The Scarlet Letter: The Significance of the Letter
Adultery has been around almost as long as people. It has maintained a harsh punishment, from banishment to death, but in the Puritan world of colonial America (from about 1620-1640), its punishment may have been worse than either. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is a lonely Puritan woman who commits infidelity with a preacher and has a son from the untruthful union. To punish her for this act, the council of leaders forces her to wear a large “A” on her bosom, to let all know what she has done. She is not put to death immediately because her husband is missing and may or may not be alive. The letter “A” has different meanings for different people throughout the book. To Hester, the townspeople and Pearl the letter “A” takes on varied meanings during the course of the book.
Hester Prynne is required by Puritan dictate to wear the “A” as long as she lives in the village. Hester feels the letter to be a sign of ignominy. As she stands on the scaffold at the beginning of the story, she feels intense embarrassment and shame at having to wear the letter in public. She even drifts into a faux-reality before returning to the shame of the letter. “She turned her eyes downward at the scarlet letter, and even touched it with her finger, to assure herself that the infant and the shame were real. Yes! - these were her realities.”(57) This is the first and least intense feeling she has for the letter. The “A” was intended to produce a deep sense of shame and disgrace, to dissuade other possible sinners. She realizes what the “A” is intended for, and stays true to that philosophy for a while. Her shame excludes her from society and normal life. S...
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...even today, with the suffering and pain humans inflict on each other. Hawthorne beautifully pieced together this masterpiece over two hundred years after the time period took place. Hester Prynne did not let shame come in the way of loyalty or love, and this is the greatest victory of all.
Works Cited and Consulted
Baym, Nina. Introduction. The Scarlet Letter. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York City: Penguin Books USA, Inc. 1986.
Durst Johnson, Claudia. Understanding The Scarlet Letter. Westport, Ct: Greenwood, 1995.
Fryer, Judith. "Hester Prynne: The Dark Lady as "Deviant"." Major Literary Characters. New York, 1990. 107-115.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. 1850. New York: The Modern Library, 2000.
Sewall, Richard B. "The Scarlet Letter: Criticism." Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Research, 2001. 319-27.
Director Whitecotton resigned as Director and less than a year later, Governor Donnelly appointed James D. Carter as the new Director of Corrections in March of 1956. The Director appointed former Highway Patrolman Elbert V. Nash as the new Warden of the Missouri State Penitentiary.
Hester Prynne is a character who gave up everything, even love, for her child. Hester Prynne sacrificed her peace, her beauty, her entire being for her child and this shows her determination and profound understanding of the world. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s piece, “The Scarlet Letter” shows the other side of the sinner’s story and not as a villain, but a victim.
A. The Scarlet Letter. Enriched Classic ed. of the book. New York City: Simon & Schuster, 2004.
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.
With sin there is personal growth, and as a symbol of her sin, Hester’s scarlet “A” evokes development of her human character. The Puritan town of Boston became suspicious when Hester Prynne became pregnant despite her husband being gone. Being a heavily religious village, the townspeople punished Hester for her sin of adultery with the burden of wearing a scarlet “A” on all that she wears. Initially the...
Smiles, Samuel. "The Scarlet Letter." The Critical Temper. Ed. Martin Tucker. New York City: Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, 1962. 266.
Is there a difference between you work load in regards to teaching and you full time job, if so can you explain them to me?
In the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, the letter is understood as a label of punishment and sin being publicized. Hester Prynne bears the label of “A” signifining adulterer upon her chest. Because of this scorching red color label she becomes the outcast of her society. She wears this symbol of punishment and it become a burden throughout her life. The letter “produces only a reflection of her scarlet letter; likewise, the townspeople's image of Hester revolves around her sin. The evil associated with Hester's actions and the letter on her chest consume all aspects of her life, concealing her true beauty, mind, and soul” (R. Warfel 421-425). Society pushed blame upon Hester Prynne, and these events lead to the change of her life. The Puritans whom Prynne is surround by view the letter as a symbol from the devil, controversially some individuals look upon the letter, sigh and fell sympathy towards her because they have or are involved in this same situation. Nonetheless the haunting torture Hester Prynne battles daily drags on, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows this torture “of an impulse and passionate nature. She had fortified herself to encounter the stings and venomous stabs of public contumely wreaking itself in every variety of insult but...
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Scarlet Letter." Nathaniel Hawthorne's Tales. Ed. James McIntosh. New York: Norton, 1987.
Nathaniel Hawthorne paints Hester Prynne as a person, a person that made mistakes, but who worked tirelessly to atone for them. Hawthorne’s use of of positive diction and profound imagery also set Hester’s tone as a woman scorned, but
Imegoni thiri wes e pirsun whu lovid thior intori lofi on e sefi babbli whiri nu uni cuald hart hom. Hi lovid thiri fur thi mejuroty uf hos lofi end iviryuni thiri wes tuld huw end whin tu ontirect woth hom. Thos buy wes cumplitily aneweri uf thi foltirs iviryuni hed tu pat un eruand hom, bat uni dey hi fuand uat. Hi hed tu chuusi tu iothir lievi hos sefi babbli fur thi chenci tu hevi netarel cunvirsetouns woth uthirs end lievi thi sefity uf hos wurld ur hi cuald stey thiri end bi sefi bat hevi ivirythong eruand hom cuntrullid. Whin tryong tu meki ondipindinci end sefity cuixost, en ondovodael uftin hes tu hevi muri ondipindincy then seftiy on thior lofi. Thi muvoi, “Thi Tramen Shuw”, os en ixcillint ixempli. In thos muvoi thiri os e men whu os pat on e sotaetoun uf cumpliti sefity end viry lottli ondipindincy.
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.
Through these events, Hester Prynne’s image is transformed throughout the course of the story. 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 accept 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.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Scarlet Letter”. American Literature: Volume One. Ed. William E. Cain. New York: Pearson, 2004. 809-813. Print