Hester’s Tough Decision Anti transcendentalism, fixed to the mid-19th century, was the idea that nature was good, man was evil and was set out to destroy nature. The Scarlet Letter was a famous book written by Nathaniel Hawthorne that implemented anti transcendentalism. In the first chapter the reader was introduced to 3 symbols; a prison, a cemetery, and a rose bush. All puritanical meanings, the prison symbolized justice and judgement, the cemetery symbolized death of course, and the rose bush
The Scarlet Letter is the story of a woman who makes a choice that affects her entire life and transcends through the harsh judgments that she faces. Nathaniel Hawthorne published this novel in the 1850’s. Some would say it is his most famous work. The story is set in Boston, Massachusetts, during the puritan times about a women and her struggle through life when she has given birth to a daughter that is a product of adultery. However, some may see Hester as an anti-transcendentalist. One could
Hester Prynne shows transcendentalism in The Scarlet Letter by performing self-reliance, simplicity, and nonconformity. She lives a very simple life, and dresses in simple colors. While she dresses Pearl very colorful and not so simple. She makes just enough money, so she doesn’t buy things that aren’t needed. She shows self-reliance by taking care of herself and Pearl. She knows how to get by without causing trouble and drama. She shows nonconformity by being herself. She doesn’t let the Puritans
Anti-Transcendentalist perspectives on realism, the inner evil of men, spiritual forgiveness, and the feeling of guilt. His portrayal of anti-transcendentalist concepts and symbolism appear throughout the characters of The Scarlet Letter. One pillar of anti-transcendentalism is realism. Hawthorn creates characters who have realist’s views. They are observant of their surroundings and have an appreciation for fate and destiny. To this end, the characters see what has happened in the past or to others
Throughout one’s life, one has to learn to struggle with holding certain expectations of oneself. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the anti-transcendental novel portrays the idea that in order for one to live a fulfilled life, he/she must accept that that nature of humans is imperfect. In this novel, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale struggles to accept his true hippocratic nature. At first he leads a double life, trying to cover up his sin by presenting himself innocent. Then, his guilt starts
Transcendentalism – “a belief in a higher knowledge than achieved by human reason.” is a philosophical and social movement beginning in the 1830’s, thinkers like Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson were the focal points of the movement. Some of their writings such as The Dial, Nature, and Walden are all transcendentalist pieces that were revolutionary at their time of release, and can be related to Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynne embodies transcendentalism by her nonconformist
puritan thought. These things are concepts/key features of transcendentalism, whilst it is never said directly that she is transcendentalist, she naturally leans towards those thoughts. She also quite literally transcends the puritan way and calls her sin holy in her eyes, directly and extremely defying puritan thought. Even stronger than that is her forced and embraced self-reliance, caused by her scarlet letter. When she gets her scarlet letter she is described as haughty, which means she still holds
hypocrisy, fraud, and tyranny. Frederick William Robertson. Seventeenth century Puritan civilization: Boston Massachusetts. The narrator depicts Puritan society as drab, confining, unforgiving, and narrow-minded that unfairly victimizes Hester. In The Scarlet Letter, the Puritans appear as shallow hypocrites whose opinion of Hester and Pearl improves only when they become more of an asset to the community, most notably when Hester becomes a seamstress and Pearl inherits a fortune from Chillingworth. The novel
The Scarlet Letter involves quite a few themes that can be related to today including: playing the role of God, sin, and guilt. People continue to play the role of God throughout our society, just as thwey did in the 17th century in Bostin, Massachusetts. Society declined on their morales, and haave lessened the definition of sin. Guilt was and is a major theme in our world, and more thatn likely will continuie to be a major part of out world. The Scarlet Letter has so many themes, and the individual
The Scarlet Letter Essay on Personal and Public Truths The Scarlet Letter was written in the 1850’s by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a custom house worker. Hawthorne wrote this historical fiction novel after he was fired from his job due to political reasons. He wrote this story to portray the story of a woman named Hester Prynne as he found some documents on her at the custom house before his departure. This novel includes fictional and non-fictional characters to add to historical background and to make