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Literary analysis of scarlet letter
How does Hawthorne express skepticism about the puritans in his stories
Character analysis of scarlet letter by nathaniel hawthorne
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The Scarlet Letter Critical Analysis
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, the
direct descendant of John Hawthorne, and a judge at the infamous
Salemwitchcraft trials. The guilt that Hawthorne felt over the actions
of his ancestor had an enormous impact on his writings. In his
introduction of "The Scarlet Letter", Hawthorne accepts the guilt from
his forefathers and offers to repent for their crimes (Waggoner, 5).
This unusual way of viewing guilt and sin is one driving factor in
Hawthorne's writing. The other, which is closely related to the first,
is the relationship between men, and of man to humanity as a whole.
Many of Hawthorne's works center around what is right or wrong, and
the consequences of breaking the basic links between humans by
committing acts of sin. Although Hawthorne has several great works to
his credit, the one that is generally considered to be the best is
"The Scarlet Letter".
Imagine there is no freedom of choice. The human race is going
straight to hell. Only God'' fickle grace can save us. Only be giving
yourself totally to His devotion can you escape hell's gapping,
flaming mouth. This is what the Puritans lived through. Religious
leaders spit out so many fearful images that the people had no choice
but to follow "God's" will. Now imagine that even after all that fire
and brimstone, you decide to do it your way anyway. This is what
Hawthornedemonstrates in "The Scarlet Letter". And none of this could
have been the least effective had it not been for the tale's setting.
The setting was all-essential for this story. If Hester Prynne did her
adulterous deed in present-day Amer...
... middle of paper ...
...ing into her mother's eyes. "Will he go
back with us, hand in hand, we three together, into the town?" Once
again, the adults tell her a deeper truth that contradicts all their
previous words: "Not now, dear child."
Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" is a wonderful piece of
American Literature. The setting of the story related well to the
history of Salem, Massachusetts and that time period in history.
Works Cited
===========
Bayer, John G. "Narrative Techniques and the Oral Tradition in The
Scarlet Letter."
American Literature. Vol 52 no 2 May 1980: 250-263.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Scarlet Letter". Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press, 1962.
Waggoner, Hyatt H. "Hawthorne: A Critical Study". Cambridge,
Massachusetts: The Belknap
Press of Harvard University Press, 1955.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is one of the most respected and admired novels of all time. Often criticized for lacking substance and using more elaborate camera work, freely adapted films usually do not follow the original plot line. Following this cliché, Roland Joffe’s version of The Scarlet Letter received an overwhelmingly negative reception. Unrealistic plots and actions are added to the films for added drama; for example, Hester is about to be killed up on the scaffold, when Algonquin members arrive and rescue her. After close analysis, it becomes evident of the amount of work that is put into each, but one must ask, why has the director adapted their own style of depicting the story? How has the story of Hester Prynne been modified? Regarding works, major differences and similarities between the characterization, visual imagery, symbolism, narration and plot, shows how free adaptation is the correct term used.
ATTENTION-GRABBER The Scarlet Letter is written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It takes place in the middle of the sixteenth century but was written in the eighteenth century. Hawthorne tells the story through his point of view about the scarlet letter he finds years before writing the story. When the story begins, Hester is being tried for the sin she committed while holding a baby. She commits adultery and receives a punishment of wearing the letter “A” on her bosom. Throughout the novel, the story behind the letter is revealed and many of the secrets behind the letter are revealed. Hawthorne believes hope can change outcomes for the better over time. Hawthorne shows hope through Hester who changes for the better, Dimmesdale who admits his sin, and Pearl who gives hope to Hester.
A sin is defined as any act regarded as a transgression, especially a willful or deliberate violation of some religious or moral principle. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale were forced to face the realities and hardships of committing a mortal sin in the eyes of a predominately Puritan society. Seven years after moving to America alone, Hester assumed her husband, Roger Chillingworth, to be dead and had moved on with the town minister—Dimmesdale. The two lovers ended up having a child out of wedlock, which ensured them the public scorn from their community. Hester, while raising their illegitimate child, Pearl, was ostracized by society and required to wear a scarlet letter, “A,” on her chest as a sign of her wrongdoing. Dimmesdale remained the unknown father of Pearl, by keeping his sin a secret from the townspeople. Because of their unique circumstances, Hester and Dimmesdale were ultimately affected differently by the same sin. Hester was audacious and accepting about the sin, while Dimmesdale was secretive and suffered.
“Burn the witch!” has been a condemning cry for centuries, but those flames are not always real. Words, looks, and guilt can burn a sinner far more effectively than the pyre ever could, as evidenced by the torments inflicted on the sinners in The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Each of the characters was burned in a different way, just as they represent different types of sin. Hester Prynne, the adulteress, represents open, acknowledged, and public shame. Through her, we recognize that acknowledging sin eventually leads to forgiveness and healing, in contrast with Reverend Dimmesdale, who represents the festering wound of concealed sin. And the depraved man who seems to be sent to torment them both, Roger Chillingworth, represents revenge, and punishment for sin. Hester Prynne, who wears the Scarlet Letter, has her ignominy before the whole world. Her scarlet A reminds both Hester and everyone else that she is an adulteress. Much of The Scarlet Letter talks about her treatment at the hands of the townspeople, because her transgressions are out in the open, and they can punish her. On the other end of the spectrum is the Reverend Dimmesdale, who fairly goes mad from guilt. Every person considers him a godly, amazing man, while he has actually sinned as much as Hester. His concealed sin eats away at him, and he constantly wishes that he would be brave enough to confess. Some of Dimmesdale’s torments are the cause of Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s former husband. Through Chillingworth, Hawthorne reveals the evilness of revenge. He also represents the punishment for Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin, and is a physical manifestation of their torment. At the same time, Chillingworth is both revenge and punishment. And in addit...
old home in England, her mother, her father, and most of all, her own youthful
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne analyzes Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. In the story, Hester is the main character of the story and was called Mistress Prynne (Hawthorne 70). Dimmesdale, in the story was referred to as Reverend Dimmesdale (Hawthorne 90). Chillingworth was originally named, Roger Prynne but later in the story he changed his name to Roger Chillingworth. In the story, Hester committed adultery with Dimmesdale against Chillingworth and in the beginning she got punished and sent to prison and later she got to get out of prison but with the exception of having to wear the letter A on her breast every time she went out in to town.
Nathaniel Hawthorne exploits the life of Puritanism in his guilty pleasure The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne lends the reader into an insight of life and human nature. The Scarlet Letter reveals the ordeal and evils of Hester Prynne, a woman living in colonial Boston whom was found guilty of adultery. Hester’s punishment was to then wear a visible sign of her sin’ the scarlet letter “A.” As the novel progresses the reader is introduced to Arthur Dimmesdale, the minister Hester had an affair with; and Roger Chillingworth, the estranged husband of Hester whom is out for revenge. The Scarlet Letter examines the relations of the main characters and the consequence of these characters to Hester’s sin. Hester’s sin of adultery interacts with themes of alienation from society, revenge, creativity, and consequences of breaking the moral code. The underlying sin Hawthorn explores throughout The Scarlet Letter is hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is easily defines as a falsehood between one's professed beliefs and feelings and one's actual beliefs and feelings, or an application of a criticism to others that one does not apply to oneself. Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and the Puritan society were steep in their sin of hypocrisy. Hawthorne reveals through the pages of The Scarlet Letter that hypocrisy is indeed a sin by punishing the offenders.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter tells the story of a puritan community living in 17th century Boston, and how they deal with the aftermath of an act of adultery committed by Hester Prynne with an unnamed man. Hawthorne’s story deals with the themes of guilt and shame, and the effect that these forces have on the novel’s characters. Of the characters that are introduced in the novel, Hester Prynne represents and suffers from guilt; while Dimmesdale represents and suffers from shame.
The Scarlet Letter, a classic American novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, contains a plot that follows the controversial life of Hester Prynne, the main protagonist of the story. Set in the mid 1600’s in Boston, Massachusetts, it represented the Puritan society and its ideals at that time. Its rich plot has enticed and enraptured readers for many years, while Historical elements have allowed readers to analyze and understand the content better. The Scarlet Letter is a piece of historical fiction that contains a real representation of the period in which it is set in and is mostly historically accurate, barring a few minor inaccuracies.
The author of The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne, expressed ideas of love, passion, shame, and punishment throughout his 1800s based novel. Due to the fact that this novel was based in a Puritan time period, it brought many mental and sometimes physical difficulties for the main character, Hester Prynne. The Puritans solely believed in God and all of his rules. With that said, the author decided to illustrate the drama of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale’s adultery in order to describe the change in Hester’s attitude. Because of the many events, adversities and struggles, Hester had a complete change in attitude from shame and embarrassment to love, proudness and satisfaction.
In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne critiques Puritan ideology. Hawthorne believes in some parts of Puritan doctrine because he thinks that the God is philanthropy. Everyone has opportunity to redeem from the sin. However, he criticizes for the harsh and brutal laws of puritanism. Fear makes Puritan push aside Hester. Puritan is afraid that if they do not punish this immoral behavior in the Puritanism society, their core of society which is moral ideology will collapse Hawthorne thinks that the traditional Puritan ideology ruins the natural humanity and human right. He believes the narrow attitude of Puritan makes them only see the sin for betrayal. Puritan ignore Hester’s kind, generous, and moral personality. He uses descriptive settings