise Mallard after hearing that her husband has been killed in a train accident. She feels free because her husband is controlling and she could not take it anymore. This story focuses on female oppression in marriages of the
Premium Love Marriage Periodization
Throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter there are many symbols. One of the biggest symbols of the novel is the scarlet letter A that Hester Prynne is sentenced to wear after she commits adultery. It is a symbol that is sewn onto her clothes for everyone to see. It is a punishment that is meant to humiliate her for the duration of the time that she stays in Puritanical Boston. During the novel‚ the scarlet letter changes and evolves from meaning adultery to meaning ability and even physically changes
Free Hester Prynne The Scarlet Letter Shame
Innocence in _The Scarlet Letter_ Knowledge and sin connect in the Judeo-Christian tradition in the story of Adam and Eve. Sin becomes the outcome in the story of Adam and Eve when they get thrown out of the Garden of Eden. After their banishment from the Garden of Eden‚ Adam and Eve must work and bear children. Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale experience similar situations as Adam and Eve in the novel _The Scarlet Letter_ written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. For Hester‚ the scarlet letter becomes her ticket
Premium Adam and Eve Garden of Eden Original sin
Nathaniel Hawthorne also criticizes the Utopian ideals that societies often hold in his novel‚ The Scarlet Letter. The main character‚ Hester goes astray from the rules of her Puritan town and must wear a scarlet letter on her chest to declare her sin. The scarlet letter isolates Hester from the pressures to conform to society‚ giving her the opportunity to find her individualistic moral perspective in life and she shares this revelation with Dimmesdale. Hawthorne conveys this concept of individualism
Premium The Scarlet Letter Morality Nathaniel Hawthorne
the Puritans‚ is an extreme sinner; she has gone against the Puritan ways‚ by committing the unforgivable sin of adultery. For this irrevocably cruel sin‚ she must wear a symbol of shame and humiliation for the rest of her godforsaken life. The scarlet letter is an evaluation and study of the results of sin on the hearts‚ minds and souls of Hester‚ Pearl‚ Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. In every case the effect changes the character significantly. Once the characters have indulged themselves in sin and
Premium The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne Hester Prynne
Puritan society‚ the forest as the setting of chapter 18 is a place that allows Hester to escape her sins and express herself. The one result of her sin has been her alienation from society. Through the themes of alienation‚ knowledge‚ and sin‚ the scarlet letter has allowed Hester to have an isolated point of view toward human institutions‚ which resulted in her ability to think for herself and have a better understanding of natural law. This powerful passage explains the result of Hester’s sin and how
Premium English-language films Debut albums The Scarlet Letter