Massachusetts, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the fortitude of the Puritan society as well as major imperfections of its beliefs and religion. Using his familiarity of the Puritan ways of life, Hawthorne not only expresses his fondness of the culture, but also institutes a concern for the judgmental and irrational behaviors that are enforced by the Puritan religion. Hugo McPherson has claimed, “Hawthorne’s rejection of the Calvinist view of human nature, however, does not lead
In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne struggles as a sinner in Puritan New England in the 1600s. She is forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her bosom to show that she has committed adultery. However, she is not the only sinner in her community. Though symbolism and irony, Hawthorne successfully shows that even though the Puritans seem pure, there were many defects in their society. The Puritans judge Hester because of her scarlet letter “A” on her bosom. Whenever Hester
1. I empathize with Hester Prynne in the book of The Scarlet Letter. She survives through guilt, hopelessness, and loneliness throughout the novel. Like the letter A that is sown on her bossom, Hester is the symbol of sin in the Puritan society she lives in. Guilt is something everyone can relate to. It is something we all hate but is, sadly, inevitable. As Nathaniel Hawthorne says, “...guilt...once made into the human soul is never, in this mortal state, repaired” (75). Guilt is a never
The Scarlet Letter is a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne that emphasizes sin. In the story the main character Hester Prynne is punished by her community because she committed adultery. The living proof of Hester’s sin is her daughter Pearl, a bothersome, yet intelligent, child. Hester is forced to live a life of isolation and raise Pearl by herself because she refuses to admit who the father is. Darrel Abel, in his literary criticism of The Scarlet Letter, wrote, “Society wronged Hester grievously
Knowledge, and the Human Condition Sin and knowledge are closely related in Judeo-Christian tradition. In the Bible Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden because they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. As a result of knowledge, Adam and Eve must admit that they have not listened, and that separates them from divinity and other creatures. After being banished from the Garden of Eden, they are forced to toil and multiply - two "work" that seem to define the human condition. Hester
Everything in nature is flawed, from the mutations of organisms to the irrational number pi. Humans however have inquired the qualities of perfectionism to pertain to the human condition. In other words, to be identifiable as humane, one must be imperfect and flawed. Therefore perfectionism is impractical and superfluous for it destroys individuality, diversity and triggers impulses. Nevertheless, stubborn humans continue to strive against the laws of nature to reach the impossibility of perfection
in The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter isn’t just about a woman dealing with the sin of adultery but a woman who faces many different hardships and obstacles to build her character. Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter, wrote the novel during a time when religion was very strict, corrupt, and harsh. Hester, the main character of the novel, has a child named Pearl with another man that is not her husband. Hester has to stand on the scaffold for an hour and wear a scarlet letter
Than One Symbol For an Icon? “In Discussion: the symbol of the letter “A” in the Scarlet Letter” “Behind these eyes there is a girl trapped within her pain – a girl feeling all the emotions of anger and sadness. She’s fighting for a way out,” Chimnese Davids, Muses of Wandering Passions. This relates to The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne because throughout the story Hester Prynne feels a lot of different emotions. The Scarlet Letter is about a girl who commits adultery. She gets pregnant with
her it was her true love for her lover. Hester’s nature makes her go against what is said and written by the society then. Hester continues to loveDimmesdale and wishes to live in the next generation. (Arsdale, Rodriguez, 2011). In the forest when Hester accepts who she is and decides to remove her scarlet letter and cap, she feels happy and wears a smile which comes from a true heart of womanhood. It shows the true spirit of feminism and how nature has accepted her as a true woman. Moreover, Hawthorne
In the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne utilizes the forest as the embodiment of freedom for members of the Puritan society in need of a refuge from the daily Puritan life. The forest itself is a free world with no Puritan laws. In the forest, no one watches to report unusual behaviors this, people can do what they desire. The forest opens up a whole new world. The forest is described as a “path strangled onward into the mystery of the primeval forest” (172). The word mystery indicates that there are