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Scarlet Letter Greed Quotes

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Raegan Ware Mrs. Staber Honors English Two 24 March 2022 Able The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story that shows the other side of the American dream. It shines a light onto how this dream was corrupted. The Scarlet Letter shows us how Hester was treated unfairly despite this dream, she didn't have the same opportunity, and how she fought through these things to make a life for her and her daughter. When Hester Prynne committed adultery she was punished greatly. She was made to stand in front of the town on a pedestal being shamed. Not to mention the scarlet letter A on her chest representing the crime that she had committed “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” (Hawthrone pg. 37) Hester …show more content…

A while after the crime, she became a seamstress and she worked hard to take care of his daughter. Hester proves to be very skilled in her craft, and people often request her skills for their clothes. Though this is one situation where she's been held back by the people around her. She's unable to create a veil for a bride that will cover “The pure blushes of the bride,” ( Hawthorne pg 54) She cant work on any clothes for weddings, because she would make them impure due to her crime. Not only could Hester not work to her full ability, she also was shamed by the public. While she was to stand on the scaffolding, the townswomen would whisper about Hester. “There was, moreover, a boldness and rotundity of speech among these matrons, as most of them seemed to be” (Hawthorn pg. 35 ) Hester faced judgment from the townspeople no matter how hard she worked to achieve a better life. As time passed their shaming went down, but she was never able to have a normal place in their society, because everyone's first impression of her would the the red letter of her

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511 Words | 3 Pages

She hath raised a great scandal, I promise you, in godly Master Dimmesdale's church. " (Hawthorn, pg 34.) Her scandal is so great the townsman feels the need to tell a stranger of her terrible reputation, completely surprised that the stranger doesn’t know of it. Several years after the public shaming, Hester supported herself with needlework. She sewed a wide range of items, “But it is not recorded that, in a single instance, her skill was called in to embroider the white veil which was to cover the pure blushes of a bride.

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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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896 Words | 4 Pages

Everyone in the community saw Hester at her weakest point, therefore her character and abilities could only grow from there. The power of the Scarlet Letter has provided Hester with a new found freedom for

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791 Words | 4 Pages

Considering the townspeople’s reactions toward Hester’s sin of adultery, it can be concluded that in the Puritan era, religion was of utmost importance, and the Puritans met sins with extremely harsh punishments. Because the majority of the Puritan town viewed Hester as a disgrace, she became “Lonely . . . and without a friend on earth” (56). This made it effortless for the inhabitants of the town to continue to insult and degrade Hester because they did not care to learn her true personality. While a few civilians had sympathy for Hester, the town mostly regarded her as shameful and

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1980 Words | 8 Pages

Yet, despite the heavy burden she has to bear, she acts more civil than most of the characters do in the entirety of “The Scarlet Letter”. Instead of her guilt and shame tearing her down, she chose to rise above it as seen in this quote; “she [Hester] repelled him, by an action marked with natural dignity and force of character, stepped into the open air, as if by her own free will.” (50 Hawthorne) No doubt at this time, Hester’s heart is filled with pain and worry. After all, these were people she has known for some time and perhaps has even befriended.

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599 Words | 3 Pages

In the beginning the scarlet letter represented adultery and shame, but then the A represented “able.” Hester Prynne showed people that greatness can come out of huge mistake. One bad chapter does not mean your story is over. Willingly, Hester wanted to pick herself up again and move on with her life and eventually people noticed that. They began to respect her and think of her as strong and commendable

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659 Words | 3 Pages

The novel “The Scarlet Letter”, written by Natheniel Hawthorne is overflowing with figurative language, symbolism, and many other thematic subjects that have important roles within the story. Hester Prynne is the unfortunate bearer of the scarlet letter which is a symbol of her adulterous ways. Throughout the novel she is condemned yet admired for this small golden laced letter on her chest. This letter might seem insignificant but it turned her life upside down.

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354 Words | 2 Pages

She is brave and does not deny that she sinned. She realizes that she needs to let go of the misery that the scarlet letter has brought upon her. Rather than letting it define her, Hester uses the letter. She helps out in the community. It does not define who she is.

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1863 Words | 8 Pages

Through this process, she developed a strong sense of self and learned to reject the limitations society imposed on her because she was a woman. Hester started to doubt the tight gender roles and suppression of female independence that were a result of Puritanical principles. Hester resisted being reduced to nothing more than her sin, despite the Puritan community's efforts to silence and shame her. Hester is described as wild in her personality, imagination, intellect, and will, due to the fact that he holds both feminine and masculine attributes. She doesn't conform to Puritan society, and through the isolation from society, she was able to think for herself and form feminist

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1194 Words | 5 Pages

She accepts her punishment and doesn’t complain. After a couple years of bearing the punishment, the townspeople look at Hester a bit differently. Hawthorne explains, “Such helpfulness was found in her, - so much power to do, and power, to sympathize, - that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A

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365 Words | 2 Pages

Throughout the entire novel, we can see the consequences of Hester’s actions being displayed in her everyday life. For seven years, Hester lives a lonely life with Pearl in their small cottage by the sea. During this time, Hester makes little contact with those in her community (only when her seamstress services are needed). The town’s people do not want to be seen associating with an adulterer, and so Hester is left alone to face the shame and agony of her sin. “But sometimes, once in many days, or perchance in many months, she felt an eye-a human eye-upon the ignonimous brand, that seemed to give a momentary relief.”

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1200 Words | 5 Pages

(Hawthorne, pg. 48). This demonstrates that Hester perseveres through her hardship by working hard because she risks her own punishment and more consequences for someone else 's reputation. As she provides for Pearl, she works hard enough that the community gradually accepts her sin. Although she still wears the scarlet letter, they begin to see her differently. She is viewed as a symbol of pride for the community.

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836 Words | 4 Pages

Hester Prynne commits the crime of adultery and she alone bears the punishment for it, refusing to name the father of the child and at the end earns a place and name or herself in the society. Hester Prynne is first presented as a sinner, a reprobate guilty of committing adultery. In her Puritan society, this was considered an aggression towards god and all his biblical teachings. So the societal view and opinion towards her was rather aggressive. She was considered vulgar for she had engaged in coitus whilst bound to another man in wedlock.

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975 Words | 4 Pages

In a legalistic society, people adhere to strict moral codes, punishing and isolating transgressors. Hester Prynne, in the fiction that I have read recently-- The Scarlet Letter is an example of the transgressor-adulteress. Hester breaks the social laws, and thus, is considered a sinner, condemned to wearing the stigmatizing ‘A’, lying in her bosom for Adultery. With this symbol of sin, Hester suffers despise and isolation.

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936 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the novel, Hester is fraught by the Puritan society and her suffering is an effect of how evil society is. Hester continues to believe that the crime she committed was not wrong and she should not be punished for it. Her desire to protect and love Dimmesdale, turn her into a stronger person and become a heroine in the book. Although society still views her as a “naughty baggage” (Hawthorne 73) and is punished for her wrongdoing, Hester never thought to take revenge on them, yet she gives everything she has to the unfortunate and leaves herself with very little. She continues to stay positive no matter what society has for her.

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