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Critical Essay in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Critical Essay in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Critical Essay in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
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The Scarlet Letter - Impact of Sin on Dimmmesdale, Chillingworth and Hester
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a seventeenth century Baptist preacher, commented that, "Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of." An individual either faces their actions or runs from them, and Gothic Romance authors often write about the evil that emerges in people when they conceal their sins. Throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrates this idea through the actions of his three main characters, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth. In spite of the nearly equal severity of their sins, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth and Hester react to their dilemmas in varying ways such as guilt, revenge and reconciliation.
Although he portrays the pious pastor, Arthur Dimmesdale handles his sin, adultery, by hiding this fault from everyone and in turn destroys himself with his guilt. Beginning in chapter three, the townspeople constantly see Dimmesdale with his hand over his heart. He does not posses the courage to show his shame openly, so he decides to punish himself through physical pain and nightly vigils. This torture becomes evident in chapter ten when Chillingworth removes Dimmesdale's garments and rejoices at the image of a scarlet letter, along with other markings, upon the preacher's chest. His strong sense of guilt also becomes apparent when he takes a midnight walk to the scaffold, where Hester and Pearl join him. At this point, Dimmesdale still cannot truly endure the shame in front of the real crowd. Ironically, the more guilt he feels the more compelling his sermons become. He attempts many times to indirectly tell his congregation...
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... differently towards sin and Hester proves reconciliation as the best response to wrongdoings. Through Hester, Hawthorne successfully conveys his theme that concealing a person's faults draws forth more evil than imaginable, but bearing the consequences leads to salvation. Indeed, life's difficult trials bring out the true essence of a person, and one must exhibit inner strength while facing their shame in order to survive these trials.
Works Cited and Consulted:
Brown, Bryan D. "Reexamining Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. http://www.usinternet.com/users/bdbournellonie.htm. July 1, 2003.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Penguin Books USA Inc., 1996.
Smiles, Samuel. "The Scarlet Letter." The Power of Sin. Ed. Martin Tucker. New York City: Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, 1962. 266.
Criticisms of lawyers are the topic in Richard A. Wasserstrom's article "Lawyers as Professionals: Some Moral Issues." Wasserstrom broke this topic into two main areas of discussion. The first suggests that lawyers operate with essentially no regard for any negative impact of their efforts on the world at large. Analysis of the relationship that exists between the lawyer and their client was the second topic of discussion. "Here the charge is that it is the lawyer-client relationship which is morally objectionable because it is a relationship which the lawyer dominates and in which the lawyer typically, and perhaps inevitably, treats the client in both an impersonal and a paternalistic fashion."
The ancient Romans were the first to use electricity to treat disease several thousand years ago; however, “electrical medicine” has improved and has been utilized in the forms predating ECT in a relatively short amount of time. In the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, doctors began to notice that giving people camphor could “cure lunacy” (Abrams, 2002). The doctors noticed that when administering camphor orally, it caused seizures, and upon waking up, were “in a rational state” (Abrams, 2002). In fact, in 1798, a German scientist reported that 80% of manic patients that were treated with camphor and had seizures, were cured (Abrams, 2002). As medical and technological advances occurred, so did the use of inducing a seizure to cure mental illness. In 1934, a scientist was able to bring a schizophrenic patient, who had been on a hunger strike and had not moved in four years, to recovery through a seizure that had been brought on by camphor (Abrams, 2002). And, “thus, convulsive therapy was born” (Abrams, 2002). By the end of the year, this scientist published results of the same action given to twenty-six schizophrenics, ten patients were cured, thirteen had no re...
Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne attempted to expose the varying ways in which different people deal with lingering guilt from sins they have perpetrated. The contrasting characters of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale ideally exemplified the differences in thought and behavior people have for guilt. Although they were both guilty of committing the same crime, these two individuals differed in that one punished themselves with physical and mental torture and the other chose to continue on with their life, devoting it to those less fortunate than they.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the reader is able to observe how one sin devastates three lives. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth are all guilty of succumbing to temptation, anger, and desire, causing all to fit the definition of a sinner. Yet, Chillingworth's iniquities raise him up above Hester and Dimmesdale on the level of diabolic acts.
The original use of electricity as a cure for “insanity” dates back to the beginning of the 16th century when electric fish were used to treat headaches. Electroconvulsive therapy on humans originates from research in the 1930’s into the effects of camphor-induced seizures in people with schizophrenia (Guttmacher, 1994). In 1938, two Italian researchers, Ugo Cerletti and Lucio Bini, were the first to use an electric current to induce a seizure in a delusional, hallucinating, schizophrenic man. The man fully recovered after eleven treatments. This led to a rapid spread of the use of ECT as a way to induce therapeutic convulsions in the mentally ill. Lothar Kalinowsky, Renato Almansi, and Victor Gonda are further responsible in spreading ECT from Italy to North America (Endler, 1988). Although there is some confusion as to who exactly is credited for administering the first ECT in America, it is known that it occurred in the early 1940.
An absence of education on the treatment is one of the most major reasons why electroconvulsive therapy is so strongly detested. Furthermore, individuals are not typically informed by psychiatrists on a technique such as ECT unless they are experiencing it personally, or someone they know is going through it. Consequently, countless individuals end up getting exposed to ECT for the first time through movies and other media depictions where it is, more often than not, portrayed negatively. Kellner states, “There have also been frequent misrepresentations of ECT in the media, and individuals and groups with particular social and political agendas have continued to convey distorted information about ECT (2)” (p. 1238). Education on ECT is so desperately needed for the reason that the information the majority of people seem to be given is incorrect or not based on fact. Additionally, these representations of the procedure are most always made to attack the treatment and render it inhumane. Moreover, the populous needs to be receiving their information from actual practitioners of this procedure, as opposed to those who are not, as it can help eliminate any inconsistencies or fallacies. By removing these misconceptions, numerous electroconvulsive therapy debates can be resolved, and a large amount of negative stigma towards the procedure can be
D.H. Lawrence criticizes Nathaniel Hawthorne’s portrayal of Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter in his essay “On the Scarlet Letter.” By focusing on Hester’s sin itself rather than its causes and consequences, Lawrence expresses his opinion on the role of Hester in the novel. Lawrence utilizes choppy syntax, biblical allusions, and a sarcastic tone to clearly reveal his objection towards Hawthorne’s depiction of Hester as a victim of Puritan society’s condemnation.
In 2004, crude oil producers around the world expected a 1.5% growth in the world’s demand for crude oil. The actual growth rate was more than double the projections at 3.3%. This growth was due to rapidly industrializing of foreign countries such as, China and India. Therefore the lack of crude oil affected the supply of gasoline to consumers at the pump.
Halig, Steven et.al. History of Electroconvulsive Therapy. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc., 1999.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was first developed in 1938. It has a history of abuse, exploited as a means of punishing or controlling people in mental hospitals, consequently ECT had poor reputation with negative depictions, but since then it has drastically improved with confirmed effectiveness. Despite the improvement in techniques, the use of ECT continues to decline since the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE,2003) states that it should only be administered to severely depressed patients for whom psychotherapy and medication have proved ineffective or when the condition is considered potentially life threatening. For example, when there is a risk of suicide or risk to others because ECT has much quicker results than any other forms of treatment for depression. Overall, the aim of this PowerPoint is to provide information on how ECT is administered, how or why it works, benefits, side effects, appropriateness and effectiveness.
Without an honorable reputation a person is not worthy of respect from others in their society. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, the struggle to shake off the past is an underlying theme throughout the novel. Characters in this novel go through their lives struggling with trying to cope with the guilt and shame associated with actions that lost them their honorable reputation. Particularly, Hawthorne shows the lasting effect that sin and guilt has on two of the main characters in the book: Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a study of the effects of sin on the hearts and minds of the main characters, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. Sin strengthens Hester, humanizes Dimmesdale, and turns Chillingworth into a demon.
Guilt is powerful thing. A person’s whole life can be destroyed seconds after being exposed to the strength of guilt. Even though admitting a sin can seem more difficult than not, that confession can often make a world of difference in the long run. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne, and Reverend Dimmesdale, have two very different ways of dealing with guilt. These differences in action are what change the courses of their lives. The actions taken by one character are successful, though the actions of the other put his life in ruins. Hester confesses her sin in public, while Dimmesdale does not. This simple choice made causes a drastic change in each of their lives. When comparing the lives of Hester and Dimmesdale,
One of the main themes in The Scarlet Letter is that of the secret. The plot of the book is centered on Hester Prynne’s secret sin of adultery. Nathaniel Hawthorne draws striking parallelism between secrets held and the physical and mental states of those who hold them. The Scarlet Letter demonstrates that a secret or feeling kept within slowly engulfs and destroys the soul such as Dimmesdale’s sin of hypocrisy and Chillingworth’s sin of vengeance, while a secret made public, such as Prynne’s adultery, can allow a soul to recover and even strengthen.
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.