The scarlet letter was a novel that portrayed a Puritan society that embodies sin, guilt and the conflict between their beliefs and actions. Hester Prynne, a young woman, that committed adultery in a puritan society. She was shamed publically holding her baby daughter, Pearl, on a scaffold and was made to wear a scarlet A as a symbol of her sin. She later moved near the wood to raise her child in isolation. Chillingworth, her ex husband, plotted against her lover, which was later revealed as
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804. He was raised in a Puritan family and his family members were very impactful in Puritan society. His great-grandfather was one of the judges who was part of the Salem Witch Trials. Hawthorne was disgusted by having the same name as his ancestors so he added the ‘w’ to Hathorne, which he went by in his writings. In 1850, Hawthorne wrote what is considered to be his greatest novel, The Scarlet Letter. The novel is set in a Puritan community
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses an admirable character, Reverend Dimmesdale, in order to portray that being a hypocrite is one of the worst sins that one can commit. Hawthorne uses hypocrisy as a major theme of the novel. Consequently, Hawthorne is able to express his hatred of the Puritanical society, by proving to the readers that the majority of Puritans were hypocritical. Throughout the novel, poor Hester Prynne had to face the evil Puritans by herself, and bravely
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
watched for rule breaking. The Scarlet Letter tells the story of a woman by the name of Hester, who breaks the societal rules and religious law in order pursue love and have a child. As punishment by the authorities, she is forced to wear a letter “A” which initially means “adulterer.” However, later in the story, it becomes clear that there is a more complicated rationale behind the letter and the characterization of Hester, which portrays the hypocrisy
During pious Puritan times, a person was not worthy of respect without an honorable reputation. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel, The Scarlet Letter, uses the, often horrible, decisions and reputations of characters to shape the story, moulding it into the classic novel both English teachers and students come to know and love. Nathaniel Hawthorne shapes characters such as Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale through their sins, their evolving mental and physical state, and their crippling lack
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
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, a romantic work of historical fiction published in 1860, explores the costs of duplicity and disguised guilt among the lives of individuals who struggle to embrace their self-awareness within a stern society. Set in the mid-seventeenth century in Puritan Boston, Massachusetts, the protagonist Hester Prynne bears the scarlet letter upon her chest. The letter A serves as an unceasing public shaming for her adulterous actions with the highly regarded Reverend
In the short story YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN, the author Nathaniel Hawthorne explores the theme of Faith and Religion. He uses the metaphor of a journey through the forest, at night, where Young Goodman Brown has to face his ideas of faith and beliefs, as well as his vision of good and evil. In YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN by Nathaniel Hawthorne the author uses symbolism to describe the character’s inner journey, questioning the moral and religious values that were inherited from his family.and molded into his
NEXT What Nathaniel Hawthorne did... and why you should care The writer Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on the Fourth of July in 1804 and went on from there to establish himself as one of the great contributors to American literature. Like Forrest Gump, he seemed all his life to be surrounded by history. He was descended from a line of notorious Puritans, including a judge at the Salem witch trials. His college pals included poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and future president Franklin Pierce. Henry