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Theme Of Adultery In The Scarlet Letter

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Adultery, Able, Angel. The Scarlet Letter is about a woman who can take a symbol that means one thing and changes it to mean the complete opposite. In this novel a woman named Hester Prynne had committed a sin of adultery and is forced to wear the letter “A” on her chest in remembrance of her sin. The story takes place in the mid 17th century in a Puritan town of Boston. The rest of the story is based upon trying to find out who the father of Hester 's baby is. The meaning of the scarlet letter and the way people view Hester changes throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The scarlet letter was originally suppose to represent adultery and was there to show everyone the sin Hester Prynne had committed. Hester had to …show more content…

They all hold hands and as this is happening “Beheld there the appearance of an immense letter- the letter A - marked out the lines of dull red light…A great red letter in the sky-the letter A- which we interpret to stand for Angel” (194) (152). This proves that the letter “A” originally meaning adultery then changes to able and now means angel. This is shown in the chapter that discusses Hester and Dimmesdale 's death and burial. “On the field, sable, the letter A, gules.”(261). This shows that on their tombstone that they share there is a letter “A”. The reader can infer that this “A” could mean Angel for now finally they are both free of the sin and are now a Angel in heaven. Another reason why the reader can infer that the scarlet letter now means angel is because when Hester and Dimmesdale were first standing together one the scaffold trying to make Dimmesdale 's guilt go away the townspeople said the “A” in the sky meant angel. Then at the end when they are buried next to each other everyone knows Dimmesdale 's sin and they can both live guilt free as an angel which is why there is a letter “A” on the tombstone. In conclusion the Scarlet Letter that Hester Prynne wears on her chest had three different meanings throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Adultery, Able and in

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