Scarlet Letter Essays and Term Papers
Last update: September 15, 2014-
Hypocrisy in the Scarlet Letter
Hypocrisy in The Scarlet Letter In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne suffers hardships in result of committing adultery. The townspeople punish Hester by having her wear a visible symbol of her sin: the letter A on all her garments (for adultery). In addition, she is made to stand on a platform for hours throughout a day, for the purpose of self-humiliation. Hester’s sin impacts not only her own life, but also
Rating:Essay Length: 604 Words / 3 PagesSubmitted: December 7, 2009 -
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, delivers a powerful novel invoked with symbolism. Centered on Hester, a woman branded with a scarlet "A" as a mark for adultery, much of the Scarlet Letter's symbolism grows from the cruel, and shameful letter. The "A" symbolizes the "walking emblem of shame." (Hawthorne 6). Throughout the novel, the brand of disgust evolves around the characters influenced by Hester, including her illegitimate child Pearl. Even Pearl is subject to
Rating:Essay Length: 551 Words / 3 PagesSubmitted: December 8, 2009 -
The Scarlet Letter: An in Depth View of An Opinionated Reader's Opinion
The scarlet letter began as one woman’s punishment and later spread to several people’s ruin. The scarlet letter set off a course of events one right after another that brought nothing but heartache, death, and suffering. The wearer of the scarlet letter, Hester Prynne, loved a man, Arthur Dimmesdale. The love between these two people resulted in a tale that will forever be considered a classic in American litatutre. The book is an in depth
Rating:Essay Length: 1,411 Words / 6 PagesSubmitted: December 8, 2009 -
The Scarlet Letter - Feminism
The Scarlet Letter Feminism “He who would be free must strike the first blow.” Frederick Douglass Several cultures of the world view women as being unequal to men. Feminism is defined by many people as a collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies concerned with the liberation of women. Women were looked down upon by men in many cultures of the past, and they are still treated differently by men. Despite their position
Rating:Essay Length: 924 Words / 4 PagesSubmitted: December 9, 2009 -
Scarlet Letter, Ethan From, Lesson Before Dying
Dignity and Respect Many people try to escape the prison that suppresses them, but fail to because of their moral obligations to themselves and others. Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome, Ernest J. Gaines' A Lesson Before Dying and Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, portray the struggles one acquires through their own conduct. Ethan in Ethan Frome, Grant in A Lesson Before Dying and Hester in Scarlet Letter each try to elude their life dilemma's, but are hindered
Rating:Essay Length: 296 Words / 2 PagesSubmitted: December 10, 2009 -
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, many of the characters suffer from the tolls of sin, but none as horribly as Hester’s daughter, Pearl. Throughout the novel, Pearl is a symbol of the sin that her mother has committed, and also suffers from this sin. Pearl is characterized as demonic by her mother. The strict Puritan society isolates Pearl, causing bitterness between her and the other Puritan children. Pearl is conceived in sin, and
Rating:Essay Length: 721 Words / 3 PagesSubmitted: December 10, 2009 -
The Scarlet Letter Is Pearl
Pearl One of the most complex and elaborate characters in The Scarlet Letter is Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. Pearl, throughout the story, develops into a dynamic individual, as well as an extremely important symbol- one who is constantly changing. Pearl is involved in a complex history, and as a result is viewed as different and is shunned because of her mother’s sin. Pearl is a living Scarlet A to Hester,
Rating:Essay Length: 3,792 Words / 16 PagesSubmitted: December 17, 2009 -
Scarlet Letter - Did You See That?
DID YOU SEE THAT? Throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter reflections are used to depict certain ideas or thoughts. These reflections are in many objects that are shiny or even in someone’s eyes, or a type of water. There are mainly reflections of Pearl and the scarlet letter A. Hawthorne uses them to make many different points, such as pearl has no friends or that the greatest part of Hester’s life is the scarlet letter. One
Rating:Essay Length: 1,106 Words / 5 PagesSubmitted: December 18, 2009 -
Scarlet Letter Character Analysis
“The Scarlet Letter” is generally about Hester Prynne, the novel is not so much a reflection of her character, but a view of her transformation through out every chapter. The author told very little about Hester life prior to her affair with Dimmesdale and her resultant public shaming. She married Chillingworth although she did not love him, but never fully understand why. In the early chapters of the book, prior to her marriage, Hester was
Rating:Essay Length: 283 Words / 2 PagesSubmitted: December 19, 2009 -
Original Sin in the Scarlet Letter
Abstract: Nathaniel Hawthorne, a writer of American literature in 19th century, was influenced by Puritanism. He was haunted by his sense of evil and sin in his whole life. In his works, he saw the cruel ruling of Puritanism through his puritan view and showed his dissatisfaction towards it. To analyze through symbolism in his famous work of “The Scarlet Letter”, we can see the important theme of Original sin and the redemption of humanity.
Rating:Essay Length: 3,577 Words / 15 PagesSubmitted: December 21, 2009 -
Imagers - Scarlet Letter
The first example of nature imagery in the Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a description of the plants growing outside of the jail. This description is of “unsightly vegetation” which is a symbol for the problematic Puritan society and of a “wild rose-bush” which is symbolic for Hester (45). The “unsightly vegetation” represents the Puritan society and its tribulations. The vegetation is described as having “something congenial in the soil that had so early
Rating:Essay Length: 351 Words / 2 PagesSubmitted: December 24, 2009 -
The Scarlet Letter Notes
These are my classnotes about THE SCARLET LETTER; be careful I have had no time to revise it, but I think it can be useful. REMEMBER BE CAREFUL WITH THIS INFORMATION NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804. His family descended from the earliest settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; among his forebears was John Hathorne, one of the judges at the 1692 Salem witch trials. Throughout his life, Hawthorne was
Rating:Essay Length: 2,429 Words / 10 PagesSubmitted: December 25, 2009 -
Puritanism in the Scarlet Letter
Abstract The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s representative work, is a classical novel in American literature in the 19th century. The novel displays Puritanism’s great impact on people's life and thought. This thesis will give a picture of puritans’ life and ideology through the analysis of the Puritan town Boston and some related characters, and introduce how the communities in the town are deeply influenced by Puritanism. Meanwhile, by analyzing the main character Hester, the thesis
Rating:Essay Length: 6,052 Words / 25 PagesSubmitted: December 25, 2009 -
Scarlet Letter
The Scaffold: Where Truth Preaches In the novel The Scarlet Letter, there are three occasions when the scaffold is used as a location of truth telling. The Scaffold is set apart in the middle of town, and upon it criminals are convicted. When the reader is first shown the scaffold in the novel, Hester is holding Pearl and she is being convicted of adultery, the second is when Dimmesdale goes upon the scaffold in
Rating:Essay Length: 522 Words / 3 PagesSubmitted: December 25, 2009 -
Symbols in the Scarlet Letter
Symbols in "The Scarlet Letter" A In “The Scarlet Letter,” symbols appear everywhere. Hawthorne uses several different concrete objects to represent something of deeper meaning. Among these symbols is the scarlet letter "A" itself. It is made of red cloth and beautifully embroidered. It is a literal symbol of the sin of adultery. The letter "A" appears in several places and several forms. It is the letter that appears on Hester's heart that she is
Rating:Essay Length: 1,323 Words / 6 PagesSubmitted: December 28, 2009 -
Symbols Show Hope in "the Scarlet Letter"
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the Puritan community banned all forms of sin. Sin was looked upon as evil, being connected to the devil and his dark ways. Hester Prynne, the main character of the story, was shunned by the rest of the Puritan world after committing the sin of adultery. She lived in a world where it was not accepted. She was isolated from the world around her, having little hope. Throughout the
Rating:Essay Length: 940 Words / 4 PagesSubmitted: December 31, 2009 -
The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter is a unified, masterfully written novel. It is structured around three crucial scaffold scenes and three major characters that are all related. The story is about Hester Prynne, who is given a scarlet letter to wear as a symbol of her adultery. Her life is closely tied to two men, Roger Chillingworth, her husband, and Arthur Dimmesdale, her minister and the father of her child. Her husband is an old, misshapen man
Rating:Essay Length: 866 Words / 4 PagesSubmitted: January 1, 2010 -
A Summary of the Symbolism in the Scarlet Letter
Chapter 1 1пјЋThe definition of symbolism The slightest survey of different epochs of civilization discloses great differences in their attitude towards symbolism. For example, duri g the medieval period in Europe symbolism seemed to dominate men's imaginations. Architecture was symbolical, ceremonial was symbolical, heraldry was symbolical. With the Reformation a reaction set in. Men tried to dispense with symbols as 'fond things, vainly invented,' and concentrated on their direct apprehension of the ultimate facts. But
Rating:Essay Length: 5,270 Words / 22 PagesSubmitted: January 2, 2010 -
Scarlet Letter Literary Criticism
Scarlet Letter Literary Criticism All great stories have thorough reports from several different literary critics, what do they have to say on The Scarlet Letter? The Scarlet Letter in the nineteenth century is comparable to early twentieth century and late twentieth century criticism. Early nineteenth century critics think the story was a tremendous work of art. A “Review of New Books” thought the story is “a genuine native romance” (Ripley 295). This is shown
Rating:Essay Length: 965 Words / 4 PagesSubmitted: January 3, 2010 -
Scarlet Letter Essay
Scarlet Letter Essay The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is the story of the puritan, Hester Prynne. It slowly (very slowly) depicts a story in which Hester is punished for committing adultery by being forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her dress at all times. But when her actual husband returns to Boston after being absent for years he is determined to discover and personally seek revenge against Hester’s lover. Through out the
Rating:Essay Length: 665 Words / 3 PagesSubmitted: January 5, 2010 -
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates that the presence of guilt throughout the story. This is apparent through all the main characters of the novel. Although the novel has several imperfect people as the main characters, including Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth, the worst sinner is Roger Chillingworth. Chillingworth commits the greater sin because of his failure to forgive; he has a constant need for revenge; he receives extreme pleasure in torturing
Rating:Essay Length: 1,148 Words / 5 PagesSubmitted: January 8, 2010 -
Adultery - Scarlet Letter
Adultery is a sin never to be taken lightly. However, while it remains a serious crime, determining the requisite punishment for adultery proves difficult. In Nanthaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester, the main character, is forced to wear the letter ‘A’ on her chest symbolizing her act of adultery with an unknown person. Through his novel Hawthorne sought to demonstrate how, under certain circumstances, the personal consequences of a crime may serve as sufficient punishment.
Rating:Essay Length: 551 Words / 3 PagesSubmitted: January 13, 2010 -
The Scarlet Letter - Puritan Society
 In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, life is centered around a rigid Puritan society in which one is unable to divulge his or her innermost thoughts and secrets. Every human being needs the opportunity to express how he or she truly feels, otherwise the emotions are bottled up until they become volatile. Unfortunately, Puritan society did not permit this kind of expression, thus characters had to seek alternate means to relieve their personal anguishes
Rating:Essay Length: 557 Words / 3 PagesSubmitted: January 14, 2010 -
The Scarlet Letter: Puritanism
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses the aspects of relationships, religion, community, discipline and punishment in the puritan community of 17th century Boston. Relationships between men and women were very constrained and that is what made adultery such a bad sin in the eyes of everyone in the community. Religion seemed to govern over all, people would look up to reverends and the community believed that fate was their destiny. Public discipline and punishment
Rating:Essay Length: 907 Words / 4 PagesSubmitted: January 14, 2010 -
Scarlet Letter
Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses Nature to symbolize both the negative and positive character traits which set the mood of the novel. By doing this, Hawthorne steps out of the traditional Romantic ideals, putting The Scarlet Letter into an her genre. I will call it post- Romanticism. Traditional Romantic writings only portray the positive side of human nature. They show the positive effects of individualism, the soul and freedom as only being positive. By
Rating:Essay Length: 1,585 Words / 7 PagesSubmitted: January 16, 2010