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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The preface to Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter‚ “The Custom House”‚ serves to introduce the society and times in which the story is set; also‚ this essay provides the background story for the finding of the scarlet letter. The Custom House also provides a definition of what a romance is. Excerpts from “The Custom House” essay closely link to The Scarlet Letter’s text. Two notable examples of these parallels can be found in the descriptions given of the townspeople in Salem who live by ancient moral
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Public Humiliation The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter share many themes that are still present in today’s society‚ such as the use of public humiliation as a punishment. Because of their sins‚ both John Proctor and Hester Prynn were alienated and punished by their peers and town leaders. The public humiliation that they faced helped shape the characters in the eyes of the reader and effected the way that they behaved and acted. In The Crucible John Proctor and the other towns people were punished
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Literary Criticism of The Scarlet Letter E.P. Whipple- author of “Review of ‘The Scarlet Letter’‚ a Romance”- essentially describes Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter as a genius work of art by letting the reader see the near and far side of the spiritual laws‚ and praises Nathaniel Hawthorne for creating such an intensifying and objective novel. Whipple reminds us of the first part of the book when Nathaniel Hawthorne reminiscences about his times in the Old Custom House of Salem‚ Massachusetts
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The Scarlet Letter is an intriguing yet somewhat gloomy story of an adulterous named Hester Prynne who has a child‚ Pearl‚ born out of wedlock. Her punishment is to wear a letter A for “adulterous” on her chest for a lifetime as well as imprisonment. The setting takes place in dreary Boston‚ Massachusetts during the seventeenth century. It starts off outside the colonies prison‚ with the townsmen and women awaiting the exit of Hester Prynne‚ the adulterous of the town. As she walks out of the
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Sin and Redemption: The Transformations of Prynne‚ Chillingsworth‚ and Dimmesdale In “The Scarlet Letter‚” Hawthorne presents the consequences of sin as an important aspect in the lives of Hester Prynne‚ Roger Chillingsworth‚ and Arthur Dimmesdale. The sin committed‚ adultery‚ between Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale had resulted in the birth of their innocent little girl‚ Pearl. This sin ruined the three main characters’ lives completely in different ways. With the sin committed‚ there were
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------------------------ The scarlet letter tells the story of sin‚ guilt and repentance. The scarlet letter was given to Hester and Dimmesdale to constantly remind them of their sins. Guilt ate away at characters‚ such as Dimmesdale‚ when trying to conceal his sins. Repentance was also felt by characters throughout The Scarlet Letter. A sin is defined as any reprehensible or regrettable action‚ behavior‚ lapse etc. Sinning plays a huge role in the story of The Scarlet Letter. The most know sin was made
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for Scarlet Letter Many authors use contrasting places to represent different forces or ideas. This opposition helps enhance the works meaning and themes. In the Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne the use of contrasting places such as the forest and the scaffold scenes to develop the characteristics of sin. The forest represents the freedom of sin‚ the scaffold represents the punishment of sin‚ and both locations are used to acknowledge the presence of sin. The citizens use the scaffold as the
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Whether it is in symbolism or dialogue; speculation‚ imagination‚ freedom from judgment‚ and non-conformity are all used in the Scarlet Letter. These can be used to prove that Hawthorne’s assessment of The Scarlet Letter being a work of romanticism was correct. In the Scarlet letter‚ it displays uses of values and intuition over reasoning through Pearls questioning of Dimmesdale‚ and in Hester’s concerns about Chillingworth. From the beginning Pearl always asks her mother why Dimmesdale always holds
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lines of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter recognizes color in depicting images into the reader’s mind. The novel unfolds over a span of seven years in Puritan America during the seventeenth century. Moral justice is tested as the plot revolves around the sin of adultery. The author uses color to illustrate the significance and symbolism of the emblem "A‚" Roger Chillingworth‚ and Pearl Prynne. The adulterer‚ Hester Prynne‚ is obligated to wearing the letter "A" as a sign of her sinfulness
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