Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The Scarlet Letter Literary Devices
The Scarlet Letter Literary Devices
The Scarlet Letter Literary Devices
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Over the past year, American politics have been the forefront of many people’s minds. However, before the recent election, political parties concentrated their efforts on the primaries, where they chose a candidate to represent their values. Regarding the Democratic party, the two main contenders were Hillary Clinton— who later went on to be the Democratic nominee— and Bernie Sanders— an elderly Socialist Jew who appealed to the younger generation. As a part of his platform, Sanders expressed his desire to make college free, causing the topic to become a main headline in the media. Although Sanders failed to become the Democratic nominee, his idea persisted throughout the election, as Hillary Clinton included the ideology in her campaign.
By not confessing to adultery, Dimmesdale retains his reputation, but at the cost of his soul. As a religious leader within the Puritan community, Dimmesdale must exhibit a moral example. Internalizing his guilt offers him a method of maintaining that position. Dimmesdale appears as “pure as new-fallen snow,” (84), but still hidden within him is his sin (84).
Dimmesdale’s guilt from the sin he executed, is not known to anyone besides, Roger Chillingworth and Hester. He is in panic and terror at all moments that the Puritans will discover the sin he has done. Being in such an important position in the Puritan lifestyle, as a minister, he knows the consequences for which his sin will make if publicized. He tries multiple methods to try and rid himself of the guilt. Whenever he feels threatened by the guilt he places “His hand upon his heart,” (65).
“Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret! Thou little knowest what a relief it is, after the torment of a seven years' cheat, to look into an eye that recognizes me for what I am!” (Hawthorne 180). Dimmesdale had tortured himself with his mistakes.
In this book, Hawthorne details an elaborate story showing the consequences of confessing sins in contrast to concealing it. A sin weighing down on you and destroying you from the inside out is a moral consequence and, the only remedy is confessing the sin. This notion can be seen in the difference between Hester and Dimmesdale with how they handled the scarlet letter and the effects of that. Hester had worn her scarlet letter out for the public to see from the very beginning. She the subject of a lot of the town’s scrutiny.
Dimmesdale's non courageous personality even gets worse when he watches the community taunt and mistreat Hester for her sin, "Ah, but let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart" says a young mother (Hawthorne 78), "Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast... as the figure, the body, the reality of sin" (Hawthorne
In the book The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrated Dimmesdale suffering and regret over the years that build him up and lead him to many obstacles and challenges that killed him in the inside. Also, Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts the agony of Dimmesdale`s conscience as his guilt that is eating away at him until he confesses. In addition, Dimmesdale’s faces many obstacles and challenges that killed him and eat him from the inside. For example, of a challenge that he faces is not confessing to Hester Prynne up front to the townsfolks that he was Hester partner in the affairs. Another example is that when Hester walk up on stage and confess that she was responsible for the adultery and while she was talking, she has
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.
As he takes his last breaths in Hester's arms, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale exclaims, “God knows; and He is merciful! He hath proved his mercy, most of all, in my afflictions. Had either of these agonies been wanting, I had been lost for ever”. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale is tormented endlessly by remorse and the repression of his sin. Because of this, in his final moments, he is driven to reveal to the townspeople that he is the father of Pearl, finally relieving the guilt he burdened himself with for seven years.
In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells a thrilling, dark story of a woman who committed a great sin, who also paid the price, and of the man who committed it alongside her, but was able to cower in his pity and shame. Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale have a dangerous and sinful affair while Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, is away and thought to be dead. Throughout the novel, many characters can be depicted as an antagonist, but only one truly stands out. Arthur Dimmesdale proves to be the main antagonist all throughout the novel and in various examples, and through the end, he remains as the same lowly hypocrite that he started out as.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, a famous American author from the antebellum period, notices the emphasis on individual freedoms in the works by Ralph Waldo Emerson and other Transcendentalists during his residency in the Brook Farm’s community. In response to these ideas, Hawthorne writes The Scarlet Letter, a historical novel about Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale’s lives as they go through ignominy, penance, and deprecation from their Puritan community to express their strong love for each other. Their love, even though it is true, is not considered as holy nor pure because of Hester past marriage to Roger Chillingworth, and thus Hester gained the Scarlet Letter for being an adulterer. Hawthorne utilizes biblical allusions, such as the stories of
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.
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was published in 1850. It focuses on the life of the main protagonist, Hester Prynne, living in a Puritan community. Both Yamin Wang and Maria Stromberg offer insight into The Scarlet Letter and analyze multiple aspects of the story.. Both Wang and Stromberg claim that there is an underlying ideology hidden in the texts of the book. Wang approaches the story from a feminist approach and states that Hester represents the feminism in the Puritan community, and she analyzes the Puritan’s outlook on women in their society.
Psychological Nature Today the world now has medications, therapy, and much more to treat psychological diseases and disorders. Psychological nature is the nature of someone affecting the mind. The psychological nature is very important essentially it is not just affecting someone’s mind but there whole body and the wellbeing of that person.
In being a very emotional character, the mood that surrounds changes constantly. Switching from depressing, to selfless, to leaving, Hawthorne manipulates the tone of the chapter depending on what he’s going through and how he feels. The most significant moment where readers feel this sense of relief is the scene in which he admits to his sin and claims his child. In this moment Dimmesdale exclaims ‘e, that have loved me!—ye, that have deemed me holy!—behold me here, the one sinner of the world” (Hawthorne, chapter 23) to express his regret for not coming forward much earlier. After much anticipation, he stops being a coward and takes ownership of the situation, allowing readers to finally feel at peace with the situation.