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
In Hawthorne's novel, there are a number of sub-themes, which can be expressed in the form of opposition and that are subordinated to a major theme, that of sin. Sin, 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
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
choice, Shakespeare is not denying Christian beliefs but emphasizing the same truth conveyed by many other authors: the truth about the destructive nature of sin. Hawthorne’s Arthur Dimmesdale dies as a result of his sin and subsequent guilt in The Scarlet Letter, and Miller’s John Proctor dies as a result of his weakness and the false accusations of others in The Crucible. These authors show the real and lasting powerful effects of our transgressions as a warning to think about the consequences