The Scarlet Letter Essay

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Amy Flores
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English 11 Per. 3
Oct. 17, 2013 Scarlet Letter 10, 5, 2 Quiz In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel the Scarlet Letter a young women, Hester Prynne, has been convicted of committing adultery in this small town. She becomes pregnant and has a child, Pearl. She has to face all of these men that are “in power” in the town, one of these men is Reverend Dimmesdale. He is a young priest, so it is an odd moment when he begins to look pale and ill. This man, Dimmesdale, walks around town with his hand on his heart as if he himself is in pain. The reasoning behind his pain is still unknown, but one evening he decides that it was time for him to tell everyone why it is he is suffering. He leaves his chamber and goes out into the center of the town to the scaffold. The scaffold was known as the place of “shame.” It is where the young Hester Prynne was told to stand once she was found guilty as a way of showing off to the rest of the town what she has done and that she, in a sense, is no good. Dimmesdale is now standing on the center of the scaffold with the hopes that people will begin to throw stuff at him, then he came to realize that it was dark out and there was to be no one out at that time. While standing in the dark, his head full of shame (to himself), he hears two men talking and recognized the men to be Reverend Wilson, and the Governor. He now realizes that the towns former Governor has passed away and they were now returning from visiting his place. At

Scarlet Letter Essay

English III 1st Period The Symbolism of The Scarlet Letter Have you ever read a book with lots of symbolism? Did you notice there was one symbol the author went to great extents to represent to the reader? The Scarlet Letter is a well known book that has been read for many generations. It is one of those books that has lots of symbolism but has one primary symbol that is concentrated on throughout the book. This major symbol is a scarlet letter A. This letter is worn by a young girl that has committed…

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Mini-Report #2 (The Scarlet Letter Motif) In chapters nine through sixteen, Hawthorne alternates the meaning of the scarlet “A” from adultery to able. The letter now symbolizes Hester’s strength and ability. Metamorphosis says that the townspeople who once condemned her now believed her scarlet "A" to stand for her ability to create beautiful needlework and for her unselfish assistance to the poor and sick (Metamorphosis online). During this section of “The Scarlet Letter,” Hester begins to be…

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of the Letter in The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter includes many profound and important symbols. This device of symbolism is portrayed well in the novel, especially through the scarlet letter "A". The "A" is the best example because of the changes in the meaning throughout the novel. In the beginning of the novel, the scarlet letter "A" is viewed as a symbol of sin. The middle of the novel is a transition period, where the scarlet letter…

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The Scarlet Letter is a romantic fiction, that was written by the American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850. The setting of the novel is Boston during the Puritan era, where a woman (Hester Prynne) who is not married gets pregnant which makes her an adulteress. Her punishment for adultery is to wear a the scarlet letter “A.” on her chest as a visible representation of her sin. The town then basically shuns her, especially because she does not disclose the identity of pearl’s (her child’s) father…

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The Scarlet Letter “The Scarlet Letter” is set in Puritan times when morals and beliefs greatly affected daily existence and people’s belief structure. The functional physical setting of “The Scarlet Letter” is to both foreshadow what will come and relate to the actual events occurring. For example, in the beginning of the story, the cemetery can represent the negativity in the following scene where Hester is made fun of at the scaffold. The forest represents evil because it is where witch meeting…

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that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow” (74) shows that the rose holds valuable significance throughout the story. The scarlet letter itself, the “A”, descriptively stands for “Adulterer”, which outlines the sin that Hester had committed. The letter holds a lot of pain and shame to it, shown by, “...for the remainder of her natural life to wear a mark of shame upon her bosom” (95). Another form of symbolism is the scaffold, which…

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Scarlet letter Essay

Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter is a figure of shame and sin. Hester is looked down upon and shunned by the townspeople because she's has committed adultery. She is forced to wear the letter "A" to tarnish her reputation. Hawthorne's attitude toward Hester is different from the rest of the townspeople because of the way her presents her and finishes the story. As the novel continues the meaning of the scarlet letter changes from adulterer to able, adding to Hawthorne's true view of Hester Prynne…

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A simple letter of the alphabet transforms into a symbol of sin, shame, and identity in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlett Letter. In the Scarlet letter, as a punishment for the crime of adultery, Hester becomes forced to wear the scarlet letter A for the duration of her life. In Puritan Boston, which the story sets, the town considers adultery an ignominious act. In the romance The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses diction, and point of view to create a critical and analytical tone in order…

Words 478 - Pages 2