Perhaps the foremost purpose of The Scarlet Letter is to illustrate the difference between shaming someone in public and allowing him or her to suffer the consequences of an unjust act privately. According to the legal statutes at the time and the prevailing sentiment of keeping in accordance with a strict interpretation of the Bible‚ adultery was a capital sin that required the execution of both adulterer and adulteress--or at the very least‚ severe public corporal punishment. Indeed‚ even if the
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in The Scarlet Letter It is possible for someone to become so consumed by revenge that his health suffers. He has been wronged by someone and believe in “tit for a tat”‚ so they choose getting even instead of forgiveness. This may seem like the easiest and fairest way to live life‚ but it can completely occupy lives and cloud judgment. Roger Chillingworth chose to take revenge on Dimmesdale (for the affair the minister had with his wife) in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter. His need
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In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne a young lady by the name of Hester becomes the focus of the town after committing adultery. Throughout the novel the scaffold scene becomes repeated‚ making it clear to the reader that it is of great importance. Each scaffold scene foreshadows what will happen later in the novel. With the scaffold scenes‚ Nathaniel Hawthorne conveys the theme and helps the reader to have a better understanding of the novel. In chapter five-“The point which
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In the Scarlet Letter two of the primary characters are provided by the author to show us a kind of foil. The one character‚ Reverend Dimmesdale‚ seems as if he is kind‚ but he has been living with a terrible burden‚ hindering him everywhere he goes. Chillingworth is his opposite‚ you would assume him to be nice when really he is quite evil. Dimmesdale and Chillingworth bring out each other’s characteristics and bring out the characteristics of other characters around them. Dimmesdale and Chillingworth
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cultures at different eras within American history‚ a common theme can be established when comparing The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald with The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Both novels‚ for example‚ examine the dichotomy between reality and appearance as well as the conflict between individual and social values. In The Scarlet Letter‚ Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale love each other. This love holds great personal value for them. However‚ because their relationship is adulterous
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Near the beginning of the Scarlet Letter‚ Hester was a passionate and proud woman. Her characteristics reveal themselves throughout her attire‚ attitude‚ and countenance. Hester openly expresses her love for freedom‚ which is encouraged by Romantics. However‚ as she grows older‚ she matures and her rough edges begin to smooth. Since she is permanently distanced from civilization by the Scarlet Letter‚ she becomes independent. Isolated from everyone‚ Hester becomes
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today‚ and the same goes for the society of the 17th century. Guilt is the state of being responsible for the commission of an offense and the only cure for the feeling of being guilty is confessing to whomever you have harmed or wronged. In The Scarlet Letter‚ written by Nathanial Hawthorn; there is a young woman named Hester Prynne who has been accused of committing adultery‚ she is being showcased for the entire town to witness her in her shame. Hester’s husband‚ who is thought to be dead‚ returns
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Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ author of The Scarlet Letter‚ felt that the Puritans were people who believed that the world was a place where the battle between good and evil was a never-ending one. Throughout the novel‚ Hawthorne uses the symbols of light and dark to depict this battle among the characters Hester Prynne‚ Pearl‚ and Roger Chillingworth. <br> <br>After Hester commits her sin‚ her beauty almost immediately vanishes into darkness. Her hair no longer hangs freely about her face‚ instead she ties
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connection that Pearl now makes because they would never suspect their pastor to be capable of such a sin. Again‚ we see the problem with the Puritan “reading” of the world: intent on preserving the functional aspects of their society (i.e.‚ the minister as an icon of purity)‚ the people of Boston refuse to make what would seem to be an obvious set of connections between Hester’s situation and the minister’s mysterious torments. Pearl is too young to understand sex‚ adultery‚ or shame‚ but she is
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put upon certain individuals throughout the era of their existence and the scaring aftermath leading to those who have been affected by it. “The main image of this evil that threatens a whole community can be found in the mysterious figure of the Black Man. Hawthorne‚ as the author‚ never makes a statement as to his existence; all references to him exist simply in the mouths of the characters. From them one can gather that he lives in the forest‚ outside of the city‚ and that he carries a book and
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