is the main theme in The Scarlet Letter. All of the characters in the book were somehow affected by the main sin‚ which was adultery. The three main characters were the most widely affected‚ and their whole lives were molded by the way they dealt with the sin. The sin surrounds‚ encloses‚ and strangles them. There was no escaping from its cruel consequences. Hester Prynne’s sin was labeled an adulteress‚ and the result of this was that she had to wear the scarlet letter "A." She feels that her
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The Scarlet Letter – Journal #1 In chapters four through seven‚ Nathaniel Hawthorne uses a plethora of rhetorical strategies to convey his purpose of emphasizing the character’s opinions and also to describe what is taking place in the particular chapter. In chapter four‚ there are many times when Hawthorne uses parallelism to emphasize the character’s opinions. For instance on page 51‚ paragraph one‚ Hawthorne quotes Roger Chillingworth using parallelism‚ “…in the eyes of men and women‚ -in the
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SYMBOL1.Scarlet Letter "A"A = Adultery (sin)The meaning changes through the times. Adultery---Able~ Able to face the society with dignity~ Able to accept her punishment alone without any support and friends~ Able to be a mother for Pearl2.Rosebush (Chapter 1: The Prison Door‚ p. 40-41)Hester = rebel‚ young soul‚ conservative‚ endured. 3.Prison Door (Chapter 1: The Prison Door‚ p. 40-41)Puritan Community = strict‚ old generation‚ conventional. 4.Scaffold (Chapter 2)Moral Discipline = Puritan stiffness
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In the novel‚ The Scarlet Letter‚ by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ Hester commits adultery‚ disobeying the Puritan laws‚ and is punished with two constant reminders of her sin‚ the scarlet A and her daughter‚ Pearl. Hawthorne characterizes Pearl with contrasting personalities and roles she plays in Hester’s life. Pearl’s conflicting personality components‚ innocence and defiance‚ both derive from her isolation from society‚ which resulted from her mother’s sin. Pearl represents the conflict between good and
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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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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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Tamara Haddad Wilhite P.5 Scarlet Letter Dialectical Journal “Like anything that pertains to crime‚ it seemed never to have a youthful era… a wild rose-bush‚ in this month of June‚ with delicate gems‚ which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in” (Hawthorne 45). Hawthorne describes the door of the jail‚ as well as the rose bush to the side of it. I feel as if this is supposed to represent what Hester is about the experience: the harsh
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There are many types of "scarlet letter’s" in modern day life that apply to all in any given society. A type of "scarlet letter" in today’s society is none other than appearance and self-presentation. Another "scarlet letter" that all people are subjected to‚ especially earlier in life‚ is popularity and recognition. One more "scarlet letter" example in modern day society is money. Appearance and presentation has involved itself in society too much. If certain people in society don’t like an appearance
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A Feminist Perspective on the Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter is an important piece of literature which offers a notable contribution to all literature with it’s strong female main character and themes of misogyny‚ religious mania‚ and forgiveness. The summary by Mary Ellen Snodgrass in The Encyclopedia of Feminist Literature describes and summarizes this perspective. The excerpt speaks on Hester’s strong character and resistance against the patriarchal oppressive religious male stronghold
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The Human Inclination to Love In writing The Scarlet Letter‚ author Nathaniel Hawthorne was immersed in the era of transcendentalism and romanticism that so greatly influenced his work. Defining the movement was the concept that humans are inherently good in their nature and if they are left to their own devices ultimately they will do that good uncorrupted (Chase 109). Within The Scarlet Letter‚ this is brought to full awareness through the nature of Puritan society in the early English colony
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