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Journal Entries For The Scarlet Letter

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From Adultery to Able: The Meaning Behind the Scarlet A Prompt #1 One significant plot point to The Scarlet Letter was the backlash received by Hester for wearing it on her chest. This letter that she is forced to wear signifies that she has committed a sin and she must now wear the shame upon her bosom for the rest of her life. Despite the horrible connotations attached to this piece of garment, there is a shift of its meaning as the story progresses. It is due to Hester actions and behavior within the story that causes this positive shift. From her attitude involving her punishment, her contributions to society as a seamstress and a giver to the poor, to finally Arthur’s confessional on the scaffold, all of these actions contributed to switch …show more content…

The reception for her return is all but positive and that the meaning of the letter had changed drastically as “the scarlet letter was the object of love and interest with some inhabitants of another land (203).” Hester’s work becoming so popular that the letter was used on seals and clothing for the wealthy. It is because of Hester’s behavior during her days with the scarlet letter, her refusal to backdown despite all of the backlash, her will to continue to try and do good even if everyone viewed her as an adulterer that caused the letter to be “looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too (203).” One must not forget that did not mean that adultery sudden became a forgivable offense but the letter itself no longer signified that, Hester owned up to the act and instead, along with Arthur, used this letter as a message to others: that she was never just an adulterer, that she was more than just the symbol on her chest. Despite everything that happened, she still returned to Boston and wore the letter for the rest of her life, demonstrating to the people that the letter no longer scorned her. Hawthorne ends this piece by mentioning that there is a scarlet A lying upon their shared graves but no longer as a mark of

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Hester Prynne Isolation Quotes

1113 Words | 5 Pages

In the beginning of the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne introduces the main character Hester Prynne, a young, beautiful member of a Puritan society being punished for her sin of love, not lust. The opening chapters introduce the reader to gossips who deem her original punishment, death, too harsh and contrary to Puritan beliefs that unborn babies should be given a chance at life. Instead, Hester and her child are to be alienated and shunned. In addition she is to wear the letter ‘A’ (which stands for ‘adultery’) on her chest which will forever display her as a symbol of shame for her sin. Though a very resilient figure who soon overcomes this pain, Hester’s isolation takes a negative toll on her life.

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How Hester Prynne Changes In Scarlet Letter

941 Words | 4 Pages

While her punishment changes her physical appearance, it has a far more profound effect on her character. Hester seems much older and worn down with the scarlet letter on her bosom. To Hester, the scarlet letter is a

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Analysis Of Hester Prynne In The Scarlet Letter

896 Words | 4 Pages

The letter gave Hester a new power to sympathize with and be charitable to others. Townspeople even began to interpret the letter very differently from its original meaning. They began to believe that the symbol no longer meant adultery, however, its new significance was to mean “Able” (111). Her selfless acts of kindness attracted the attention of the community as she did needlework for the poor in her spare time. The community did not know the true reason of why Hester did this, but the act caused her true character and natural instinct to be generous to be reflected.

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Hester Prynne Punishment In Scarlet Letter

791 Words | 4 Pages

Although the community originally knew Hester as a disgrace, the town’s opinion of her changed over time as she began to do work for the poor and needy. After this shift in the town’s view of Hester, “many people refused to interpret the scarlet [letter] by its original signification” (111). Instead of Hester’s scarlet letter serving as a reminder of her scandalous sin, her peers “ had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as a token . . . of [Hester’s] many good deeds” (111). She became known for her charity and generosity, which caused the civilians to overlook her sinful behavior.

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Shame In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

1260 Words | 6 Pages

At the end of the book soon before her death, Hester reflects on her life, and realizes that “in the lapse of the toilsome, thoughtful, and self-devoted years that made up Hester’s life, the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world’s scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too” (243). The letter was meant to be a defining symbol of Hester and her sin, but instead it was a symbol of help and hope. The purpose was to attract the “world’s scorn”, but instead she was praised for her persistence and grace. Hester’s powerful personality and strength allowed her to change the opinions of the general public and give her a chance to rebrand herself. There was no longer any regret attached to the letter, and without regret, it is clear that Hester does not wish that she had done anything differently to avoid becoming an adulteress.

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Embracing Vulnerability In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

2062 Words | 9 Pages

Throughout all of her life, Hester has been seen as a symbol of the devil by her Christian community, one that loathes sinners and praises the teachings of God. So, Hester must live with this burden and somehow achieve redemption for herself. When Hester finally removes the scarlet letter, “the stigma is gone, [and] Hester heaved a long, deep sigh, in which the burden of shame and anguish departed from her spirit” and “she had not known the weight, until she felt the freedom!” (Hawthorne 122). The moment Hester takes off the scarlet letter serves as a monumental moment in the novel as the letter was Hester’s identity up to this point.

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How Does Hester Prynne Change In The Scarlet Letter

607 Words | 3 Pages

After many years, an incident happened in the village that completely altered the villagers view of Hester’s scarlet letter A. The governor had died and when they had buried him, the letter A appeared in the sky. Most of the villagers believed that the A in the sky meant that the governor had became an angel at that moment; therefore changing their meaning of Hester’s A. The villagers began to accept Hester into the community and forgiving her of her sin because they believed that Hester’s A corresponded with the one in the sky. They viewed her A as “abel” because of Hester trying to do good deeds for the village.

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Hester Prynne Change In The Scarlet Letter

1167 Words | 5 Pages

She also feels a great burden from the scarlet letter she is forced to wear, yet she is too proud to let others know. As the story progresses, she becomes stronger and more compassionate; she eventually redeems herself. She learns to view herself in a more modest manner. Hester’s main conflict is external. She had an affair and was accused of committing adultery by the town.

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Scarlet Letter Evil Essay

2358 Words | 10 Pages

And over her grave, the infamy that she must carry thither would be her only monument” (Hawthorne 91). This excerpt displays how the sin and evil Prynne committed would be the only way people would know her. The scarlet letter “A” can be represented as evil through the Puritans act of making Prynne wear the emblem, and the symbolism of the letter itself through the evil acts Prynne

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Essay On Evil In The Scarlet Letter

719 Words | 3 Pages

The townspeople “[began] to look upon the scarlet letter as a token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since.” This quote exemplifies how sin is not a death sentence for Hester. Through hard work and charity it allowed the rigid Puritan society to see her as something different, and as someone who would not let society define who she was. Hester, thus, was not only able to change herself, but also the image in which society viewed her by working hard to benefit the public. Likewise, the scarlet letter which was supposed to represent sin was instead “fantastically embroidered with gold thread, upon her bosom.”

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Shame In The Scarlet Letter

1203 Words | 5 Pages

Those who had before known her, and had expected to behold her dimmed and obscured by a disastrous cloud, were astonished, and even startled, to perceive how her beauty shone out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped" (Ch. 2). This shows that Hester never attempted to hide her sin, and the description of her sin demonstrates an act of forgiveness. Hester even embroidered the very thing that was supposed to mark her shame. “But the point which drew all eyes, and, as it were, transfigured the wearer,--so that both men and women, who had been familiarly acquainted with Hester Prynne, were now impressed as if they beheld her for the first time,--was that SCARLET LETTER,

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Strength In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

588 Words | 3 Pages

“Never after did it quit her bosom. But, in the lapse of the toilsome, thoughtful, and self-devoted years that made up Hester’s life, the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world’s scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon in awe, yet with

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Scarlet Letter Symbolism

1322 Words | 6 Pages

The scarlet letter has different meanings throughout the story and to each of the characters. The original meaning of the scarlet “A” is “Adultery”, but later in the story the townspeople and other characters begin to interpret it in different ways, each of them with their own idea and belief. Hester starts being more active in society and that makes the townspeople think differently about the scarlet “A”. The scarlet letter doesn´t keep the same meaning throughout the whole story, it changes with Hester´s actions and the Puritans beliefs. Hester starts being more active in society, she starts helping the poor and nursing the sick.

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Cause And Effect Of Scarlet Letter

595 Words | 3 Pages

Because of the initial meaning of the letter it starts off being one thing. Being adultery and on Hester it gives her a bad name. The people of the town look at her in disgust and think less of her. The only thing people will allow Hester to do is sew clothes for them. Even then

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The Symbolism Of 'A' In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

959 Words | 4 Pages

Receiving the scarlet letter changed every aspect of Hester’s life. Especially at the start of the story, the letter symbolized the solitude and great suffering Hester faced just because of a letter placed on her bosom. The “A” also depicted how no one viewed Hester the same way as before her peccant actions. “…she saw that, owing to the peculiar effect of this convex mirror, the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance” (Hawthorne 109). The pejorative community Hester lived in never saw Hester as the beautiful, young woman she was, but now, as a horrible fiend.

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