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Scarlet Letter Fate Quotes

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In the same way, the characters in The Scarlet Letter determine their fate through their own actions. Similarly to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the theme of doing what one wants versus living up to societal expectations is, shown through the scenes that happen in the town of Boston, and the scenes that happen outside of it. The first instance where this occurs while inside of Boston is when Hester decides to defy her society by having a child with the man she truly loves. Even though the affair was with a man whom Hester loves, since she is already married when she has the affair, she is being publicly questioned, on a scaffold; about the name of the man, she had the affair. While on the scaffold, Hester felt “as if her heart [has] been …show more content…

The first instance where this occurs outside of the Boston is when Hester decides to use her needleworking skills as her profession. Hester’s expert needleworking skills led her to the point where her work “[is] seen on the ruff of the Governor; military men [wear] it on their scarfs, and the minister on his band” (Hawthorne 80). Through her skills of needleworking, Hester is able to subscribe to the culture of society by making clothing that is used by the people of Boston in their day-to-day lives. In addition, she also uses her needleworking skills to make clothing for the poor. Even though Hester goes through the trouble of making clothing for the poor, the poor still look down on her since she is a sinner. This shows how ungrateful and judgemental her society is. All things considered, through these many skills Hester accomplishes, the meaning of the scarlet letter, embroidered on her chest, changes in meaning from ‘adulterer’ to ‘able.’ This eventually leads to women looking up to her and going to her for advice. As a result, “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” (Hawthorne 257). Hester’s experiences living with society, as they looked down upon her, eventually changes the way society looks at people and the choices they make. In addition, due to the respect people gained towards Hester, more people in the Puritan society of Boston began to realize that even the most holy of people may be sinners deep down inside. All in all, through the many different situations where the theme is shown, the characters of The Scarlet Letter choose their

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In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses Hester to create the theme of reputation by presenting her as a woman whose reputation was ruined by an extramarital affair. She endures being forced to stand on a scaffold while holding her newborn babe, while villagers gossip below. "You must needs be a stranger in this region, friend," answered the townsman, looking curiously at the

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859 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates the Puritan community as judgemental. Naturally, humans attempt to hide their mistakes and imperfections from the world. The protagonists of the story battle with concealing their feelings of shame from the town. Hawthorne shows that self-isolation will inevitably lead to the destruction of one’s character, suggesting that those who admit to their sins are able to thrive. He accomplishes this by contrasting character changes between Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth, and Hester Prynne.

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In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter a peculiar character whose real name is never revealed, poisons a man with a vicious bite. The reader may know him as Roger Chillingworth, the husband of Hester Prynne and self proclaimed physician, but a closer look at his appearance and actions will show how he fueled the fire of Hell. How Roger Chillingworth was the Devil. Everything about Chillingworth was told through his appearance throughout the story as he became the embodiment of Hell’s tyrant.

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The Scarlet Letter In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester makes the right decision to remain in the town because by doing so she serves an example of why Puritan rationale is defective, and the town is where Dimmesdale lives. Puritan logic is fallible because Hester is accused of her sin; meanwhile, others in the town are also guilty of sin. For example, when Hester is exiting the jail to begin her ignominy, the town gossips brand her with denunciative labels, such as “naughty baggage” and “brazen hussy.” Hester lives in seclusion, and “a small vacant area” is always around her that no one is inclined to enter.

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731 Words | 3 Pages

Sin and Revenge in Massachusetts The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, taking place in colonial Massachusetts, depicts the life of Hester Prynne. A women shunned by her society for committing adultery and a mother to her newborn child, she must bear a large red “A” upon her dress as her punishment. However, her punishment does not satisfy the colony -- the majority believes she deserves a worse punishment. In contrast, an inopportune traveler hears of Hester’s transgression on the day of her public trial and decides that she does not deserve punishment.

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941 Words | 4 Pages

We are all sinners, no matter how hard we try to hide our faults, they always seem to come back, one way or another. Written in the 19th century, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows us Hester Prynne and how one sin can change her life completely. Hester Prynne changes a great deal throughout The Scarlet Letter. Through the view of the Puritans, Hester is an intense sinner; she has gone against the Puritan way of life committing the highest act of sin, adultery. For committing such a sinful act, Hester must wear the scarlet letter while also having to bear stares from those that gossip about her.

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Whether from commiseration for a woman of so miserable a destiny; or from the morbid curiosity that gives a fictitious value even to common or worthless things; or by whatever other intangible circumstance was then, as now, sufficient to bestow, on some persons, what others might seek in vain; or because Hester really filled a gap which must otherwise have remained vacant; it is certain that she had ready and fairly requited employment for as many hours as she saw fit to occupy with her needle. Vanity, it may be, chose to mortify itself, by putting on, for ceremonials of pomp and state, the garments that had been wrought by her sinful hands. Her needle-work was seen on the ruff of the Governor; military men wore it on their scarfs, and the minister on his band; it decked the baby’s little cap; it was shut up, to be mildewed and moulder away, in the coffins of the dead. But it is not recorded that, in a single instance, her skill was called in aid to embroider the white veil which was to cover the pure blushes of a bride. The exception indicated the ever relentless vigor with which society frowned upon her sin.

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896 Words | 4 Pages

By wearing the “A,” Hester was publicly humiliated, however, her development in character causes a change in the meaning of the Scarlet Letter, which leads her to taking pride in the letter as it grows a part of her. After Hester’s sin the Puritan community places a false

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1048 Words | 5 Pages

Revenge is a powerful thing, especially when a man allows it to consume his thoughts and control his every action and emotion. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth is a perfect example of a man who allows his vengeful thoughts to turn into an obsession. When Roger Chillingworth returns to the colony after being held captive by Indians, he finds his wife Hester Prynne standing on a scaffold holding a child. Once Chillingworth learns of Hester’s affair, he devotes his life to the vengeance of Hester’s “unknown lover.”

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520 Words | 3 Pages

The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter written in the 1800’s is a novel about a Puritan society in the 1600’s. A Puritan is a religious person who believe that pleasure is evil. The novel is about a young, beautiful women named Hester Prynne. She has committed adultery and is forced to wear a scarlet letter A in shame. A baby girl resulted from the sinful act, named Pearl.

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295 Words | 2 Pages

Hester’s scarlet letter changes meaning throughout the novel to the townspeople of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in Boston. Her punishment and constant reminder of her shame and therefore her sin the scarlet letter A, was intended to mean Adulterer but through her many works of charity turns into eventually meaning Able. Her scarlet letter helps shape her identity and place within the town. While Dimmesdale’s scarlet letter revealed at the end of the novel is thought to have stood for Angel by many of the townspeople, who deny any connection between the late Mr. Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne. The theme of morality in the terms of The Scarlet Letter is explored through many aspects in the classic novel.

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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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1041 Words | 5 Pages

Her initial defiance to cover and hide the scarlet letter foreshadows how Hester would handle her sin for the rest of the novel. She will not give up the name of the lover who helped her commit adultery, which sparks interest and anger among the townspeople. Hawthorne slowly repairs Hester’s reputation and reveals her true compassionate nature as the story progresses. Hester initially uses her embroidery talents, which were displayed by the work she did on the scarlet letter, to earn herself many jobs for people as their tailor and seamstress. People in the town then noticed how in her spare time Hester was aiding the poor and sick with no expectation of gratitude or reward.

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920 Words | 4 Pages

(Hall, 127). This idea of a fair and just society was the centerpiece of Puritan society, and it subsequently led to the virtue of community over the individual which was previously discussed. When it comes to The Scarlet Letter, the ideology that Puritan morality is fundamental to everything is truly front and center. Hester’s struggle due to her past sin is a perfect example of this; The ministry attempted to purify and protect the community by excluding Hester from societal affairs, even going as far as attempting to strip Hester of her custody of Pearl. Overall, Hester’s forced

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936 Words | 4 Pages

In the “Scarlet Letter,” Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays hypocrisy of the Puritan society, where the protagonist Hester Prynne face many consequences of her actions and the how she tries to redeem herself to the society. During the seventeenth puritans believe that it is their mission to punish the ones who do not follow God’s word and it is their job to stop those from sinning. Therefore, the hypercritical puritan society punishes Hester harshly for committing adultery, but in Hester’s mind, she believes that what she did was not a sin but acts of love for her man. Eventually, she redeems herself by turning her crime into an advantage to help those in need, yet the Puritan society still view her as a “naughty bagger.” (Hawthorne 78)

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