A CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER READING GUIDE FOR THE SCARLET LETTER A 1636 Plymouth Colony law required anyone convicted of adultery to "wear two Capital letters viz AD cut out in cloth and sowed on theire uppermost Garments on their arme or backe; and if att any time they shallbee taken without the said letters whiles they are in the Govrment soewarn to bee forthwith taken and publickly whipt."[1] Other Massachusetts colonies had their own versions of this law. In fact‚ "The Capitall Lawes of
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In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ a character named Hester Prynne committed adultery with a man who at first was unidentified but later confirmed to be her reverend‚ the worshipped Arthur Dimmesdale. Since Hester became pregnant after the affair and her husband had not yet arrived in the colony‚ it was clear that she had committed adultery. The government of the colony demanded to know who her lover was‚ but Hester repeatedly refused to incriminate him. Because Hester never identified
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no matter the troubles that face them. Hawthorne uses Hester as the heroine because she is the only character in a puritan society who is morally justified by their actions. Hester Prynne is “a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale‚” a young and beautiful woman (Hawthorne 46). She brought a child into the world with an unknown father. She is punished by Puritan society by wearing the scarlet letter A on the bosom of her dress. The letter is decorated in gold thread; it is decorated in gold
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love that Hester expresses toward her daughter Pearl in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter‚ and the lessons that she teaches her are what makes Hester a great mother. In return‚ Pearl improves Hester’s public image with her beauty and keeps Hester’s emotions and actions in check. The way these two characters subconsciously complement each other forms a strong motherchild relationship in the novel. Pearl influences Hester’s life in both positive and negative ways. While Pearl does have a positive
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In the beginning of the book Hester Prynne is a very kind woman. She ended up making a poor decision that will affect the rest of her life. Its life everyone makes mistakes we’re all human.But what shes does is something she will have to live with for the rest of her life and never be able to take it back.In this book The Scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthrone.Hester is the main character‚and let’s get to the point;adulteress. In the beginning of the book‚Hester is forced to marry Roger Chillingworth
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In chapter two of The Scarlet Letter‚ Nathaniel Hawthorne describes Hester Prynne as she stands on a pedestal in front of her community and gets publicly condemned for her adultery. Hawthorne shows the irony in the situation through the symbol of Pearl being just as sinful as the letter A embroidered on Hester’s clothing. He also irony irony in describing the A and how it is so similar to how Hester herself is portrayed. Lastly‚ Hawthorne describes Hester’s physical beauty and the irony of how the
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The Scarlet Letter: The Theme of Punishment Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter deals with many themes‚ the most powerful being punishment. In this novel‚ Hester Prynne becomes a highly respected person in a Puritan society by overcoming one of the harshest punishments‚ the scarlet letter. This object on "her bosom"; however‚ does the exact opposite of that which it was meant for. Eventually‚ Hester Prynne inverts all the odds against here due to her
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greater guilt therein when either’s conduct may dismay: she who sins and takes the pay‚ or he who pays her for her sin?” (Cruz 296). In the 1600’s‚ when a woman commits adultery and brings shame upon her husband she is often put to death as punishment. However‚ in Hester Prynne’s case she is shamed with a scarlet letter and excluded from society. In the novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ The Scarlet Letter‚ Hester is forced to wear a Scarlet Letter “A” upon be bosom for the rest of her life. Yet‚ why
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Many punishments in the Puritan society are public. The point of this is to humiliate the “criminals” and make them feel as if they need to repent. There is nothing that the magistrates enjoy more than public confessions of the guilty (in text citation). The Scarlet Letter was written in the 1850’s and was based in this type of society. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter‚ the two main characters commit a similar sin but experience a different outcome. Hester and Arthur commit a very similar
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the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ Hester Prynne was a woman who was forced to wear a letter “A” because of the sin that she had committed with Arthur Dimmesdale. This letter throughout the novel opened up to different interpretations‚ and its meaning readily changed. First‚ it symbolized adultery‚ for she had committed an immoral act by having an affair with the pastor‚ Arthur Dimmesdale. Second‚ the letter could be viewed as a symbol of ability‚ because Hester was such a strong woman who
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