truly understand the spiritual and psychological fields, that are behind the facts considered by mutual agreement, sins. Hester's is forced to wear a scarlet letter as a mark of her sin upon her breast for life, as a punishment. It may seem harsh and unusual. But the punishment is extraordinarily tolerant in comparison to the Biblical and legal punishments at the time. The Bible used by the Puritans states, "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14). Furthermore, Leviticus 20:10 states, "If a man
The Scarlet Letter: Hester’s Transformation Hester Prynne defies all Puritan beliefs when she has an affair with an unknown man, later revealed as Arthur Dimmesdale, the town’s priest. As a punishment, the letter “A” is placed on her breast and must remain there. Women and men alike look at Hester and see a woman “who had once been innocent—as the figure, the body, the reality of sin” (83). The scarlet letter bears an enormous weight that Hester must carry and is a constant reminder of her sin
The Scarlet Letter: The Effects of Literary Techniques Jane Austen once said “I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives”. Nathaniel Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter, tells the story of the life of Hester Prynne, an adulteress, forced to wear a Scarlet “A” on her bosom by the sinister Puritan society to mark her shame. As her husband seeks revenge for the unidentified lover, Arthur Dimmesdale
The Unambiguous Letter A Throughout the Scarlet Letter there are assorted contrasting views of the A seen by the community. In Puritan society, the letter A was quite plainly defined as an adulterer. Hester’s outlook about the A is what gives it numerous meanings. After working with the Sisters of Mercy group, the Puritan people begin to distinguish the A as her ability to help others. The night that Governor Winthrop died and Dimmesdale stood upon the scaffold, it was said that a vague A could
As Nathaniel Hawthorne began to pen The Scarlet Letter, the gender roles of America started to change in ways that had never been seen in its history. Just two years before the publication of Hawthorne’s novel, women from all walks of life had gathered in Seneca Falls, New York to discuss their rights. This conference served as the foundation of the feminist movement and was the culmination of years of small steps for women in their quest for further rights. This fight for additional rights started
Hester punishment turns into power. We get to see how bravely Hester takes her decisions.Though Hester is married to Chilingworth who was
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a remarkable American novel. Hawthorne created this story to have many different characters. The main characters of this book are Hester Prynne, Pearl, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. Most of these main characters evolved throughout the book, however, this is not true for all of them. Despite Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale evolving throughout The Scarlet Letter, the only character that did not change was Chillingworth, who was introduced
in the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne the imagery of Revelation is constently used to bring the reader into the characters view of the impact past them. These "revelations" scattered throughout history, function as alarm clocks or achievements of the current situation that the character is present in situations they may face in the future. All the characters in the story have some sort of revelation. A key theme of discovery used in this story is the realization of identification; This is
Everything begins in a seventeenth century settlement which back then was a puritan society. A young woman, whose name is Hester Prynne, is taken from the parish prison with her little baby, Pearl, in her arms and the scarlet letter “A” perfectly visible in her breast. Nathaniel Hawthorne shows us immediately what is happening by exposing the people’s comments. A man explained to another that the woman had been punished for adultery. Hester’s arrived a long time ago there. She had been sent by her
Chapter 5: The difference was that Hester felt less torture during her emergence for the public humiliation because she was able to “man up” to the pointing fingers and overcome the negative feelings of torture, effectively converting her walk of shame into a “lurid triumph” (54). With nobody around for her last emergence, she soon realizes the horrors of reality where she must fight to survive every single day’s “heap of shame” (54). A dichotomy that is established between the townspeople and