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Clothing In The Scarlet Letter

535 Words3 Pages

On May 16th, my classmates and I all wore certain letters on our clothing in reference to The Scarlet Letter, one of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s most famous novels. In the novel, the protagonist, Hester Prynne, is punished for having an extramarital affair. After serving a time in prison, the Puritan judges order her to wear a scarlet ‘A’ on her clothing, every day, for the rest of her natural life, to inform everyone who glanced at her that she was an adulterer- a devastating social and psychological punishment. I wore a ‘P’ on my jacket. It stands for ‘procrastinator’. I procrastinate on nearly everything, every day. I’m not sure exactly when I began to procrastinate so lengthily on everything. It doesn’t seem to matter if I have some sort of motivation or reward at the other end- I can’t seem to bring myself to do things in a timely manner. (In fact, I’m still writing this essay at 1 AM, the morning of the day it’s …show more content…

My lovely mother made it out of interesting clock-patterned paper and laminated it afterwards. Overall, the experience was somewhat embarrassing. I don’t talk to too many people, so most everyone didn’t bother to ask me about it. They most likely figured it was just a decoration I had decided to wear for whatever odd reason. I almost felt the need to put a small sign on it that read something along the lines of “This is for a school project,” or explain its purpose to everyone who gave it an offhanded glance. Those who did pursue the truth generally mentioned that they had seen other people wearing letters as well, and wished to know why. After I told each enquirer that I am a procrastinator, I don’t think that their visions of me changed all that much. Most of the people I told already knew that I constantly put off work until the last minute, but for the few that didn’t know, I feel that the revelation wasn’t that

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If someone were to know why I was wearing the letter, they may have reacted differently. If it were my full word, would they have reacted differently? Wearing the letter “P” was not difficult at all for me. This did not stoop up to what Hester had to deal with. Peers only commented on my letter because they knew what it was for.

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In the novel, ‘The Scarlet Letter’, Hawthorne writes chapter 5, “Hester and Her Needle”, to show the uses of Hester’s clothing to reveal Hester’s self-perception, releases the attitude of Hester’s neighbors, and explains the nature of her daughter’s conception in different rhetorical devices. In the 7th paragraph of chapter 5, it states that Hester didn’t wear the finest of clothing. She simply wears plain dresses and basic materials. Hawthorne describes Hester’s attire as “Her own dress was of the coarsest materials and the most somber hue; with only that one ornament,--the scarlet letter--which it was her doom to wear.”(86).

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All throughout our lives we come across different people who may have very different styles of clothing. From the Bohemian look to the Sophisticated and Preppy to Gothic, people dress to fit what’s appropriate for their situation. There are, however, times when people dress how they feel rather than what may or may not be appropriate, like those who follow the Flamboyant look. Whatever the case, people dress based on how they feel and what’s going on in their lives. This concept is shared between a story by Nathaniel Hawthorne titled “The Minister’s Black Veil”, and my everyday life.

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She wears her punishments and she is being forced to wear the scarlet letter as a mark of shame on her chest.¨On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter 'A.' It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore; and which was of a splendor in accordance with the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony¨ (Hawthorne).She wears the letter “A” while looking good for the sin she's committed because she is going against her society and they know she did the sin. At the sametime she is basically letting them know that she committed the sin but i wanna look my best for myself that's how

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Although publicly admitting to sin can be a challenging task, time will heal the initial pain. Hester Prynne, of the Scarlet Letter, lives this lesson as she commits the sin of adultery. Her punishment for the sin is to wear the letter “A” on her bosom until she is allowed to remove it by the Puritan authorities wishes. Initially, Hester feels guilt and shame as she wears it. As Hester’s character grows in strength, she overcomes the letter’s original purpose of punishment.

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The Scarlet letter is set in 17th century Massachusetts in a puritan town. The novel focuses on the character Hester Prynne who is publicly shamed for having an affair and giving birth out of wedlock. As a result of her act she is forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her clothing at all times. Through a variety of events Hester Prynne goes through a journey of repentance to make her feelings of guilt into strength

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To begin, Nathaniel Hawthorne introduced the symbol the scarlet letter to add to the overall theme of sin. The scarlet letter was a form of punishment that would last a lifetime. Hester Prynne, the protagonist, was forced to wear the letter “A” because she committed adultery. She had an affair with Dimmesdale, the town reverend, while she was married to Chilingsworth, and produced a baby named Pearl. Hawthorne explains, “There glimmered the embroidered letter, with discomfort in its unearthly ways.

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The “A” that labeled Hester as an adulterer became recognized as meaning “able”. However, most items are not able to change their meanings by themselves. It is by interaction with other objects and people that they are altered. Without Hester’s strength and perseverance, if she had been weak willed and easily bullied, then the scarlet letter would have remained a negative symbol instead of the reverent one that it eventually

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It’s crazy how a single letter can summarize someone’s character. In the book, The Scarlet Letter, Hester was labeled by her community as an Adulterer. She had to wear a Scarlet A everywhere she went, signifying that she had committed a great sin looked down upon in the eyes of the Puritan’s God. The project given was to wear a letter that shows what we frown upon in ourselves or what we pride ourselves on, character wise. I chose to use the letter B as my scarlet letter because it stands for Broken.

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The punishment, trivialized with time, was viewed in a different light. Hawthorne describes a transition in which “many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said it meant able” (Hawthorne 111). Exonerated from fault, Hester began to to receive more promotion from her peers. The town’s relegation of the letter is a symbol of their acceptance.

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