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literary analysis the scarlet letter
the views of nature expressed by Emerson
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Individuals are products of society and, yet, society can also be a product of individuals. In either relationship, the individual and society affect each other. In “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester becomes an individual through being open to being positively guided by her own values and morals even if those values and morals are not prescribed by society. Similarly, in “Nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson discusses how the individual has the capability to, if the individual is open, be positively inspired and changed by the natural world. Between the two authors, the main theme of the ability to be and stay open is used to explain the individuals’ connection to the outside world. Some of the situations where being open can positively guide a person’s identity are: the idea of being open to a unique lifestyle, being open to exploring the self and others in different locations, and the fact that children affect society’s future. Hawthorne and Emerson focus on the way in which the trait of openness can have a positive effect on the individual.
Hawthorne and Emerson discuss the idea that the individual will positively be affected if they are open to all lifestyles, even those not supported by the society. In “The Scarlet Letter,” Hester is open different kinds of lifestyles. More specifically, she is open to a lifestyle that is not condoned or encouraged by her society. The fact that Hester, as an individual, is open to experiencing life beyond the boundaries of what society defines as right or good, shows to be a positive thing for Hester. Hester chooses to follow “Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers—stern and wild ones,–and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss” (Hawthorne, 1...
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... sin. This recognition of sin as being a human trait can be seen as hope for the next generation. Similarly, in Emerson, the child in nature is highly regarded as a positive thing, especially since nature is a place where the individual experiences freedom and less judgment.
From reading both Hawthorne and Emerson, the reader could conjecture that being open is important in theory and practice. Emerson talks about the reasons why being open is beneficial and life-changing for the individual in relation to experiencing the natural world while Hawthorne uses Hester to show that being open to all possibilities outside the box that society fits in is a way for an individual to further explore and define themselves and their relationships to others. To be open, in any sense, allows for growth and deeper understanding of the self and its relation to the outside world.
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.
As humans we are affected by our environment, either the social aspects, or the location of residence, or interior of the world we live in. These effects can either be positive to one’s nature or deteriorating to one’s morals. When we look at the substantial impacts of a positive culture, such as the enlightenment that boosted the intelligence and desire to learn of expanding countries all around, we see that it can truly make a difference. On the other hand, if a child is raised in a cruel environment or drug ridden neighborhood, they to will most likely follow in the path. So our society and environment greatly impacts our human behavior and thoughts, this is especially shown in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter throughout the moral and physical changes in Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl.
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.
Throughout our history, we have repeatedly tried to exploit the environment (i.e. nature) in order to perfect our lives. We not only manipulated the materialistic and economic aspect of our world, but we have also struggled to use the moral and the spiritual in making progress within ourselves. Instead of relying on ourselves to accomplish this purpose, we have unfortunately sought help from society's traditional institutions. These institutions, in turn, have tired to manipulate us for their own good, resulting in more harm than help. During the nineteenth century, authors such as Emily Dickinson, Herman Melville, and Nathaniel Hawthorne recognized this and have tried to stop it through their writings. To this end, they have adopted Ralph Waldo Emerson's view that people choose to deny the power of reason, or their own mind. He believed that until people choose to see the "light" of reason, they will remain morally dead. With the achievement of reason, external institutions will remain useless and they will understand that the spirit they so vehemently desired is indeed within them and will without a doubt eliminate their moral darkness. Therefore, Emerson affirmed that the only eternal law is that of experience and that "the one thing in the world of value is the active soul-the soul, free, sovereign, active." This essay will discuss how these authors (Melville, Hawthorne, and Dickinson) composed writings that mimicked Emerson's view of life to accentuate individualism against subjugation.
The sunlight gives the reader a feeling of exposure and scrutiny. This feeling is later reveled to the reader by Hawthorne,
The narrator notes her change in morals and beliefs: “She had wandered… much amiss” (180). This passage describes Hester’s state of mind and morals after seven years with the scarlet letter. Compared to Dimmesdale, Hester is much wilder, yet also much better adjusted to the weight of her guilt. She has accepted what happened and uses that acknowledgment to shape her views. She has become stronger, more untamed, and more removed from society. Not only does society reject her, but her crime forces her to question morals and dive into her wilder nature. Religion and law no longer work as simple guidelines for her life. Her act is considered a sin, but out of it she got freedom, love, and Pearl. After being cast out, she now looks at society and its rules—the things most people conform to—from a more negative, outsider perspective. The letter gives her a chance to be independent and find what she believes in as opposed to what she's been told to believe in. She rejects society through both these rebellious views, and also through her actions upon coming back to the community. She helps women in the community by offering support and counselling. In such a male dominated society, this is an important step both towards feminism and away from the
Additionally, Emerson and Thoreau both warn the reader of the dangers when individuality is marginalized. Emerson views society as a “conspiracy against the manhood of every one of...
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.
(1) In “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment," Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses [Diction] that if given the chance to regain your youth, some would not have learned from their past mistakes, to change the way would live their life again. In “Dr Heidegger’s Experiment” Hawthorne uses his characters to describe how life experiences should have an impression in our lives.
At the beginning of the Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is labeled as the “bad guy”. The townspeople demand the other adulterer’s name, but Hester denies this revelation. She does not reveal it because she knows that the information will crumble the foundation of the Puritan religion and the town itself. “‘But, Hester, the man lives who has wronged us both! Who is he?’ ‘Ask me not!’ replied Hester Prynne, looking firmly into his face. ‘That thou shalt never know!’(Hawthorne 52). Hester knows that finding out that the father of the child, the Minister that is leading the town, will diminish credibility for the church and for Dimmesdale, the Minister. During her punishment, Hester decides to move out near the woods and make a living as a seamstress. Hester is regarded as an outcast from Boston, but she still gives back to the society that shuns her. ‘“Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge?’ they would say to strangers. ‘It is our Hester, —the town's own Hester, —who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicted!’”(Hawthorne 111). Her acts of kindness, helping the sick and comforting the afflicted, toward the society that makes her an outcast shows the inner goodness of a person. Throu...
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 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.
With a strong female protagonist and two mentally weak males, it is hard to consider Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter anything but a feminist treatise. He obviously intended to put down not only Puritanism, which is an obvious aspect of the novel, but to establish a powerful, secure female in American literature. Hester proves, although she has sinned in the past, she can confront her mistakes, take care of herself and her child, and help others at the same time. She can withhold a position in society that many can respect because of her character something the males of the story obviously could not succeed at doing.
The purpose of the scarlet letter is not fulfilled according to the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne. It was put upon Hester’s bosom to claim her unholiness but instead the "punishment" served as a way for Hester to grow stronger. The townspeople were the first to see first introduction of Hester. She was looked down on since the branding of the letter “A” upon her bosom. She was a "figure of perfect elegance" compared to the Puritan women of "brief beauty" (Hawthorne pg.: 55, 57). Right from the start, Hester appears to be different from those around her, suggesting a rebellious attitude to the traditions and customs of the time where church and state were still considered to be the central government at the time. She was different from others due to her nature of her being. Hester wasn’t like all other women. If another woman were to be branded an adulteress, that woman would have probably try to keep her sin away from the townspeople and forever keep their peace. Hester on the other hand, had the bravery and boldness in her that did not frighten her to show off what she did wrong. She may have had the intention that...