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The scarlet letter by hawthorne essay
Themes in scarlet letterby Nathaniel Hawthorne
Themes in scarlet letterby Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Salem: The Village of Courage, Weakness, and Truth Courage, weakness, and truth are all three things that everyone can relate to. Everyone has experienced all three at some point in their life, so they understand what they are like. Arthur Miller in The Crucible uses courage, weakness, and truth to help the reader relate to Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail Williams, and John Proctor. Elizabeth shows courage, Abigail shows weakness, and John shows truth. Elizabeth shows immense courage when she tries to save her husband's name.
The limited point of view which The Scarlet Pimpernel employs is crucial for the protection of Percy’s identity and the perception of his heroism. The majority of the novel takes place in a limited point of view from Marguerite Blakeney’s perspective, and the description of Percy comes from her opinion of him, which is a sharp contrast to the descriptions of the Scarlet Pimpernel. While Marguerite regards the Scarlet Pimpernel as a brave and clever hero, she views her husband as unintelligent and dull, therefore removing from most people’s minds any suspicion of his being the Scarlet Pimpernel and causing the reveal of his identity to be more astounding than if Percy himself was the protagonist. Furthermore, Percy’s is not the protagonist even when he is the one leading the rescues, and this causes suspense because even though he has a situation under control, it seems that Chauvelin and his men have actually won. Percy appears a more impressive hero because he never reveals his plans until after the rescue is complete.
These themes not only show Hester’s character, but how she stands out in the community of Boston. Hawthorne uses Hester’s love and devotion to Dimmesdale to demonstrate the themes of honor and compassion. Also, the fact that Hester is able to stand up for what she believes in and accept her sins shows her independence.
“It straggled onward into the mystery of the primeval forest.” ( Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter 86 ) Claiming the forest as a vast location of mysteries; illustrating its endless symbolism among the town’s people, Nathaniel Hawthorne starts off by portraying the forest as a place of temptation towards sin in Young Goodman Brown. As the reader transition from Young Goodman Brown to the The Scarlet Letter the original symbol of the forest is substituted with the thought of happiness. It’s shown to become the only place where Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale can be with each other without the thought of being punished by Puritan laws.
When she sees Dimmesdale repeatedly placing his hand over his heart, she asks her mother why he does that. Every time she asks, Hester is reminded of Dimmesdale and how their sin keeps them apart. Whenever Pearl asks about the letter that Hester wears, she is reminded of the reason she has to wear, even if she won’t tell Pearl the real
Hathorne has there themes that he make very apparent during The Scarlet Letter. These three themes are pride, isolation, and Guilt. When I think of these three themes and reflect on which characters he could be talking about, and it becomes crystal clear. He is talking about Hester when he talks about the first theme pride. This pride comes into play with the scarlet letter, with the A on Hester 's chest.
It reveals how the character Dimmesdale evolves as time progresses, in the beginning he asks Hester to stand with him so he can confess his sins but only for a minute because he doesn't want to admit the sin. This adds to the guilt that increases with time but also foreshadows his final coming out with the truth and death caused by this action. Hester's past will always be apart of her although others have forgotten about the sin that tore her life apart. The scarlet letter becomes apart of her and also turns into a symbol of redemption and how she overcame the difficulties in her life. Although she was emotionally tormented as a young woman she was able to overcome and become a light to others.
Should Public Humiliation Be Used As A Punishment For Crime? In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses public humiliation to shame a puritan women named Hester Prynne for her sin of adultery. To punish her for her sin, the puritan officials of the community force her to wear a scarlet letter “A” upon her chest to publicly shame her and so that everyone in the community can mock her for her sin. Public humiliation is still used by people and by the government in some ways as a punishment.
By the end of the novel, Hester Prynne emerges as a lady who was grown past problems and will be ready for new one the world throws towards her. Pearl is not regarded as a symbol after Dimmesdale kisses her on the scaffold. She only cared about the people close to her and didn’t attempt to better the community because she has a grudge against them for all the hurting they caused her. Throughout her short little life, the girl was never an innocent little child, only considered a reminder of a bad relationship. This image changes, when Dimmesdale pays attention to his daughter “ A spell, was broken...
A short time later, Hester arranges to meet the ailing Reverend in the forest to identify her husband and reveal his plans for revenge on him. She removes the scarlet letter and convinces Mr. Dimmesdale to leave for Europe with her and Pearl. Before they are set to leave, Reverend Dimmesdale gives the most inspiring sermon to the townspeople who have gathered for the holiday. After leaving his church, he spots Hester and Pearl in the crowd and instinctively climbs the scaffold with them to publicly confess his sin, dying in Hester’s arms.
Although the efforts of Dimmesdale and Hester to keep their secret under wraps, the truth came out eventually. The forest changed in Hester’s eyes throughout the story. In the beginning, it was frightening and evil, however in the end, she desired to be there so that should could get the chance to speak to her one true love. Work Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter.
The Scarlet Letter is about a woman named Hester Prynne who struggles with the weight of society after she commits adultery. Pearl, the daughter, does not fit into the Puritan society’s mold, and Mr Dimmesdale is struggling with guilt of not being able to reveal a great secret. One of the themes of this book is that something beautiful can come out of something bad. Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Pearl all represent the theme in their own ways. This theme means that if something bad happens, something good can come out of it, even if it takes a lot of time to happen.
The story takes place in Massachusetts Bay Colony in a strictly Puritan society in the mid-seventeenth century. When Puritans left the Old World and came to New England, they had extremely rigid rules concerning the formation of the new society. This new population was based on unquestionable devotion to the church and church leaders. If an individual would sin, the whole community could be affected. A tightly connected society as it was, it did not leave room for individual action.
Everyone has something they dislike about themselves, whether it be a lack of confidence or a tendency to procrastinate, but it could also be fear. Fear is something that everyone has experienced at some time or another, young or old, but being plagued by fear is another story completely. Fear is something that has controlled my whole life. That is why I have chosen the letter F as my scarlet letter; fear. I’m afraid of most things, and I always have been.
It’s all about understanding the deeper meaning of courage, it 's not the physical courage that plays a huge affect on someone, but the mental courage, which can change a personality. The main character Jem, experiences many troubling and disturbing events which all relate to his father, Atticus Finch, because Atticus is defending a Negro in court by the name of Tom Robinson. The time period and setting of this book took during the 1930’s where Negroes were treated harshly in society, and were discriminated against only because of their skin color. All throughout this historical fiction book, To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, includes many literary devices such as characterization, internal conflict and lastly foreshadowing to develop
