The seventh commandment of the Ten Commandments states “Thou shalt not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14).
Adultery, according to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, is “voluntary sexual intercourse between a married man and someone other than his wife or between a married woman and someone other than her husband.” Some people may think that adultery is only an occurrence in the 21st century, but it also occurred frequently in the 1600s as well. For example, in The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a novel that was set in the 17th century tells the story of Hester Prynne who was convicted of adultery with a man named Reverend Dimmesdale. Even though adultery seems to be the most important theme throughout the novel, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses other themes and literary topics to make his novel The Scarlet Letter, “his most popular work” (Winship).
Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays many literary elements throughout the novel to fully develop and detail his thoughts to help the reader have a better understanding of the novel. Although adultery is one of the main themes, many other themes such a guilt and blame, identities, and suggestive names, also appear in the novel. The Scarlet Letter is an example of an allegorical tale in which a lot of symbolism is used. Symbolism and theme are not the only literary elements that come up in the novel. Point of view is also a crucial element. Point of view helps the reader further understand and comprehend the story. The tone in which the story is told helps the reader have a handle on what is going on in the story as well. Nathaniel Hawthorne explains the characters in a very detailed manner, but then stirs up an event that somehow contrasts with that certain character. As he doe...
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...ks Cited
• Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003. Print.
• The New English Bible; New Testament.. New York: Oxford University Press, 1961. Print.
• Winship, Michael. "Hawthorne and the 'Scribbling Women': publishing The Scarlet Letter in the nineteenth-century United States." Studies in American Fiction 29.1 (2001): 3+. Academic OneFile. Web. 13 May 2011.
• Hawthorne, Nathaniel, and Kathryn Harrison. "Introduction." The Scarlet Letter . 2000 Modern Library pbk. ed. New York: Modern Library, 2000. xi-xvi. Print.
• Hawthorne, Nathaniel, and W.D. Howells. "Commentary." The Scarlet Letter. 2000 Modern Library pbk. ed. New York: Modern Library, 2000. 261-268. Print.
• Bloom, Harold. "Biographical Sketch." Nathaniel Hawthorne's The scarlet letter . New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1996. 11-14. Print.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Enriched Classic ed. New York City: Simon & Schuster, 2004. Print.
Beginning with the very first words of The Scarlet Letter the reader is thrust into a bleak and unforgiving setting. “A thong of bearded men, in sad-colored garments,” that are said to be “intermixed with women,” come off as overpowering and all-encompassing; Hawthorne quickly and clearly establishes who will be holding the power in this story: the males (Hawthorne 45). And he goes even further with his use of imagery, painting an even more vivid picture in the reader’s mind. One imagines a sea of drab grays and browns, further reinforcing the unwelcoming feeling this atmosphere seems to inheren...
Every action reaps its consequences. This veracity is revealed in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, published by Ticknor, Reed, and Fields in 1850. Categorized into the genre of romance, The Scarlet Letter has a solemn, dark, mysterious, and almost eerie mood. The historical novel is set in the strict Puritan society of seventeenth century Boston, Massachusetts. When the book begins, the past action of adultery has already been committed. The story then follows the characters involved in the dirty deed and skillfully details their responses to the consequences.
Sewall, Richard B. "The Scarlet Letter: Criticism." Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2001. 319-27.
http://www.chuckiii.com/reports/book_reports/scarlet_letter.html. March 1, 2002. Clendenning, John. The. Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Normally when most people think of vampires, they envision a deathly, pale creature with fangs. But Thomas Foster seems to think differently, who argues that it is not necessary for a vampire to embody a stereotypical vampire. Surprisingly enough, even humans can be these types of monsters. From Foster 's perspective, being a vampire not only includes an individual 's aesthetics, but also their actions, personality, intent, and overall representation of personal identity. The classic novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, presents an excellent example of this occurrence, where the character Roger Chillingworth meets the criteria of a vampiric figure, based on Thomas Foster 's ideas of vampirism, found in his book How to Read Literature Like a Professor.
III. Comparable aspects of Hawthorne's characterization in The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables
Lathrop, G. P., ed. "Hawthorne, Nathaniel." The Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature. Binghamton, New York: Vail-Ballou, 1962. 439-40. Print.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Scarlet Letter." Nathaniel Hawthorne's Tales. Ed. James McIntosh. New York: Norton, 1987.
“A bloody scourge…rigorously, and until his knees trembled beneath him, as an act of penance.” (Hawthorne, 141) In the Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Minister Dimmesdale starved himself, whipped himself, and tortured himself to get rid of the guilt caused by his sin with Hester Prynne. Hawthorne describes the minister’s guilt as the evil that anchored him down and shows how Dimmesdale tortures himself but can never get rid of it. His guilt came from many things. First was his guilt for committing the crime with Hester Prynne. Second is his guilt for not being with her at the time that she was put upon the scaffold. Last was his guilt from not revealing himself to his own daughter and from having to stay out of her life due to fear of being shamed by the community. Hawthorne’s views on guilt and Dimmesdale are mostly that his guilt controlled his life completely until the very end when the power of the sin and guilt took over to the point where he couldn’t control himself.
Griswold, Rufus Wilmot. "The Scarlet Letter." The Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors. Ed. Charles Wells Moulton. Gloucester, Massachusetts: Peter Smith Publishing, 1989. 341-371.
Gerber, John C. "Form and Content in The Scarlet Letter." The Scarlet Letter: A Norton Critical Edition. Eds. Seymour Gross, Sculley Bradley, Richmond Croom Beatty, and E. Hudson Long. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1988.
Werlock, Abby H.P., ed. “Nathaniel Hawthorne.” New York: Fact On File, Inc, 2006. Bloom’s Literary Reference Online. Fact On File, Inc. 21 February, 2011.
Adultery is a horrible sin to commit, but it can actually be avoided, although many people in today's society respond differently based on their religion and culture. When a person commits adultery they fail in keeping his/her commitment to their partner. When adultery happens the trust is broken in the relationship and the other person will feel deceived and betrayed.
The Scarlet Letter is a blend of realism, symbolism, and allegory. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses historical settings for this fictional novel and even gives historical background information for the inspiration of the story of Hester Prynne in the introduction of The Scarlet Letter, ‘The Custom-House’. The psychological exploration of the characters and the author’s use of realistic dialogue only add to the realism of the novel. The most obvious symbol of the novel is the actual scarlet letter ‘A’ that Hester wears on her chest every day, but Hawthorne also uses Hester’s daughter Pearl and their surroundings as symbols as well. Allegory is present as well in The Scarlet Letter and is created through the character types of several characters in the novel.