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Romeo And Juliet Vs The Scarlet Letter

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Which Will Win? Not all battle wounds are fatal, as some of the fights are fought internally without weapons, but with words and actions; comparatively, conflicts between society and an individual and religion against love. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne exhibits a central theme of appearance versus reality as an individual faces society in solidarity. To compare the mood of The Scarlet Letter to The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare both implicates main figures with forbidden love stories. These forbidden love stories, portray the wars of finding love as political authority, society, and religion go against the lovers’ wants. Rooted in the allegories, the couples discover that to face their battles they must meet …show more content…

For instance, “While this passed, Hester Prynne had been standing on her pedestal...all other objects in the visible world seemed to vanish” (Hawthorne 56). Puritan society strives to implement the religious codes in the town by isolating an individual due to their actions of affection to another town member. By isolating a single person in the public arena of the town, the individual becomes a symbol of who the citizens do not want to be. Additionally, “In all her intercourse with society, however, there was nothing that made her feel as if she belonged to it” (Hawthorne 70). Society obtains a high appraisal for each individual, and as one makes a mistake, it asserts the power to notify civilization of the wrongdoing. Hester Prynne is treated as an object in the Puritan town instead of a human being containing emotions and values. Isolation allows the mind to wander away from society’s views and the individuals are able to develop clearer consciences, building oppositions of values between the …show more content…

For example, “Better to fast and pray upon it; and still better, it may be, to leave the mystery as we find it” (Hawthorne 105). As the novel revolves around the Puritan religion, love is challenged, which is illustrated between Hester and Dimmesdale, leaving their love to be a mystery in the town. Hester and Dimmesdale omit their love for each other, as a result of the Puritan religion. The couple’s love is forbidden in the religion because Hester is a married woman, and she conducted herself in an affair with Dimmesdale. Moreover, “Love, whether newly born or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create sunshine, filling the hearts so full of radiance, that it overflows upon the outward world” (Hawthorne 197). What provokes the intriguing love story in the novel is Hester’s character carries a secret sin, the love affair with Dimmesdale, as she is married to Chillingworth. This secret sin is publicly displayed in the town, yet the town is missing part of the puzzle piece, which is who Hester had the affair with. Conflict then begins between the mind and heart of Hester, as she attempts to gain a new identity, violating the codes, and creates her own religion and rules of nature. Although the Puritan religion is extremely strict and the society attempts to separate Hester from Dimmesdale, they do not fail. Love conquers

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In the Puritan society of the 18th century, everything is focused around God and being pure. In The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne, a main character of the novel, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates how not to be pure. Henry F. Chorley’s article, Severity, Purity and Sympathy analyzes the transformation of the town and Hester throughout the novel. Hester Prynne, a motherly woman in the Puritan society, is shunned from her community because of her actions. Hester transforms from being shunned in the community, to being a person that everybody feels bad for because of the way she is humiliated.

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In contrast to Hester, whose “beauty shone out,” the women of the town are “grim” and “iron-visaged,” which could be considered the ideal (46,47). Every aspect of who Hester is makes her stand out; to the more conservative of the puritans, she is seen in a negative light, while others look upon her in awe. This isolation and differentiation is brought forth by the blame that is placed upon her. Although she was not the only one who committed the sin, she is the only one who is known, and the only one who can take the blame and feel the guilt. In a way, this allows her to live with “sympathetic knowledge of the hidden sin in other hearts” and allows her to be free (72).

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Man vs Society The main conflict in the story is Hester’s battle with the strict puritan values of the society she lives in. In her town, adultery is a serious crime that results in severe punishment. However, Hester commits this crime while her husband is presumed to be dead, and yet she is still punished. Through public humiliation, the society pressures Hester into inconceivable amounts of guilt and anguish. Hester, despite the burden she carries with her scarlet letter, is able to use her pain as fuel.

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In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the Puritans of Boston persecute Hester Prynne for adultery. She continues to protect her lover, the minister Arthur Dimmesdale, though she is forced to wear the letter ‘A’ on her chest and suffer through hardships and solitude. In her cottage on the edge of both wilderness and civilization, Hester finds herself stuck between the confines of her strict religious community and the ‘sinful’ romance that she feels in her heart to be sacred. Utilizing images of nature, Hawthorne describes Hester’s development of individuality throughout her seclusion from Puritan society, and conveys his own support of Hester’s relationship with Dimmesdale.

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The town is made up of a series of guilty, hypocritical individuals. Many of the townspeople, although unproclaimed sinners themselves, judge Hester Prynne for her sinful behavior. Within the town, leaders closely monitor the citizens, never allowing them to step out of line. Although this may appear to be a miserable existence, the text provides many clues as to why people remain in this seemingly negative situation. Throughout the novel, the narrator introduces the idea that one should stay at the scene of their crimes for the duration of their punishment.

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Hawthorne demonstrates how the nature of sins defines people through Hester’s actions, where she helps others regardless of the consistent ridicule she receives. Hawthorne believes that Hester’s sin defines her because the sin occurs out of passion. The author considers that due to the nature of Hester’s sin she is not a disgraceful women, and instead, she portrays aspects of strong emotion and love, which correlates with the essence of her misdeed. Furthermore, Hawthorne proves his opinion on how the type of a sin defines people through the acts which Hester commits. The townspeople, who once shunned Prynne, now look up to her, and describe her as “our Hester… who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick” and who values others over herself (147).

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“...that Scarlet Letter, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom. It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself “ (Hawthorne 62). Using this letter to distinguish Hester as an adulterer for all to see, the colony sets her up to live a shameful and isolated life, never forgetting her sinful offense. The severity of the deed in the eyes of the Puritans is reflected by their harsh objection, which they voice while gossiping among themselves. A lady of the town even exclaims, “This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die...let the magistrates who have made it of no effect, thank themselves if their own wives and daughters go astray” (60).

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Hester’s transformation reveals the truths about sin and redemption. Hester did not believe that the love between Dimmedale and herself was sinful. It was pure, it had “a

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Hawthorne challenges the idea of society and its effect on an individual’s development through his use of Hester, her family members, and the harsh Puritan society they lived in. Hawthorne suggests that it is important to live true to one’s self in

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The Puritan community had strict core values and views on how society should operate based on the church’s teaching in the 17th century. People were expected to follow society’s standards, and if someone did not, that person would be deemed an outcast and ridiculed with shame. However, it was ironic that many in the Puritan community were hypocrites by sinning and not confessing their sins, but keeping them hidden in the dark. The main character of The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne, is the exception of society’s standards because she commits the sin of adultery, takes responsibility for it, is punished, and flourishes as a person when she learns compassion for the underprivileged and sinners in her community. In understanding others in the

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The inception of the novel marks the condemnation of Hester Prynne, the main female character throughout the story. Located in a seventeenth century traditional Puritan community, she is harshly judged and looked down upon due to the mistakes of her past. Emerging from a prison door, holding her child, Hester makes her

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In the excerpt the Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne presents a psychological approach to the reality of sin and guilt using Hester and Dimesdale adulterous affair which resulted in Hester’s pregnancy of Pearl. Hester becomes a victim of the Puritan morality which is seen as the story unfolds. She suffers at the hands of a religious minister, Dimmesdale who strips her happiness and freedom. The author deals with issues of the human nature such as sin, guilt, hypocrisy and revenge through the role of religion as a central example.

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Nearly every reference to the word “Puritan” in the Scarlet Letter conveys Puritan society as miserable, isolating and rigid (Hawthorne, 119-21, 127, 148, etc.). In fact, Schwartz points out that “[Hawthorne’s coverage of the whole range of Puritan life is very complete - all the way from the minister to the children of the Puritan community,” (201), and that Hawthorne’s portrayal of such figures, “created a social system… that trammelled itself as it did the people who lived under it” (207). Hawthorne’s Puritan leaders display a lack of compassion (Harper, 55), causing ‘sinners’ like Hester to feel isolated and scorned. Yet, Harper also claims that to view “Hawthorne as a Puritan basher does not proceed from a complete understanding” as Hawthorne was “proud of his Puritan ancestry” (51). Further, in the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne makes frequent references to the importance of confession (132-33, 186-87 ) and according to Baughman, “[confession] is basic to the fabric of [The Scarlet Letter] because it is an essential of church discipline and civil law” (540).

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As explained in the topic paragraph, behaviors of characters in The Scarlet Letter are shaped by the “Public vs. Private” dichotomy. The narrator seems to imply that satisfying one’s personal impulses is more significant than conforming to cultural/ social demands. The overall main character, Hester Prynne, is shown throughout the novel on how she should either do what makes her blithe or to conform to what society thinks she should do. The idea of “truth” often plays a key role in the progression of events and development of a character’s personality. The Puritan community is a very strong presence mentioned throughout the whole novel.

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Nathaniel Hawthorne develops the theme of an individual vs. society through the motifs of vibrant colors and imagery in contrast to the setting and people within the town. Along with the characters in The Scarlet Letter, individuals like Hester Prynne are constantly facing the same battles against their own societies today. Hawthorne sets his story in a Puritan society that is very judgmental and described as “a shapeless mound, cumberous with its very strength, and overgrown, through years of peace and neglect” filled with people that were “the ugliest and most pitiless”(Hawthorne 49). In contrast to the dull town, Hester Prynne, a disgrace to the town, makes an entrance that “repelled him [the guard] by an action of natural dignity and force of nature”(50).

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