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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A Sign for Sin Throughout The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ the effects of sin and guilt on the mind‚ body‚ and soul of Hester and Dimmesdale are revealed through imagery and symbolism. Hester and Dimmesdale are living in the tormented realm of social stigma inflicted by carrying around sin and guilt in different ways. For example‚ in The Scarlet Letter‚ Hester remains beautiful and composed on the outside throughout her punishment‚ while her body and poker face are not affected. Dimmesdale
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Hawthorne manages to create many metaphors within his novel The Scarlet Letter. The rose bush outside the prison door‚ the black man‚ and the scaffold are three metaphors. Perhaps the most important metaphor would be the scaffold‚ which plays a great role throughout the entire story. The three scaffold scenes which Hawthorne incorporated into The Scarlet Letter contain a great deal of significance and importance the plot. Each scene brings a different aspect of the main characters‚ the crowd or
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“The motherchild relationship...requires the most intense love on the mother’s side‚” according to Erich Fromm‚ a German psychologist. The 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
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The novel titled The Scarlet Letter‚ written by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ was a story full of tragic irony. Hester Prynne‚ throughout the story‚ makes a great effort to conceal secrets among others such as Arthur Dimmesdale‚ and Roger Chillingworth. This effort is filled with hypocrisy because of the way they live their lives day by day. Some being idled for great doing‚ others shunning people of sin‚ when yet each of them have all committed sin of their own. Therefore‚ irony amongst this novel‚ is great
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Arthur Dimmesdale was a very important character in The Scarlet Letter. He encountered many problems and resolved them throughout the novel. He changes a lot throughout the novel‚ physical and mentally. While reading the novel‚ the reader can relate to Dimmesdale by his actions and feelings. Minister Arthur Dimmesdale explains the moral of the story‚ and helps the reader understand what the novel is about. First‚ Dimmesdale encountered many problems throughout the story. These problems were very
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The Scarlet Letter Symbolism Essay People often overlook obscure details due to a variety of reasons. In The Scarlet Letter‚ by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ symbols are notable and powerful sources of percipience. Throughout the story‚ the author uses flowers as messengers of hope‚ love‚ forgiveness‚ and other emotions. In the novel‚ the disparity of wild-flowers and similarities between a rose and Hester show the threat of sin to Puritan ideology. To begin‚ wild-flowers are thrown at the scarlet letter
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every sin they committed. For example‚ religious conflict takes place in literature such as “Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God” and The Scarlet Letter. Real historical figures include Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams. Religious conflict has shaped American society. In The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is publically shamed by being branded with the scarlet A for committing adultery for as long as she lives. However‚ many people think that she deserves a bigger consequence such as being sentenced
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"A" for Alienation Alienation is a common theme in all writing; however‚ in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ never has alienation been so vividly accounted. The Scarlet Letter is a story about Hester Prynne‚ a woman who commits adultery against her husband named Roger Chillingworth‚ with the local reverend named Arthur Dimmesdale; the result is a strange child named Pearl. The plot thickens as the mistress and the reverend strive to keep their sin a secret‚ and as Chillingworth appears
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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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