Contrasting Settings In The Scarlet Letter, By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Chillingworth is ruining his own life and does not realize it, because he no longer sees the value in life as he tries to ruin one. The first foreshadowing we see of Chillingworth's obsession begins... ... middle of paper ... ...h life because of that. Dimmesdale, on the other hand, faced Puritan torture under Chillingworth for the seven years without benefit of the release of guilt Hester had found by being in the public eye. Dimmesdale's only release from guilt was not the scaffold, but death itself. Hawthorne's statement through Chillingworth offers insight into Dimmesdale and Chillingworth along with a representation of Hawthorne's disapproval of the Puritan values.

In this way, Hawthorne establishes a dichotomy between lack of color and color in order to show concealment as the greatest sin. The Puritan world is the setting. In their isolated world, the Puritans share the belief that acts such as adultery are the greatest sins. The revolutionary writer, Hawthorne, penetrates this world to expose Puritan hypocrisy and, through Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl, shows that concealment is the greater sin. Through them, Hawthorne teaches the lesson that concealed guilt will gradually drain its bearer of all strength and power, whereas honesty will have an empowering effect.

In Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the deceptive Roger Chillingworth could most certainly be considered a morally ambiguous character. Throughout the novel, Roger Chillingworth everlastingly remains misleading as to whether he lies on the side of good or evil. Even at the end of The Scarlet Letter, the knowledge of Roger Chillingworth is extremely nebulous. The mysterious Roger Chillingworth, although ultimately emanating to be evil, attests to be a challenge when determining his morality. Roger Chillingworth attempts to beguile us by enacting the role of a physician, and ensconces his relationship with Hester Prynne.

By being a vengeful person his entire life, he can never fully satiate his desires, if victims, such as Dimmesdale, find ways to escape Chillingworth’s wickedness. Such unsatiated desire will inevitably leave Chillingworth discontent with life. Unlike Hester and Dimmesdale, who have both obtained rewards for expressing their true beliefs and emotions, Chillingworth is in a worse situation than where he started. As Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth are presented to the reader, Nathaniel Hawthorne is able to highlight a central struggle in following one’s own moral code in the face of a stubborn Puritan society. As a Romanticist, Hawthorne emphasizes the virtues of refusing to conform and exercising one’s free will.

Hamlet’s father did not die of a natural cause, neither was his death expected. Therefore, the entire situation caught Hamlet by surprise; for this reason, his pain is worsened, causing him to behave the way in which does. Hamlet’s current situation ... ... middle of paper ... ...t his father and Ophelia are dead and he cannot accept the thought of his mother’s hasty marriage to his conniving and deceitful uncle. Hamlet regrets his previous actions which caused tremendous pain to Ophelia and her family. Just as his own family was destroyed by his uncle’s evil plans, Hamlet realizes that he caused the same pain and negativity on the family of the woman he loved.

Norman Bryson, author of, “Hawthorne’s Illegible Letter,” critiques Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter by attacking the ambiguity of the story and the destruction of meaning he believes the vagueness creates. Bryson’s title in itself shrewdly criticizes the veil over legitimacy in Hawthorne’s piece by altering part of the original name. For a man with such clever word play, is it possible that even he fears the unknown at times? Although he doesn’t quite portray apprehension in his writing, it does seem as though he found solace in counter-acting previous judgments with much disregard for the possibility that the constant changes in the novel allow the reader infinite leg room for interpretation were written for a positive reason reason. Bryson’s claim that the overwhelming uncertainty of the fictional tale cloaks the novel’s supposed purpose is invalid for the likelihood that Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter to successfully portray his appreciation of the ambiguity that surrounded both the Puritan community and... ... middle of paper ... ...gible, understood image of a person known to embody a certain trait, Hawthorne’s vague description of his characters’ outward actions allow the reader to string together their own rope between the several inner and outer dimensions that in reality form an identity; alas, making indulging The Scarlet Letter a more active experience than it already is.

Madness: Poe writes that Usher "entered, at some length, into what he conceived to be the nature of his malady." What exactly is his "malady" we never learn. Even Usher seems uncertain, contradictory in his description: "It was, he said, a constitutional and a family evil, and one for which he despaired to find a remedy--a mere nervous affection, he immediately added, which would undoubtedly soon pass off." The Narrator notes an "incoherence" and "inconsistency" in his old friend, but he offers little by way of scientific explanation of the condition. As a result, the line between sanity and insanity becomes blurred, which paves the way for the Narrator's own descent into madness.

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... ... middle of paper ... ...falsehood depicts dismissal of wrongdoing and foreignness of sin, when in reality, error organically births forth in human nature. The author's lack of resolve adds a conundrum to the way of salvation; therefore suggesting that man is ultimately doomed due to his sinful nature. Unceasingly, several characters in the novel portray this conflict as they seek to evoke redemption and gain acceptance.

But the fatal error of the Puritans is their failure to recognize all of man’s gifts – to achieve an integration of all of man’s forces. The Puritan life is a half-life, and it outcome is likely to be tragic.” Mcpherson refers to the “half-life” of the Puritans in failing to recognize both good and bad sides of human nature, which stands true in the novel. Many characters in The

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Dimmesdale and Danforth's sins have similar motives, but the characters have distinctly different methods of sin and resolution. Dimmesdale is a selfish coward. He does not work toward anything substantial. Although he supposedly loves Hester, he refuses to admit that he was her ?fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer? ( Hawthorne, 65).