ipl-logo

Sin In Scarlet Letter

908 Words4 Pages

Sin is a prevalent theme throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter. The main character, Hester Pryne’s sin of adultery instigates the entire novel. The novel follows Hester’s journey in dealing with her sin in a strict Puritan town. Nathaniel Hawthorne provides an example of how someone’s sin can affect many individuals. Hester’s sin not only affects herself, but also affects many other characters including the Puritans, Roger Chillingworth, Arthur Dimmesdale and her daughter Pearl. Hester’s sin leads other characters to commit their own sins. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses The Scarlet Letter as clear testament to the effects of sin.
The Puritans in Boston are painted as judgmental and intolerant people. Consequently, in the Puritan’s …show more content…

Hester adores her daughter; however, Pearl serves as a constant reminder of her sin. Between the scarlet letter and her own daughter, Hester is reminded daily of the evil she has done. Pearl is born as a result of sin, therefore, she is undoubtedly forced to deal with her mothers’ sinful decisions. Due to Hester’s adulterous sin, Pearl is born into the world as an outcast. The Puritans taunt her by saying, “Pearl was a born outcast of the infantile world. An imp of evil, emblem and product of sin, she had no right among christened infants” (Hawthorne 434). Pearl grows up with a single parental figure. Pearl “has to grow up alone, and her only playmate is nature” (Wayne). Hawthorne writes, “the great black forest-became the playmate of the lonely infant” (537). Hester and Dimmesdale’s passion-driven sin causes consequences that Pearl is inevitably faced to live with.
Sin is a reoccurring and imperative theme in the Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne uses the theme of sin to weave the characters and the plot together. It is evident that Hester’s adulterous sin produces the plot in the remainder of the novel. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne displays the mental and physical affects of sin on individuals. Hester, Pearl, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale are all characters that are greatly affected by the adulterous sin committed by Hester and

Show More
Related
1464 Words | 6 Pages

(Hawthorne, 76). The sin Hester commits is so destructive to her mind, that she thinks the only way she will every be able to live a proper life is if she stays. Hester’s daily abuse from the community will allow her to cleanse her guilty conscience, and redeem herself in the society. Pearl is a continuous reminder of Hester’s guilt, she is the result of her sin. While Pearl grows up Hester is fearful of the child and the darkness she carried with her.

Read More
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.

Read More
806 Words | 4 Pages

Secret Sin and Guilt In the book The Scarlet Letter which was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne descried Adultery in a different and extraordinary way. By writing about a woman named Hester Prynne who was compelled of Adultery. And Hawthorne also included a minister named Rev. Dimmesdale. And how Dimmesdale also has a secret sin that he can no longer bare in his heart, so he tells his congregation.

Read More
1051 Words | 5 Pages

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a novel that focuses on sin in the Puritan society. Hawthorne revolves the theme around the four main characters Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth., and Pearl. Hester Prynne is forced to wear the scarlet letter ‘A’ after committing adultery against her husband Roger Chillingworth, with the minister Arthur Dimmesdale. As a result an odd child is born.

Read More
747 Words | 3 Pages

While exploring the power of love and, manipulating people 's emotions the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written on the battle of someone who was convicted of being a sinner living in a puritan society. The Scarlet Letter was a very influential novel because it was like a change in time, because it’s so different from what we see today. The story talks about Hester, who committed adultery and instead of giving her the punishment of death, she got the leeway of public humiliation. Throughout the novel the author uses characterization, tone and symbolism to help the readers better understand. First, there were the characters that helped to connect the theme sin, crime, and punishment.

Read More
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.

Read More
406 Words | 2 Pages

He would harm himself in many ways as penance for his sins. Although he had never revealed his sin, he was followed by guilt that turned his life into misery. The Scarlet letter demonstrated the moral consequences of both hidden as well as revealed sins through two prominent characters. Hester, whose sin had been revealed, went through a grueling life judged by her community for her sins until she was able to prove her compassionate nature.

Read More
1557 Words | 7 Pages

Adultery- In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne Commits adultery. Once she has committed she gets shamed for life. Adultery is also a very important point throughout the story. It shows how it can wreak havoc on anyone’s life.

Read More
885 Words | 4 Pages

The Puritan belief and lifestyle plays a major role in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter. The story takes place in Puritan New England, and opens with a scene presenting to the audience that a young woman named Hester Prynne has committed adultery. Wearing her punishment proudly, a scarlet letter “A” on her breast, Hester continues to live in New England where she raises her daughter and creates an embroidering business for herself. All the while, in the heart of the town, Hester’s lover and the child’s father, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale silently suffers and is ultimately overcome with guilt from his secret sin until the point of death.

Read More
1270 Words | 6 Pages

Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne exposes the blindness of the Puritan people through the treatment of Hester, Chillingworth, and Dimmesdale’s external characters. Hester Prynne is labeled as an adulteress and mistreated by society because of their unwillingness to see her true character. Chillingworth, the husband of Hester, leads the town to believe he is an honorable man and skillful doctor, when his true intents root from his vindictive nature Finally, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester’s lover and the father of her baby, acts as the perfect man therefore the town views him as an exemplar model, while he is truly a sinner. In the novel, Hawthorne portrays Hester as a strong, resilient woman, though the members of her community

Read More
878 Words | 4 Pages

The book “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a complex novel that has underlying themes of sin and the responsibility for sin. The novel takes place in a Puritanical society, but two people, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, fornicate with each other, even though Hester is married to someone else. Only Hester is punished, so Dimmesdale keeps his guilt inside, not revealing it to anyone. Hester’s husband, Chillingworth, then proceeds to ruin Hester’s partner in crime, corrupting his soul and being the ultimate cause for his death. Hester, on the other hand, leads a relatively happy life after she had repented for her sin.

Read More
499 Words | 2 Pages

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Melbourne, Victoria) Complaints continue to roll in about certain advertisements in Australia. The Advertising Standards Bureau reports they have received over 2,700 complaints in the first six months of 2015. For example, one company received 161 complaints for using a colloquial term that many considered to be swearing. Companies need to find ways to attract attention to their business, yet do so in a way that doesn't draw negative publicity. The right Advertising agency melbourne can be of assistance with this.

Read More
719 Words | 3 Pages

We are all sinners. Although one may try hard not to sin, all humans eventually succumb at some time or another to sin. While people may not able to avoid the fate which awaits them, the power of free will allows people to decide how they will respond to sin. While some may respond with guilt and regret, others may react with a sense of redemption and a renewed sense of responsibility. Nathaniel Hawthorne, an American author during the 19th century witnessed the power of sin to wreak havoc not only to an individual but a whole community.

Read More
852 Words | 4 Pages

Hester Prynne, who is the main character of the story, has committed the sin of adultery which is looked down upon by the people of Boston. However, Hawthorne does a great job of showing how sin can change a person for the better. In the novel for example Hester Prynne gives a completely different meaning to the scarlet letter and changes it from “adultery” to “able” because she “forgot about her past”(publish. Illinois.edu). But Hawthorne also shows how sin can make a person worse and mess with someone's head.

Read More
433 Words | 2 Pages

Hester Prynne was an example of sin, guilt, and redemption. Hawthorne uses bible passages as examples. The consequences for our sins are determined by God and where we will go. Hester’s punishment is wearing the letter, ‘A’ on her breast. " God, as a direct consequence of the sin which man thus punished, had given her a lovely child, whose place was on that same dishonoured bosom, to connect her parent for ever with the race and descent of mortals, and to be finally a blessed soul in heaven!"- (pg 55).

Read More

More about Sin In Scarlet Letter

Related Topics

Open Document