Scarlet Letter Essay
The Romantic era was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement which the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, was a major part of. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne negatively comments on Puritan culture from Hester's alienated point of view. Hawthorne shows Puritan society's assumptions and strict moral values not only through how how Hester is effected by her alienation but also through the town reactions to Hester's sin.
In the entirety of The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne shows disdain for Puritan society through Hester’s alienation and how it affects other people in the town. Hawthorne shows the strictness of the society when Hester's neighbors and former friends immediately abandon her after she receives the scarlet letter. Here Hawthorne is telling the reader how much power Puritan society plays into the lives of the townspeople, often negatively.Yet, in a way Hester becomes the outside philosopher, looking into the Puritan society without truly being a part of the society. She spends a large amount of time contemplating large moral themes, such as human nature and social organization. Her alienation helps her become a compassionate, stoic, freethinker, shaped by her extraordinary situation. By the end of the novel Hester has moved away
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Through Hester’s own personal struggles with isolation and how it affects her outlook on life and the compassion she learns from the experience. And in addition, with other’s experience as well, such as Dimmesdale’s guilt and self-punishment. Alternatively, Hawthorne shows assumptions and strict moral values from the townspeople’s changing perspective on Hester and her scarlet letter, from a figure of shame and isolation to a brave and motherly figure. Above all Hawthorne shows both the good and the bad of Puritan society and its often misguided assumptions of character and rigid moral
Hester Prynne is a character who gave up everything, even love, for her child. Hester Prynne sacrificed her peace, her beauty, her entire being for her child and this shows her determination and profound understanding of the world. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s piece, “The Scarlet Letter” shows the other side of the sinner’s story and not as a villain, but a victim.
The central theme in The Scarlet Letter is that manifested sin will ostracize one from society and un-confessed sin will lead to the destruction of the inner spirit. Hawthorne uses the symbol of the scarlet letter to bring out this idea. In the novel, Hester is forced to wear the scarlet letter A (the symbol of her sin) because she committed adultery with the clergyman, Dimmesdale. Because the public's knowledge of her sin, Hester is excluded physically, mentally, and socially from the normal society of the Puritan settlement. She lives on the outskirts of town in a small cottage where she makes her living as a seamstress. Though she is known to be a great sewer amongst the people, Hester is still not able to sew certain items, such as a new bride's veil. Hester also has no interaction with others; instead she is taunted, if not completely ignored, by all that pass her by. Despite the ill treatment of the society, Hester's soul is not corrupted. Instead, she flourishes and improves herself in spite of the burden of wearing the scarlet letter and she repeatedly defies the conventional Puritan thoughts and values by showing what appears to us as strength of character. Her good works, such as helping the less fortunate, strengthen her inner spirit, and eventually partially welcome her back to the society that once shunned her.
The characters Hawthorne develops are deep, unique, and difficult to genuinely understand. Young, tall, and beautiful Hester Prynne is the central protagonist of this story. Shamefully, strong-willed and independent Hester is the bearer of the scarlet letter. Burning with emotion, she longs for an escape from her mark, yet simultaneously, she refuses to seem defeated by society’s punishment. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale claims the secondary role in The Scarlet Letter; he is secretly Hester’s partner in adultery. Conflicted and grieved over his undisclosed act, he drives himself to physical and mental sickness. He fervently desires Hester, but should he risk his godly reputation by revealing the truth? Dimmesdale burns like Hester. Pearl, the child produced in Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin, is the third main character. She is fiery, passionate, perceiving, and strikingly symbolic; at one point in the novel she is referred to as “the scarlet letter endowed with life!” Inevitably, Pearl is consumed with questions about herself, her mother, and Dimmesdale. The reader follows Pearl as she discovers the truth. Altogether, Hawthorne’s use of intricately complex, conflicted ch...
Human nature thrives on labels and stereotypes; they are methods society uses to better comprehend others disposition and justify their behavior. However, when placed stereotypes can override individuality, and this can force one to conform to such labels, hide their true character, and change their persona. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester is a victim of such a stereotype. The Puritan society in which she lives confines and defines her based on her sin, and not by a totality of her actions and character. Nevertheless she emerges, reborn, as her own person once again. Hester Prynne's development through the use of archetypes, symbols, and Romanticism reinforce the theme of the effects of stereotypes and labels and their refutal in The Scarlet Letter.
with. Having a heart blinded by love Hester choose to stay in the town and
It seems as if Hawthorne wrote this scene for the purposes of exhibiting the harshness of Puritan society, and to allow the reader some insight into Hester's thoughts. Hawthorne places the focus onto Hester at this moment. The reader observes her before the full effect of the scarlet letter has had a chance to take hold of her. The reader is also able to see the cruel and judgmental behavior of the crowd through their language, such as when they call her a hussy. "This women has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die. Is there not law for it?"
Through Hester and the symbol of the scarlet letter, Hawthorne reveals how sin can be utilized to change a person for the better, in allowing for responsibility, forgiveness, and a renewed sense of pride. In a Puritan society that strongly condemns adultery one would expect Hester to leave society and never to return again, but that does not happen. Instead, Hester says, “Here…had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul, and work out another purity than that which she had lost; more saint-like, because the result of martyrdom.” Hes...
Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, focuses on the Puritan society. The Puritan society molded itself and created a government based upon the Bible and implemented it with force. The crime of adultery committed by Hester generated rage, and was qualified for serious punishment according to Puritan beliefs. Ultimately the town of Boston became intensely involved with Hester's life and her crime of adultery, and saw to it that she be publicly punished and tortured. Based upon the religious, governmental, and social design of the Puritan society, Hester's entire existence revolved around her sin and the Puritan perception. Therefore it is evident within The Scarlet Letter that the Puritan community to some degree has constructed Hester's character.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s well known novel, The Scarlet Letter, extensive diction and intense imagery are used to portray the overall tone of the characters. In particular, Hester Prynne, the wearer of the Scarlet Letter, receives plentiful positive characterization throughout the novel. Hester’s character most notably develops through the town’s peoples ever-changing views on the scarlet letter, the copious mentions of her bravery, and her ability to take care of herself, Pearl, and others, even when she reaches the point where most would give up and wallow in their suffering.
But this isolation is not without its unseen advantages, in Hester’s case, her isolation is her “badge of shame". The Scarlet letter distances her from others, but it contributes to her moral and mental growth. She “transcends her separation from society by good deeds and the companionship of miserable people". With all of this isolation that Hawthorne creates there is good because in the end she frees herself from her past. She frees herself from her past by redeeming herself by coming back into town many years after her and Pearl fled that dreadful day on the scaffold. She redeems herself by returning to her charitable work and never asks for anything in return. When she dies she goes down as a legend and people totally forget that the A on her chest ever stood for adulter. Personally I think that this was a fitting way for Hester to die because it is a quaint way to spend her live and the fact that she dedicates her life to helping those her persecuted her for all of it is very noble of
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, contains many profound characters. The townspeople intrigue the reader because they gradually evolve throughout the book, as would any solitary character. In the beginning of the novel, they are generally rigid and judgmental towards Hester, because she has committed adultery. Throughout the novel, they slowly allow Hester and her daughter into their community, but still look at them with suspicion and doubt. Finally, in the end of The Scarlet Letter, the town forgives her of her sin, and she cautiously finds her place in society. Hawthorne uses the strict Puritan townspeople as a criterion by which all societies can be measured. The townspeople, as with any individual character, possess a certain depth that develops with knowledge.
While venturing to portray an omniscient viewpoint, Hawthorne blurs the lines between relativity and reality regarding sin. Particularly, the author pities Hester Prynne's condition, but goes so far to rationalize and vindicate her sins. Hawthorne emphasizes his similarities to the marked mother, saying “That scarlet letter so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom. It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself” (Hawthorne 37). Accordingly, the author establishes his connection to Hester by expressing his relation to alienation. The author confides that a man like himself with puritan values is not easily inclined to reveal sin that is hidden within his own...
The historical setting is highly significant in the novel since it is intertwined with the public’s belief and values, which shape overall themes of the novel and the main characters’ traits. The main setting of the novel takes place in New England during the middle of the seventeenth century, and the setting is the essential factor that develops the core conflicts among Hester, Dimmesdale, and the Puritan society; in fact, the historical setting itself and the society within it is what Hawthorne intends to reveal to the reader. New England in the seventeenth century was predominately organized around religious authorities, and indeed, a large portion of the population had migrated to the colony of New England with religious purposes. Therefore, the strict and religiously centered historical setting is well demonstrated through Hester’s townspeople when Hester commits adultery. The church authority and the townspeople require Hester to wear the large “A” embroidered scarlet letter, which symbolizes adultery. This act is aligned with the historica...
As Hester wears the scarlet letter, the reader can feel how much of an outcast Hester becomes. When walking through town, “…she never raised her head to receive their greeting. If they were resolute to accost her, she laid her finger on the scarlet letter and passed on” (Hawthorne, 127).She believes that she is not worthy of the towns acknowledgments and chooses to ignore them. The guilt that now rests in Hester is overwhelming to her and is a reason of her change in personality.
The Scarlet Letter is a fictional novel that begins with an introductory passage titled ‘The Custom-House’. This passage gives a historical background of the novel and conveys the narrator’s purpose for writing about the legend of Hester Prynne even though the narrator envisions his ancestors criticizing him and calling him a “degenerate” because his career was not “glorifying God”, which is very typical of the strict, moralistic Puritans. Also, although Hawthorne is a Romantic writer, he incorporates properties of Realism into his novel by not idealizing the characters and by representing them in a more authentic manner. He does this by using very formal dialogue common to the harsh Puritan society of the seventeenth century and reflecting their ideals through this dialogue. The Puritans held somewhat similar views as the Transcendentalists in that they believed in the unity of God and the world and saw signs and symbols in human events, such as when the citizens related the meteo...