More handpicked essays just for you.
Critical Analysis of the Scarlet Letter
Critically analyse The Scarlet Letter
Critical Analysis of the Scarlet Letter
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Critical Analysis of the Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne published The Scarlett Letter in 1850 but the events take place in the 1600’s. In the introduction, Hawthorne explains to the audience why he is writing another autobiographical book and maybe how it might not be “about” him but it somehow relates to him. Hawthorne says he wrote the autobiography for those who enjoy reading him and for those who follow him and his writings. Hawthorne primarily uses his persona, his complex syntax, and his carful arrangement to convey his purpose to explain his inspiration for The Scarlett Letter to his adult, Christian, and sympathetic audience. Hawthorne establishes a persona as being a humble person. He says that this will be his second autobiography, even though he does not like talking
In The Scarlet Letter, author Nathaniel Hawthorne efficiently conveys his purpose to the audience through the use of numerous rhetorical devices in his novel. Two such rhetorical strategies Hawthorne establishes to convey his purpose of informing the audience of valuable life lessons in The Scarlet Letter are characterization and the theme of duality.
Pearl is an example of the innocent result of sin. All the kids make fun of Pearl and they disclude her from everything. She never did anything wrong, but everyone treats her like she committed the sin also. Pearl acts out against the children that make fun of her and acts like a crazy child. She cannot control the sins that her parents committed.
Nathaniel Hawthorne the author of The Scarlet Letter uses the literary device of chiaroscuro to effectively develop his characters. Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804 to a prominent family. His father passed away on a voyage when he was four years old. His relatives recognized his talent, and they helped pay his way to Bowdoin College. Hawthorne and his classmates became the most prominent people in America at that time. He had many strong ties with important people from attending Bowdoin, such as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Franklin Pierce. In 1828, his first novel, Fanshawe was anonymously published at his own expense. In 1842, he befriended Transcendentalists Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Bronson Alcott, and married Sophia Peabody, an active member of the Transcendentalist movement. In 1846, he was appointed surveyor of the Port of Salem where he worked for the next three years, being unable to earn a living as a writer. He wrote The Scarlet Letter in 1850, showing the Puritans as hypocrites fixated on sin. This romance was an immediate success, even though it received many criticisms for its risqué topic. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne effectively uses chiaroscuro to develop the personalities of Hester Prynne, Pearl, and Arthur Dimmesdale.
A human being is subject to feelings that range from happiness to depression to indifferent. Whenever an author captures even some of the emotions that a person goes through, the author has made the characters realistic. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson are two perfect examples of authors who master the art of capturing feelings within the characters. Both books display instances where the characters are subject to the feelings of deceit, despair, and dejection; therefore, the characters seem as though they were alive and breathing.
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.
Lights, camera, guilt! In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne reveals how guilt can either destroy or improve a human being. By using revitive writing, he illustrates that no matter what position an individual holds, everyone has to fight against this emotion. Hawthorne uses Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale to show how guilt can be handled in the right or wrong way. While Dimmesdale allows guilt to consume himself, it makes Hester into a strong-willed woman by the end of the novel.
In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes imagery to convey that Dimmesdale can represent Puritan Society rather than the round character that can be seen on the surface level. This is seen through the imagery and symbolism of hypocrisy, Dimmesdale as a Christ figure, and the scarlet letter.
Nathaniel Hawthorne made out his life a source of inspiration. Every event that happened in his life made him think of a way to write about it. The Scarlett Letter was written after his mother died, and it focused on his society and it was used as a strong accusation against the Puritan Americans (Gollin 2605). His works were the results of long-term contemplations of humans and the society of his time, The Minister’s Black Veil is an example of this. A story about a man who decides to walk around his town cover in a black veil that symbolizes sin, and more importantly, “how the guilt we hide from one another and about the dangers of self-absorption” (Gollin 2604). Every major event in his life brought a new theme to his writings and that made it stand out. Just like Irving, he decided that he wanted to pursue of life full of
A writer’s style is a combination of thousands of factors that abet a writer to create a unique meaning for each and every word they use; moreover, they invent the relationships and patterns found between these words. Every author has an unique writing style. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s was relative to what he was passionate about. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing style is reflective of his Puritan beliefs as indicated through his personal life and family background; his style is also indicative of the fact that his relationship with his wife was less than ideal; furthermore, these ideas are evident in “The Birthmark”, “The Minister’s Black Veil”, and “Young Goodman Brown”.
Hypocrisy is often seen as being one of the most vile displays of human nature. An unavoidable manifestation of the human being, hypocrisy has run rampant in daily life for the existence of humanity. The Scarlet Letter is essentially a story about hypocrisy and its consequences. Set in 1630 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Puritan lifestyle controls much of the society. Its people are expected to follow the strict religious ideals. If one was to break the rules, harsh punishments would ensue. When news spreads that one of their own, Hester Prynne, has committed the sin of adultery, they are quick to judge Hester for her sins. Ironically, these same women that are heckling and shouting death threats at Hester for her sins are known to the town
The Scarlet Letter is a romance written by Nathaniel Hawthorne that takes place in the Puritan Community in Boston, Massachusetts during the 17th century. It tells the story of Hester Prynne, who commits the sin of adultery with the minister of the church, Reverend Dimmesdale, and conceives a baby girl, Pearl. Hester's husband, Roger Chillingworth, returns and seeks revenge. As Pearl grows up, her mother learns how to deal with the scarlet letter of shame and Dimmesdale feels guilt. When they decide to run away, Dimmesdale confesses his sin in public and he dies. The story end with the death of Chillingworth and all his belongings and property go to little Pearl. Pearl grows up and probably gets married and Hester becomes a mother for all women in need.
thou knowest that I was frank with thee. I felt no love, nor feigned any"
The story setting is the impetus in The Scarlet Letter because New England during the mid- 17th century had unique customs and values that impelled conflicts and character transformations. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne accentuates certain settings within New England to portray the strictness and hardships in the town, while he counters with the forest and the isolated cottage settings. Hawthorne’s The Scarlett Letter portrays a strict, rigid Puritan town through utilizing both the physical and historical settings of the time period.
...eril of death and infamy, and the inscrutable machinations of an enemy; that, finally, to this poor pilgrim, on his dreary and desert path, faint, sick, miserable, there appeared a glimpse of human affection and sympathy, a new life, and a true one, in exchange for the heavy doom which he was now expiating.
The main objective in a nonfiction piece of writing is to deliver information. To do this, the writer must choose the diction and syntax most representative of what he is trying to convey. But, in a novel this is not the case. The Scarlet Letter, a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, tells a story of an adulteress living in Puritan society with an “A” embroidered upon her chest as punishment. Part of the difficulty of this novel can be attributed to the narrator; he is never perfectly clear about what is happening. The narrator deliberately includes ambiguities in his prose when commenting on the town of Boston, the scarlet letter, and Hester to display Hawthorne’s romanticized beliefs.